Mavisbank (also known as New Saughton House)

http://portal.historic-scotland.gov.uk/hes/web/f?p=PORTAL:DESIGNATIONS:0

Type of Site

A small country estate with surviving evidence of: an early eighteenth century ferme ornee with a pate d'oie or 'goosefoot' of allees and vistas, former wilderness, a canal, a 'Roman Station' and walled gardens with gazebo; modifications made in the late eighteenth century to create a landscape park with parkland, specimen trees and informal lochan; and later embellishments including Victorian shrubberies.

Location and Setting

Situated 9km south-east of Edinburgh, the designed landscape occupies the north side of the River North Esk, flowing here on a south-west to north-east alignment through an incised valley. While the valley slopes rise steeply immediately on the south side of the river, on the north side a narrow low-lying flood plain rises through a short escarpment to a broad upper terrace north of which a wooded escarpment rises steeply to the valley edge, with flat agricultural land beyond. Mavisbank House stands at the south-west end of the site, commanding views to the north-east. Localised landform within the designed landscape, including the earthwork, the 'Roman Station', situated immediately south-west of Mavisbank House combines with natural topography to create a dramatic, compact and secluded setting. The designed landscape, which occupies some 146 hectares, is surrounded by urban development with Loanhead, 1km to the north-west, Lasswade, 2km to the east, and Bonnyrigg and Polton, approximately 1km to the south-east. These communities are set amid an agricultural landscape altered by former coal mining.

The designed landscape is defined on the north side by the garden boundaries of housing south of Lasswade and Braeside Roads and by the A768. The boundary continues down the west side of Kevock Road, incorporating residential properties including the Old Lodge (listed category C) then descends to the valley floor, continuing on the line of a footpath leading west, running parallel to and north of the River North Esk as far as the road bridge at Polton. From here the boundary follows the derelict retaining wall on the north side of Polton Road and then leads directly north, on the edge of the parkland west of the 'Roman Station' leading to the west side of the former carriage drive heading north to Linden Place. Views into Mavisbank are afforded largely from Polton, south-east of the house and from the A768 across the farmland along the northern boundary. There are long views across the valley from the top edge of the escarpment on the north edge of the designed landscape. The mature parks and woodlands of Mavisbank policies make some contribution to the variety of the surrounding scenery.

Mavisbank is one of a number of cultural landscapes established within the dramatic beauty of the River North Esk valley: Newhall (qv), an eighteenth century picturesque landscape laid out along the river glen, associated with Newhall House; Penicuik (qv), an influential and fine example of the early eighteenth century work and family home of Sir John Clerk, creator of Mavisbank; Roslin Glen and Hawthornden Castle (qv), a cultural landscape developed during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, epitomising the Scottish Romantic landscape as portrayed by numerous artists, historical and literary figures; Melville Castle (qv), where elements of the designed landscape dating from c1765 survive; and Dalkeith House (Palace) (qv), a formal design, modified to an informal layout in the late C18.

Landscape Components

Architectural Features

Mavisbank House is a Classical country house, built between 1723 and 1727, with alterations in 1840. It was built in Penicuik sandstone as a five by four bay square-plan corps de logis, with flanking quadrant links of a single arcaded storey over a basement, the screen walls curving forward and linking symmetrically disposed pavilions. The gable ends of the two storey pavilions are flanked by banded pilasters and above Venetian windows boldly scrolled chimney stacks are pierced by a central bulls eye, echoing the main house. The south pavilion took advantage of changes in ground level, and had a second basement and service yard. Much of the existing exterior of the house, although currently roofless, remains as it was originally designed by Sir John Clerk and William Adam (1689-1748). Only vestiges of the interior, which was laid out as a series of enfilades, the doors and windows arranged to control views to the landscape beyond, survive.

