Carolside And Leadervale

The following is from the Historic Environment Scotland Gardens and Designed Landscapes Inventory. For the most up-to-date Inventory entry, please visit the Historic Environment Scotland website:

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Type of Site

A well-preserved late 18th to early 19th-century picturesque landscape comprising two main houses with associated bridge, walled gardens, lodges and drives. The houses are set within a continuous stretch of attractive parkland framed by thick belts of mixed woodlands.

Location and Setting

Located in the valley of the Leader water to the north-west of Earlston, the designed landscape comprises the policies of both Carolside house and Leadervale house. Linked by an ornate bridge, the core parkland policies extend along the flats of the meandering river and are contained by the steep, wooded flank of Huntshaw Hill to the east and the fields and long woodland strips that rise up towards Kedslie to the west. There are long and open views up and down the valley, which continues to form an important corridor of communication through this part of the Scottish Borders. The designed landscape of Carolside and Leadervale encompasses some 148ha (366ac) and attained its present form and extent by the mid 19th century. It includes the lower valley sides as far as the outer edge of Kedslie Glen wood to the north, the outer edge of Carolsidehill Wood to the east, and the minor road leading from Kedslie to Clackmae Dean to the west.

Landscape Components

Architectural Features

Carolside House is a late 18th-century, 3-storey Georgian mansion flanked by two single-storey, bow-fronted wings. Set within a sharp curve of the Leader water, the central portion was possibly built to a design inspired by Isaac Ware's Chesterfield House in London (Cruft et. al. 2006: 152). Earlier 19th century additions include the wings (probably c.1806), sizeable entrance porch and basement balustrade (probably c.1835), while the 3-storey harled block extending from the rear elevation was mainly built in 1936. To the north west, the rubble-built walled garden has a highly unusual oval form with a straight north wall to accommodate a glasshouse on the inside, and potting range on the outside. This potting range, which was given a symmetrical façade and centre pediment in the early 20th century, faces the stables, dated c.late 18th century and built from rubble with sandstone dressings. The original west drive at Carolside leads over a picturesque, single-arched bridge over the Leader Water, constructed in the late 18th century to a design plausibly attributed to Alexander Stevens senior. Just below, on the northern bank, is the remaining facade of a Gothick-style structure, most likely a grotto. The late 18th-century West Lodge, also built to Gothick style with bowed south front and pointed doors, stands at the former entrance to Carolside on the minor Kedslie to Clackmae Mains road (Cruft et. al. 2006: 153).

Leadervale House, on the other side of the river from Carolside, is a harled-rubble Regency villa comprising a piend-roofed square structure on a raised basement with bowed east and west elevations. On the southern façade, a wide fan-shaped flight of steps leads to a bowed Ionic portico. The house displays some architectural similarities to additions on the Carolside mansion (balustrades and the oval hall), which suggest the same architect (Cruft et. al. 2006: 490). A roughly square walled garden with rounded corners lies to the south-east while a possibly early to mid-19th-century lodge with projecting finialled gable stands just to the north of the main entrance to the Leadervale policies (Cruft et. al. 2006: 490).

Drives and Approaches

The original principal drive to Carolside House was established c.1795 when James Hume wrote to a fellow landowner, 'Since I have been accommodated with a piece of ground by my neighbour'I am forming a road to my bridge' (NAS GD113/5/443/144). It entered from the west and snaked down the hill towards the picturesque, late 18th century stone bridge. The design sequence of enclosing woodland, followed by sudden arrival onto the bridge probably served to emphasise the impressive visual impact of the mansion in its attractive parkland setting, and at the time of writing, there are plans to replant policy woodland either side of the surviving track. At the top of the hill, the entrance to this drive is flanked by the late 18th century west lodge. Two sentinel Wellintonia in the lodge garden were planted on the occasion of one of Queen Victoria's jubilees in the late 19th century (Crighton 2010). Foundations of large gate pillars remain detectable just below ground, while smaller gatepiers from a former side gate now stand within the Carolside garden (Crighton 2010).

Today, the main drive to Carolside, probably established c.1835, enters from the A68 to the east. While no trace remains of the small 19th-century entrance lodge, which was removed in the second half of the 20th century, the trajectory itself remains unaltered as the drive sweeps down the slope, offering magnificent views of the house, river and parks before a fork in the approach branches towards the north to the Leader cottages, and south to Carolside House. The shorter main drive to Leadervale, meanwhile, descends towards the house past the lodge on the minor road that leads east from Clackmae.

Parkland

The parkland around Carolside is in excellent condition and specimen trees include oak, beech, birch, sweet chestnut and Douglas Fir. Some of the oldest parkland trees are the chestnuts and oaks, with many appearing to be over 200 years old. The present owners are carrying out a regular renewal programme, and recent plantings include cedar of Lebanon, Wellingtonia, the handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata), and different types of lime. There are also a few young weeping willows by the River Leader. The parkland around Leadervale House is also in good condition and includes beech, oak, lime, horse chestnut and cedar. Although under separate ownerships, the two core policy areas effectively merge together and visually, form a continuous parkland landscape along the valley of the Leader.

Woodland

Extensive woodlands planted from the start of the 19th century onwards serve to shelter and frame the valley parkland landscape while the variety of trees present adds texture and colour. To the east, Carolesidehill Wood is mainly beech, oak, larch, silver birch and spruce with some Scots Pine and Douglas Fir. Near the river, the woodland to the west of the park includes beech, birch, lime, larch and whitebeam. Higher up the hill there are more conifers including spruce and fir. A dense conifer plantation by the old Carolside drive to the southwest of the house was in the process of being felled at the time of writing. In the field to the northwest of Carolside House, there are three specimen oaks and a large roundel of mainly spruce.

The Gardens

At Carolside, the lawn immediately to the west of the house contains some shrub beds and an old yew tree. To the north lies an orchard. Created sometime in the second half of the 20th century, the orchard was planted on the site of a former sinuous lawn walk through flower beds, photographed in 1957. More recently, the present owners have created a sequence of secluded garden areas and walks to the east of the walled garden. Enclosed by the curving stone wall of the walled garden, and high beech and yew hedging, these areas include a hosta walk, a herb garden and further rose garden with a large central oval bed that mirrors the unusual form of the neighbouring walled garden. At Leadervale, narrow lawn terraces linked by steps and partly secluded by beech hedging descend to the west of the house and feature a range of flowers and shrubs. To the south, the lawn was extended c.2000 and planted with a selection of colourful ornamental trees around its borders.

Walled Garden

The distinctive oval walled garden at Carolside first appears on an 1826 estate survey (NAS RHP1206). It now contains one of Scotland's finest English garden style plantings. The impressive collection of different rose cultivars, commented upon as early as 1917, remains in place and has been further developed and added to by the present owners (The Border Magazine 1917: 66). The traditional internal layout of four equal quadrants, which was depicted on the 1826 survey and subsequent Ordnance Survey editions, is maintained and there are many notable planting combinations. Low box hedging lines the perimeter path and the attractive rose beds in front of the glasshouse. Some fruits and vegetables are cultivated, while there are several sturdy veteran apple espaliers on the curving internal wall. At Leadervale, the present owners have undertaken some restoration work on the walled garden, which was also first depicted on the 1826 map. Partly laid to grass and well-maintained, the internal area also contains some beds for kitchen vegetable produce.