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

South Range of Falkland Palace including adjoining gatehouse to west and Cross House within east range, and excluding scheduled monument SM854, Falkland Palace, FalklandLB8798

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Date Added
01/02/1972
Last Date Amended
27/06/2017
Local Authority
Fife
Planning Authority
Fife
Parish
Falkland
NGR
NO 25344 7454
Coordinates
325344, 707454

Description

3-sided quadrangular structure comprising orginally:-

NORTH QUARTER:- Mid 15th century: contained great hall, evidently similar in plan form to hall at Stirling. Renovated from 1502, burnt 1654; only foundations remain.

EAST QUARTER:- Circa 1500-12, 3-storey with vaulted ground floor; courtyard facade recast from 1537, John Merlioun, original rubble work left exposed, 6-bay treatment with Corinthian columned buttresses and roundels to match south range work by Nicholas Roy and Moses Martin; 'dovecot' circular stair tower at NE. Vaulted ground floor and

courtyard facade less dormerheads survive intact, remainder much ruined.

CROSS HOUSE:- Circa 1500-12, rectangular tower at centre east front of above, rectangular plan with circular stair turret at NE; rebuilt from 1st floor level upwards 1890s except for stair turret which had largely survived: decoration of King James V room, W Schomberg Scott and David McClure.

SOUTH QUARTER:- Originally Circa 1501-12. 3-storey and attic (tall 2nd floor containing chapel), vaulted ground floor, northern lean-to corridor. Completely refaced in ashlar 1537-41; Thomas French and James Black 1538-9, 6-bay late gothic south front, niched buttresses with statuary by Peter Flemishman, square-headed 2-light windows 2nd floor, rich corbelled and crenellated parapet. Nicholas Roy and Moses Martin 1540-41, north courtyard facade, corinthian columned buttresses and roundels with busts, mullioned and transomed 2nd floor windows, segmentally pedimented dormers, details of Loire School; chapel ceiling with painted decoration 1633; original wooden screen, Royal Pew reconstructed on model of that at Scone incorporating fragments of original Falkland one. Gate House (Foirentre and tower, Captain's Chambers). John Brownhill and Henry Bawte completed 1539-41 evidently

incorporating earlier work. 3-storey with crenellated parapet and cap house, pend entry flanked on south by round towers; corridor on north side left unbuilt. Ashlar except at site of corridor. Panel embellishments added in 1893-6 restoration.

RESTORATIONS: considerably and in part altered c 1840, presumably under supervision of William Burn, for O Tyndall Bruce; Burn's alterations largely removed, extensive restorations and repairs inside and out, John Kinross from 1893 onwards, chiefly 1893-6; elaborate painted decoration

based on the paintings of David Scott by Thomas Bonnar 1895-6, interior fittings from Bute workshops at Cardiff.

Statement of Special Interest

Items 1-8 and 10-13 and 16B group with items 1-104 in Falkland Burgh. SCHEDULED MONUMENT. The present palace was begun by James II. In the 16th century the Bethunes of Creich became hereditary keepers, the keepership passing by marriage to David Viscount Murray of Stormont who built a house on the site of the original castle early in the 17th century, long ago demolished; the keepership passed from the Murrays to

the Earl of Atholl during the Commonwealth; and thence to the Dukes of Atholl; acquired 1787 by Skene of Pitlour, and thence by marriage to the Moncrieffs of the Myres; in 1820 General George Moncrieff disposed of it to Professor John Bruce whose niece brought it to O Tyndall Bruce who repaired the much neglected south quarter and gatehouse in 1840; acquired from the Bruces 1887 by the 3rd Marquess of Bute: to Lord Ninian Crichton Stuart 1900, to Major Michael Crichton Stuart 1915;

National Trust Deputy Keeper 1952.

References

Bibliography

Inv 238; Sir Iain Moncrieffe, Royal Palace of Falkland, Billings,

Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities v II; C & D Arch v I p 501; Mark Girouard in Country life, August 27, September 3 1959; J S Richardson, the Mediaeval Stone Carver in Scotland; H M Paton, accounts of the Masters of Work, 1529-1615: gives details of craftsmen employed under Sir James Hamilton of Finnart 1537-40; and under John Scryingeour of the Myres 1540-2: and subsequent repairs in the reign of James VI. William Turnbull, Andrew Matheson, William Thome and Andrew Wright were responsible for the previous chapel block in 1501-12, but it does not seem absolutely clear which part of the building as it now stands is referred to.

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.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

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.

Images

Gatehouse at Falkland Palace viewed from southwest on a clear day with blue sky
Cross House within east range at Falkland Palace viewed from south on a clear day with blue sky

Map

Map

Printed: 28/03/2024 20:12