North-east of the north pavilion of Mavisbank House, a large barrel vaulted early 18th century structure, listed as an ice house but of uncertain function, is set into the bank. Constructed of dressed sandstone, the interior of double brick vaulting formerly lined with plaster may have been modified late 19th or early 20th century. A tall circular early 18th century Doocot stands on the north rim of the valley. In Sir John Clerk's time, this eye-catching feature would draw the viewer across the subtle formality of the villa and its gardens to the productive rural agricultural world beyond. The upper third of the doocot is partially missing and no evidence of nesting boxes survives. The building is roofless with a sunken doorway on the south west face and a full doorway and arch set above. Low flanking walls on either side of the doocot only partially survive. A small window or oculus on the south east face reflects similar features on the main house and the former Jointure House on Linden Place, Loanhead.

North of Mavisbank House, at the north west end of the north drive, is Mavisbank Jointure House, one of the oldest buildings in Loanhead. Built as a property to be enjoyed by a widow after the death of her husband, it was first occupied by Lady Clerk, Janet Inglis, in 1755. It seems she disliked its proximity to Loanhead, noting that she had to lift the hoops of her skirt sideways on entering and exiting the house, thus 'exposing' herself to local townsfolk. The building may have been used as an infant school in the 19th century and is now split into two dwellings. East of this, at the top of the north drive, is Mavisbank Gate Lodge, built around 1830 and now in private ownership. The Old Lodge on Kevock Road, at the east end of the policies, also appears to have been constructed at this time. In the mid 20th century, it was sold to a private owner.

The Dairy buildings stand south of Mavisbank House, at the west end of the south drive, opposite the remnants of the small flower garden and gazebo. Much of this handsome complex of buildings, built in the mid 19th century on the site of a former 18th century farm, survives with dairy, stabling and storage and walled yard with gate piers and gates. It has been converted into three dwellings. The Game Larder, 19th century, with associated icehouse below, stands on the wooded ridge between the house and the dairy, for optimum shade and ventilation.

Drives and Approaches

The north and south drives are the oldest, established in Sir John Clerk's time. The north drive served as the principal access and led into Mavisbank from Loanhead. The steep confined serpentine nature of this drive was dramatic, descending and concealing by turns what lay beyond until the climax at the upper terrace, the house and its designed landscape fully revealed. In the 19th century, the southern end of the drive was realigned to accommodate villa extensions. The drive is currently in private ownership. The south drive, which possibly pre-dated the Clerk landscape, traditionally provided the service access to Mavisbank to, for example, the stables in the south pavilion and the walled kitchen and flower gardens. In the 19th century the dairy, its ancillary buildings and yard were established at the south end of this drive. Although paved at its southern end, beyond the north side of the main kitchen garden, the drive survives as a grassy track fading into a field to the west of the 'Roman Station'. The shift in style from ferme ornee to landscape park in the early 19th century was reflected in a change of emphasis from the dramatic north approach to a lengthy and more leisurely approach from the east, where glimpsed views of the house were orchestrated by parkland trees and clumps. Used as recently as 1950, this drive became redundant with the sale of the east lodge and is now a grassy track eroded by springs and rivulets.

Paths and Walks

Documentary evidence identifies a number of paths and walks associated with the ferme ornee. The Debois report describes serpentine paths, of which some evidence remains, leading through the wilderness wedges and crossing the avenues, affording views towards Mavisbank House. West of the 'Roman Station' evidence of a path network, which explored the dramatic contours of this part of the designed landscape and thus the views, survives. Between the house and the woodland garden, a terraced walk dating from the 18th century remains evident. A walk through the woodland garden on the south-facing bank from the house to the kitchen garden was described by Allan Ramsay in his 'Epistle wrote from Mavisbank' in 1740 as well as paths leading down to the river. In the 18th century, in contrast to the formality of the three allees, sheltered circuit walks were orchestrated along the river and lower parkland, heralding the enjoyment of the 'picturesque', surviving today as an informal riverside walk, enjoyed by the local community.

