The Haining

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:

Type of Site

The Haining is a park and woodland estate landscape centred on an A-listed, classical house and loch, developed mainly in the late 18th to earlier 19th centuries.

Location and Setting

The Haining designed landscape is located at the southern edge of Selkirk. Set within the lower Ettrick valley, it is distinguished topographically by quite strongly undulating landform. The house itself sits on the north bank of Haining Loch, a body of water that lies approximately at the centre of the policies. From the loch, the land ascends towards Selkirk Common to the east, to Haining Moss to the south, and up towards Howden Hill to the west. A prominent natural mound immediately to the north east of the loch was adapted for defence during the 12th-14th centuries, first for a motte and bailey and then as a pele for Edward I. The site is now scheduled on account of its nationally important archaeological remains (PASTMAP).

Late 20th century residential development at the southern margin of Selkirk has reduced the integrity of the designed landscape. However the scenic merit of the policies remains strong, particularly within an urban and suburban context. The hilly terrain, woodlands, and striking policy boundary wall and entrance gateway add variety and interest to local views. The policy wall still partly defines the northern limit of the designed landscape, while to the east, south and west, the boundary is composed of minor roads, field boundaries and the outer edge of woodland plantations. In the 19th century, further parks and woodland stretched much further south than this boundary, incorporating the commercially managed Big Wood and Young Plantation. The designed landscape boundary today encompasses an area of 184ha (454ac).

Landscape Components

Architectural Features

The Haining is a seven-bay classical villa of three-storeys plus attic. Constructed from local whinstone, it was begun in c.1794-95 for Mark Pringle, (attrib. William Elliot), and refaced and remodelled c.1820 for John Pringle to designs by Archibald Elliot. Key alterations included the transfer of the entrance to the north front, the addition of an impressive, arcaded porte cochère supporting a prostyle, pedimented Ionic portico, and, on the south elevation, the construction of an Ionic loggia at ground level, which supports a balustraded balcony. Around the forecourt to the north of the house is a formal cast iron screen with tall, square stone piers, (installed in the late 1820s), while to the south, a terrace of similar date features a row of Canova-style marble statues that face outwards, gazing over Haining Loch. A nearby artificial outlet for the loch is ornamented with two stone obelisks. The footprint of the former 18th-century house remains visible immediately to the west of the present house. Meanwhile, a subterranean passage, discovered during late 19th-century outflow operations, was interpreted as old escape route connected to its predecessor, an old tower or house that probably stood on this site during the 15th-17th centuries (Hallen 1893: 87).

The stables, to the west of The Haining, were designed by John Smith in 1818-19 and comprise two rubble whinstone ranges planned around a rectangular court. The striking crescent-shaped, two-storey south range was converted to residential use in 1983. The north range features a central pend, fronted on its north-elevation by a monumental sandstone arch. The horse skull carving on the keystone is said to symbolise that of the animal which shied and caused the death of John Pringle in 1831. The two-storey, mid 19th-century Dairy Cottage stands to the west of the stables, while nearby are two cast-iron cages designed to hold wolves and bears transported from St. Petersburg. Other estate components include the sandstone, octagon-plan deer larder, built to the north-west of the house c.1830, (restored 1994), a nearby, square ice-pit, and a very ruinous mid 18th-century, lectern-form dovecot, located in a field to the west of the house.

The imposing north gate, which leads from the Green, Selkirk, was designed by John Smith c.1825, and comprises a classical arch with heraldic panel, flanked by paired pilasters and quadrant walls. The associated lodge was demolished in the 1960s. The east lodge, on Castle Street, is largely concealed by 1960s extensions, while the surviving west lodge at Lynnlea is a mid 19th-century, gabled structure with bracketed eaves. It stands close to the former entrance of the west drive, marked by a pair of stone gatepiers with ornamented ball finials. To the south-east of Haining Loch, a stone bridge, which formed part of the south drive, is in poor condition and retains only one of its stone, pyramid piers.

Drives and Approaches

John Smith's impressive north gate, (or town gate) of c.1825 signals the start of the principal drive from Selkirk. It forms a carriage-sweep that originally curved past parkland on its gradual ascent towards the house (Wood 1823; Crawford and Brooke 1843; 1856-9, OS 25'). The other, much older access route from Selkirk to The Haining, via Castle Street, and past the old medieval castle site, is no longer in use. Other drives of the 19th-century designed landscape include the direct western approach, which is no longer in use, but retains its lodge and entrance gatepiers, and the much longer, more circuitous south drive from near Hartwoodburn. This latter approach was designed to impress: Enclosed with an avenue of trees for the first half a kilometre, it then reached the brow of the hill overlooking Haining Loch where the view opened out across the loch, house and the deer park beyond. Some of this former route where it passes Haining Loch now forms part of the Borders Abbeys Way.

