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Hurley Cove _ Penicuik Estate, Midlothian, Scotland
3 sets of 5 images HDR -2, -1, 0, +1, +2 and then the 3 sets focus stacked
The designed landscape was created in stages during the later 17th and 18th Centuries and was associated with both an earlier and the present house. Its principal creator in the first half of the 18th Century was Baron Clerk. It is of outstanding importance in the development of landscape gardens in Britain because it represents the transition from Baroque regularity to naturalistic landscape, with features from its programme of development well preserved, all within an outstanding natural wooded scenery. The eighteen structures and monuments within the landscape provide focal points for this picturesque aesthetic.
Two of the key architectural features created by the Baron at Penicuik - the Knights Law Tower and the Hurley Cave - are seminal examples of their type in Scotland, as well as being early examples in Britain as a whole.
Baron Clerk was the most advanced and articulate theorist on landscape gardening in Scotland during the first half of the 18th century. Although some of his ideas drew upon concepts of landscape design just beginning to be disseminated in England, many were highly original. His ideas on architecture and landscape gardening were articulated in his long poem, "The Country Seat", and were put into practice at Penicuik.
The Hurley Cave and Ponds were commenced in 1740 and completed in 1742. Hurley Cave is an artificial tunnel about 40m long, approached by a bridge over the river and entered through a rusticated arch. The tunnel rises up a slope of about 10 degrees and is cut through rock at its centre. Near the middle of the tunnel, hollowed out of rock, is a domed chamber which contains the inscription "Tenebrosa occultaque cave" ("Beware of Dark and Hidden Things". Sir John had visited London in 1727 and again in 1733, when he visited Chiswick. It has been suggested that his design may have been influenced by Alexander Pope's garden grotto. The visitor experience of Hurley Cave was described by Sir John in his own words:
"No one can get across to it but by the mouth of a frightful cave. To those who enter, therefore, first occurs the memory of the Cuman Sibyl, for the ruinous aperture, blocked up with stones and briars strikes the eye. Then comes upon the wayfarers a shudder, as they stand in doubt whether they are among the living or the dead. As indeed certain discords set off and give finish to musical cadencies in such a way as to render the subsequent harmony more grateful to the ear, so does the mouth of this mournful cave, with its long and shady path followed by the light and prospect make the exit more delightful. For suddenly the darkness disappears, and it is as it were at the creation of a new world".
Hurley Cove _ Penicuik Estate, Midlothian, Scotland
3 sets of 5 images HDR -2, -1, 0, +1, +2 and then the 3 sets focus stacked
The designed landscape was created in stages during the later 17th and 18th Centuries and was associated with both an earlier and the present house. Its principal creator in the first half of the 18th Century was Baron Clerk. It is of outstanding importance in the development of landscape gardens in Britain because it represents the transition from Baroque regularity to naturalistic landscape, with features from its programme of development well preserved, all within an outstanding natural wooded scenery. The eighteen structures and monuments within the landscape provide focal points for this picturesque aesthetic.
Two of the key architectural features created by the Baron at Penicuik - the Knights Law Tower and the Hurley Cave - are seminal examples of their type in Scotland, as well as being early examples in Britain as a whole.
Baron Clerk was the most advanced and articulate theorist on landscape gardening in Scotland during the first half of the 18th century. Although some of his ideas drew upon concepts of landscape design just beginning to be disseminated in England, many were highly original. His ideas on architecture and landscape gardening were articulated in his long poem, "The Country Seat", and were put into practice at Penicuik.
The Hurley Cave and Ponds were commenced in 1740 and completed in 1742. Hurley Cave is an artificial tunnel about 40m long, approached by a bridge over the river and entered through a rusticated arch. The tunnel rises up a slope of about 10 degrees and is cut through rock at its centre. Near the middle of the tunnel, hollowed out of rock, is a domed chamber which contains the inscription "Tenebrosa occultaque cave" ("Beware of Dark and Hidden Things". Sir John had visited London in 1727 and again in 1733, when he visited Chiswick. It has been suggested that his design may have been influenced by Alexander Pope's garden grotto. The visitor experience of Hurley Cave was described by Sir John in his own words:
"No one can get across to it but by the mouth of a frightful cave. To those who enter, therefore, first occurs the memory of the Cuman Sibyl, for the ruinous aperture, blocked up with stones and briars strikes the eye. Then comes upon the wayfarers a shudder, as they stand in doubt whether they are among the living or the dead. As indeed certain discords set off and give finish to musical cadencies in such a way as to render the subsequent harmony more grateful to the ear, so does the mouth of this mournful cave, with its long and shady path followed by the light and prospect make the exit more delightful. For suddenly the darkness disappears, and it is as it were at the creation of a new world".