Parkland

Two areas of parkland survive, the first extending north and east of the house as upper and lower parkland and the second is an area of undulating slopes, west of the house and 'Roman Station'. A tree report dated 2004, records a number of fine individual specimen trees in the parkland at Mavisbank, some from the 18th century layout and many surviving from 19th century plantings. North and east of the house, in the upper parkland, in an area formerly allees and wilderness, fine specimens of oak and occasional lime, beech and horse chestnut stand around the lochan, with well developed spreading canopies. In the 18th century, in the lower parkland nearer the river, it is thought that the plantings would have made a physical and visual transition between the dense wedges of wilderness tree planting and the more naturalistic wooded river valley. West of the house and 'Roman Station', an open parkland character remains with beech predominating, with some fine well formed specimens dating from the early 19th century. In general a large number of stumps testify to a history of gradual loss and depletion of individual specimen trees in the estate.

Woodland

Little survives of the early 18th century woodland planting, avenues of elm or lime trees flanking the allees and the wedges between as wooded wilderness. It is known that by later in the century Clerk had already modified the original layout to a more relaxed style, by thinning areas of wilderness. The late 18th century landscape park is now more in evidence, the undulating parkland framed by woodland on the steeper slopes. Two linear strips of woodland, which occupy sloping ground north and south of the parkland, are of mixed age structure and species. Although a few original trees survive, the loss of elms and self-seeding of sycamore combine with mature and overgrown laurel and rhododendron, changing the character and appearance of the woodland, growing over paths and impeding views. Specimens dating from the 19th century are scattered throughout the site but the presence of many large stumps testify to a history of loss and depletion. The present landscape is generally inward-looking, in parts intimate, enhanced by the woodlands, tree groups, avenues and parkland trees, all of which blend well with the rolling topography and valley character of the site. Some of the scrub and self-seeded trees, invasive in areas around the house over the last forty years, have been removed.

Woodland Garden

South of the house and thought to have been part of the wilderness in Clerk's layout, no evidence survives of a former summer house in this area. There are remnants of flights of steps and the game larder with associated icehouse below, both now disused, and a medium height stone retaining wall at the base of the bank. The steep banks south and west of the house are currently clothed in rhododendrons, laurel, ornamental shrubs, conifers, most planted in the nineteenth century. Natural regeneration of birch and other deciduous species continues to colonise this bank.

Water Features

The narrow irregular lochan, situated in the parkland north-east of the house and located on what was the central allee of the 'goosefoot', survives from the formal layout of the early 18th century ferme ornee. Originally a narrow rectilinear canal seamlessly married to topography and fed from a diverted stream, it would have presented a pleasing tableau of the house, reflected in its clear still sheet of water, looking back from the north-east. Garden archaeology research may reveal more about the full decorative nature of the canal. Its functional aspects may have included uses such as hydrological control, as a reservoir of water, for ice production and/or for the stocking of fish. In the mid 19th century the canal was enlarged to create a more naturalistic water body, more characteristic of a landscape park. This proved unsuccessful, the excavated soil dumped on the south side creating an awkward illusion of low water level in the lochan and natural topography restricting the extent to which the lochan could be extended.

Clerk also valued the wild natural scenery of the River North Esk as a contrast to the formality of the pate d'oie and canal. The dramatic river landscape added greatly to the variety of the garden experience and anticipated the desire for the picturesque and sublime landscapes which would emerge later in the century. This connection to the river was expressed, in the early 18th century, through, for example, a walk that was thought to lead from the house to the walled gardens by way of the river itself, a tradition that continues in the present riverside walk.