Paths and Walks

One of the most attractive paths within the designed landscape is Lady's Walk, which curves around the northern, lower flank of Peel Hill. Lined with mature lime trees, it was certainly in place by the mid 19th century, as depicted on the 1st edition OS map (1856-9, OS 25'). Another important path forms a circuit around Haining Loch. Published accounts of the Victorian era note the charm of this pleasant woodland walk, which remains popular today, referring to the 'natural arcade' formed by the 'long limbs of fine beeches', and birches and chestnuts, 'drooping over towards the water' (Berwickshire Naturalists' Club Transactions 1884; Lindsay 1883: 86). Many of the older broadleafs have now gone, but the essential woodland character remains. At the time of writing, parts of this walk have been recently improved through the addition of boardwalk segments. To the west of the loch, above the lochside path, is a well-preserved section of a service track, no longer in use, that originally split off from the south drive and led directly to the stables and other estate buildings.

Parkland

The Haining once boasted an extensive, and very impressive coverage of parkland that encompassed most of the land within the present designed landscape boundary. Today, although the basic structure endures, virtually all of the former parkland trees are gone, and the grounds are mainly employed for grazing. Historic maps, photographs and accounts, however, give an impression of the former parkland design, as developed through major planting projects in the late 18th century and early 19th century. In 1797, for example, the Rev. Dr. Douglas wrote that the pleasure grounds, 'embellished by clumps, detached trees, and shrubs scattered up and down, and diversified with wonderful felicity, attract the notice and admiration of travellers' (quoted in Craig Brown 1886: 313). The naturally undulating terrain strengthened the scenic impact of the design, and old black and white photographs of Selkirk demonstrate how in the past, the wood and parkland policies formed a visually arresting backdrop to the growing town. The first edition OS map meanwhile, reveals the precise structure and extent of the planting, which in addition to the clumps and detached trees, included roundels, ridgeline planting, and avenue planting along some of the estate drives and roads (1856-9, OS 25'). The Deer Park was also stocked with fallow deer during the late 19th century and until 1939 (Craig-Brown 1886: 313; LUC 1987). At the time of writing, the Deer Park has been planted with a good number of native saplings, a move that may help to restore the historic parkland character in this area.

Woodland

The main areas of surviving broadleaf woodland are on Peel Hill, and around Haining Loch. Although many veteran trees of the 18th and early 19th century have now gone, the remaining woodland still provides some scenic and nature conservation value within the local landscape. A grant awarded by Forestry Commission Scotland in 2007 will hopefully revitalise the woodland resource, and already, a swathe of young deciduous saplings have been planted to the north of Peel Hill, an area formerly stocked with commercially-grown conifers. Other areas of commercially managed woodland, first planted during the 20th century, occupy the south-east corner of the designed landscape, and the slopes of Howden Hill to the west. The very large plantation of Big Wood to the south of the designed landscape was originally part of The Haining estate, and was planted as forestry by the time of the 1st edition OS survey (1856-9, OS 25' and 6').

Water Features

Haining Loch is mentioned in a document of 1507 (Craig Brown 1886: 301), and is depicted on 17th century maps (Pont 1608, Adair 1688). In 1661, it became the focus of a legal case when the laird's efforts to drain the 'stinking water' of the marshy loch were met with resistance from the Mayor of Berwick and others who feared a negative impact on salmon stocks further downstream in the River Tweed (Brown 1826: 292; Craig Brown 1886: 306). Riddell's right to drain the loch was upheld, and over the course of ensuing centuries, the loch became a key element in the overall aesthetic of the core policies. The level of the water was lowered and an ornamented outflow drain installed, while in the early 19th century, John Pringle commissioned the impressive terrace adorned with statues to the south of the house. Although now affected by the proliferation of algae, the loch still remains an important and attractive feature.

The Gardens

A handful of tall specimen conifers planted near the house during the later 19th century, such as Monkey puzzle and Wellingtonia, project above the surrounding woodland canopy, and are prominent in views towards the house from the lochside path. Meanwhile, historic photographs of the early 20th century indicate that the northern shore of the loch once comprised an immaculately managed garden area comprising closely-clipped lawns, neat gravel paths and a shrubbery. Unmanaged for many years during the later 20th century, some of the ornamental trees and shrubs nevertheless survived. An ornamental, oval pond immediately to the south of the stables was in place by the late 1940s, and was probably installed in the first half of the 20th century (RCAHMS 1957: 50).

Walled Garden

The walled garden was sold separately from the house and policies during the 20th century, and has not been in horticultural use since the earlier part of that century. Located immediately to the east of Peel Hill, it comprises a lozenge-shaped enclosure, with stone walls around part of its circuit. It is depicted on John Wood's town map of Selkirk of 1823 (Wood 1823). The first edition OS map, meanwhile, reveals something of its former structure. It was divided into regular plots, with a central path running for most of the length of the garden (1856-9, OS 25'). By the end of the 19th century, a new and larger glasshouse had been installed in the northern sector of the garden, while the sales particulars of 1939 list a 'lean-to peach house, green house, two vineries, a small fern house (all heated), boiler house, tool shed and a fine yew hedge' (NAS GD1/1138/6).