Leslie House
| Leslie House | |
| Fife | |
|---|---|
 Leslie House before the fire | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | NO25970183 |
| Location: | 56°12’12"N, 3°11’42"W |
| Village: | Leslie |
| History | |
| Built 1667 - 1674 | |
| Country house | |
| Information | |
| Condition: | Burnt out |
Leslie House in Leslie was the largest and earliest Restoration house in Fife. The building was gutted in a 2009 fire.[1]
Several of the buildings about the estate are listed.
Sir Robert Spencer Nairn acquired the house in 1919 and in 1952, donated it to the Church of Scotland for use as an Eventide home, necessitating substantial internal alterations.[2]
History
The house was built for John Leslie, the Duke of Rothes between 1667 and 1674 and this became the seat of the Rothes family.[3] The house which was dubbed Villa De Rothes was the centre of life in the village and once rivalled Holyrood Palace for both size and glamour.[3][4] A 1667 extension was by a design of William Bruce.[5] When a fire destroyed the building in 1763, the north, east and south wings were demolished.[4] Only the west wing was retained and this was reconstructed between 1745 and 1747.[3][4]
From 1904 to 1919, Leslie House was the home of Noëlle, Countess of Rothes, a noted philanthropist who became famous as a heroine of the Titanic disaster in 1912. During First World War Lady Rothes converted a wing of Leslie House into a hospital for wounded soldiers invalided from the Front.[6]
The house was given as a gift to the Church of Scotland after the War, for use as an 'eventide home', an underwent substantial internal alterations. When the home closed, the house was left to stand empty until purchased by Sundial Properties, who intended to convert it into apartments. It was during the conversion work that fire broke out in February 2009, leaving the house substantially damaged. Restoration of the building, as well as plans to create 17 luxury homes from the renovated property, is proposed but the building is currently on the Buildings at Risk Register.[7]
Architecture and fittings
The architecture and fittings were described by Leighton in 1840: "It originally formed a quadrangle, enclosing in the centre an extensive court-yard, but three of the sides were burnt down in December 1763. The fourth side was repaired, and forms the present house. The picture gallery in this part of the building, which is hung with portraits of connections of the family, is three feet longer than the gallery at Holyroodhouse."
Among the several pictures at Leslie House in the mid 19th century mentioned by Leighton, "were those of the fifth Earl and his Countess, by Jamieson, the Duke and Duchess of Rothes, the celebrated Duke of Lauderdale and his Duchess, the Princess of Modena; General John, Earl of Rothes, by Sir Joshua Reynolds; Archbishop Tillotson; and a portrait of Rembrandt by himself."[8] A portrait of the Princess of Modena and a large collection of family portraits are also mentioned.[9]
The house featured several tapestries including, the story of Leander; the history of the children of Israel's journey through the wilderness; and the anointing of Saul.[9] In the mid 19th century, the relics preserved in the house included the dagger with its sheath used by Norman Leslie, master of Rothes, at the murder of Cardinal Bethune; and the sword of State carried by the Duke of Rothes at the coronation of King Charles II at Scone.[8]
Grounds
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Blackwood (1836) remarked that, "The plantations of Leslie House are remarkably fine. The species that thrive best seem to be ash, elm, common beech, oak, and the silver-fir. The larch does not thrive so well... The beech avenue at Leslie House is well worthy of attention; the trees are about 200 years old, several of them measuring 16 feet 8 inches, at 4 feet from the ground."[10]
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Leslie House) |
References
- ↑ "The Titanic and the ruined Fife palace". Scottish Field. 6 December 2019. https://www.scottishfield.co.uk/culture/the-titanic-and-the-ruined-fife-palace/.
- ↑ "Leslie House with Conservatory, Garden and Walls, Leslie". Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland. http://www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk/details/909114.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Lamont-Brown 2002, p. 157-158.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Ferguson 1982, p. 17.
- ↑ Wemyss, Charles (2005) "Merchant and Citizen of Rotterdam: The Early Career of Sir William Bruce". Architectural Heritage Vol. XVI
- ↑ A Matter of Course : The Story of Noelle Rothes, Titanic's "Plucky Little Countess" by Randy Bryan Bigham
- ↑ Buildings at Risk Register, Leslie House
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Leighton & Stewart 1840, p. 188.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 Blackwood 1836, p. 114.
- ↑ Blackwood 1836, p. 113.
- Leighton, J. M. and Stewart, J.: "History of the County of Fife: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time" (1840)
Bibliography
- Blackwood, William (1836). The New Statistical Account of Scotland (Public domain ed.). William Blackwood & Sons. https://books.google.com/books?id=cZDVAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA113.
- Lamont-Brown, Raymond (2002). Fife in History and Legend. Edinburgh: Birlinn Publishing.
- Leighton, John M.; Stewart, James (1840). History of the County of Fife: From the Earliest Period to the Present Time (Public domain ed.). J. Swan. p. 188. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_3YMLAAAAYAAJ.
- Ferguson, Keith (1982). A History of Glenrothes. Glenrothes Development Corporation.