The Gardens

In the 18th century, the immediate setting of the house held two axial features which, in composition with the house, controlled the arrangement of the designed landscape: the courtyard north east of the house and the 'Roman Station' immediately south west. The introduction of pavilions in symmetrical arrangement gave added emphasis to the east front of Mavisbank House and shaped a courtyard which Clerk may have enclosed by walls. Documentary evidence suggests that this area was laid out either as a courtyard parterre anglais or as grass with gravel paths, reflecting the formality and symmetrical arrangement of the pavilions and that there was a change in level between the forecourt and the landscape beyond. Later modifications by Clerk, which heralded the shift towards a more informal style, would see this replaced by grass and an elegant looped drive, the enclosing walls removed. By 1894 the gently sloping bank between the parkland and the house had been remodelled into a series of terraces and planted banks, none of which survives today, with the area directly in front of the house currently grassed.

Rising steeply south west of Mavisbank House, a large circular earthwork, visible as a flat-topped mound, occupies the summit of a natural hill. As a sculpted feature, it is somewhat enigmatic, set within the parkland surrounding the house. Its close proximity to the house and its visual and physical relationship to the central axis of the house and to the former central allee of the goosefoot, identifies the mound as a key element formerly controlling the layout of the designed landscape. Documentary sources establish that the earthwork was a pre-existing archaeological feature, either a prehistoric enclosure dating from 1000BC to AD 400 or a medieval motte dating from AD 1100 to 1300. Clerk, a keen antiquarian, records that he made a deliberate decision to site Mavisbank House here 'for the sake of the round hill above it', believing it to be a 'Roman Station', thus fulfilling his vision to bring the Roman villa ideal to the lowlands of Scotland.

Clerk modified the pre-existing earthwork by creating or enhancing the terrace, now visible part way down its sloping sides. He integrated the feature into the garden by creating 'a winding ascent up to it, with hedges planted from the bottome to the top' providing direct access from the house to the summit. He also wished to enjoy a view of a Roman 'trench and agger' from his salon window. Commanding views from the 'Roman Station' to the north east would reveal the character of his Arcadian vision made real in the valley of the River North Esk. In 1739, Roger Gale and Doctor Knight, one of the founders of the Society of Antiquities, visited Mavisbank, Gale observing that 'you would think yourself rather in a valley near Tivoli than Edenborough.' Gradual colonisation of the north east bank of the mound by rhododendron species, planted mid 19th century, currently obscures the symmetrical ramped paths or 'winding ascent' and mature sycamore species intervene in views from the summit across the designed landscape.

Walled Garden

The large early 18th-century oval walled kitchen garden, situated in a sheltered position south east of the house, between the south drive and the river, is now entirely under grass, with two mature yew trees, believed to be planted by Sir John Clerk, at the north-east end of a central walk. This walk is part of a surviving formal cruciform arrangement of paths, controlled by an axial alignment with the house, the whole connected by a wide perimeter walk. The central circular focal space, occupied in Sir John Clerk's time by a pool, fountain and bronze statue, is now vacant. Gateways to the north west, north east and south east survive as square plan ashlar sandstone gatepiers and wrought iron gates, a set of stone steps descending into the kitchen garden from the north west entrance. Old fruit trees survive, trained on the inner red brick skin of the long curving south-facing walls, which are part retaining wall on the garden side and free standing along the west drive, where the external wall is faced in ashlar sandstone, as that of the house, quarried in Penicuik. After World War II the garden was sold and used as a market garden and, later, as a nursery. The former lean-to potting sheds and vinery on the south side of the straight south wall of the garden have been rebuilt as a private residence.

Remnants of a smaller early 18th-century walled flower garden survive to the south-west of the kitchen garden. General Roy's map of around 1750 depicts the connection of the central axial walk through the large kitchen garden leading to a smaller rectangular walled garden to the south-west. The large kitchen garden was originally constructed as circular and possibly re-planned to an oval configuration in its southern half in response to alterations to the course of the River North Esk around 1850, alterations which also reduced the small rectangular garden to a triangular space. A small square-plan 18th-century sandstone gazebo or summerhouse, built by Sir John Clerk, has survived within the remains of this former flower garden.