Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

CULZEAN CASTLE ESTATE, CAMELLIA HOUSELB7597

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Group Category Details
100000019 - See Notes
Date Added
14/04/1971
Local Authority
South Ayrshire
Planning Authority
South Ayrshire
Parish
Kirkoswald
NGR
NS 23237 10020
Coordinates
223237, 610020

Description

James Donaldson, circa 1815. Single storey with submerged basement, double-height, polygonal-plan core with rectangular-plan 14-bay wings arranged 5-4-5, Gothick orangery, in use as conservatory. Polished ashlar. Standing alone in garden setting with principal elevation to S. Stepped plinth to centre and ends. Crenellated parapet with pinnacles. Ogee arched apertures to centre, rectangular apertures to wings.

S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: double-height projecting centrepiece. Paired doors in centre bays.

N (REAR) ELEVATION: 2 central bays with ogee-arched apertures. Blind wings. Steps down to basement on E.

E AND W ELEVATIONS: 5 bays with door in centre. Metal-framed doors and windows in timber sub-frames, with glazing bars forming interlocking pointed arches. Pyramidal timber and slate roof to centre. Metal-framed glazed roofs to wings.

INTERIOR (seen 2010): double-height centrepiece with clerestorey containing groined ogival arch with columns of clustered colonnettes. N wall of ashlar. Flagstone floor with cast iron decorative vent covers. Timber rafters with steel cable ties.

Statement of Special Interest

Part of an A-group at Culzean Castle Estate comprising: Culzean Castle; Castle Walls etc; Fountain Court etc; Ruined Arch and Viaduct; Stable Block etc; Camellia House; Cat Gates; Home Farm; Powder House; Ardlochan Lodge; Dolphin House; Hoolity Ha'; Swan Pond Complex; Swan Pond Ice House; Walled Garden; Bathing Complex; Water Works; Shore Boat House; Battery and Mast House; Main Drive Walls and Piers; Gas Works.

The Camellia House, as it is now called, would have been the height of fashion when it was built. The Regency period saw an increasing interest in conservatories and a neo-Gothic approach was considered appropriate for buildings designed to maximise interior lighting. The Prince of Wales had led the way with his Gothic conservatory at Carlton House in 1807 (now demolished) and the craze reached its height in the 1830s. However these buildings were extremely fragile and vulnerable making this an extremely rare early surviving example. Designed as an orangery for the 12th Earl of Cassillis, it originally employed a Roman type hypocaust system of heating. Citrus trees, however, failed to bear fruit and it was used as a general conservatory, taking its name from the Camellia flowers that were successfully grown there. In the late 19th, or early 20th century, a steam heating system using cast iron pipes was installed. The building later fell into disuse and dereliction, necessitating consolidation repairs in 1964. It was restored and reglazed in 1995 and the heating equipment cleared from the basement.

Together with the remarkable ornamental landscape of its estate, Culzean Castle is acknowledged as the epitome of the Picturesque movement in Scotland, in its own right and is a work of international importance. Culzean, at one time the largest estate in Ayrshire, has been associated with the Kennedy family since the Middle Ages. It was gifted by Gilbert the 4th Earl of Cassillis to his brother Thomas Kennedy, in 1569. In the 1660s, the barmekin around the tower house was breached to create the terraced gardens, orchards, and walled garden for which Culzean was notable, while the caves beneath the castle ' now a scheduled monument ' were fortified to serve as secure stores. Culzean Castle became the principal family seat when Sir Thomas Kennedy (1726-75) became the 9th Earl of Cassillis, in 1759. A continuing programme of improvements was undertaken by Sir Thomas and his successors during the 18th and 19th centuries. The 10th Earl began rebuilding the Castle to designs by Robert Adam. This work was continued by Archibald (1770-1846), the 12th Earl, later the 1st Marquess of Ailsa. From about 1810 onwards he commissioned numerous structures, both practical and ornamental, and several important architects and landscape designers were engaged to embellish the gardens and grounds with ponds, gates, lodges and pavilions, resulting in several key works of the Picturesque era. The 3rd Marquess undertook the modernisation and enlargement of the Castle in the 1870s. In 1945, the 5th Marquess of Ailsa divided the property, making over the Castle, and the policies immediately surrounding it, to the National Trust for Scotland.

The architect James Donaldson (c1756-1843) originated in Ayrshire and later inherited the estate of Williamshaw, in Stewarton Parish. He worked for Robert Mylne and was a district surveyor for the City of London. He is known to have produced a survey plan of Culzean Castle in 1818 and worked on the 1st Marquess's estate at Isleworth, which had substantial greenhouses.

List description revised as part of the Culzean Castle Estate Review (2010-11).

References

Bibliography

1st Edition Ordnance Survey (1854-9). Rob Close, Ayrshire & Arran Illustrated Architectural Guide (1992) pp169-172. Michael S Moss, The Magnificent Castle of Culzean & the Kennedy Family (2002). The Marquess of Ailsa Culzean Castle Drawing, copies in the RCAHMS. National Trust for Scotland Archive. Additional information from Michael Moss, University of Glasgow and Kinlay Laidlaw, National Trust for Scotland Area Surveyor (2010).

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

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Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 29/03/2024 12:09