Dalkeith Palace
Dalkeith Palace is situated just five miles from Edinburgh’s city centre at the stunning Dalkeith Country Park. The Palace architecture and surrounding area are wonderful and, although it is not possible to see the interior, they are worth a visit alone. Furthermore, the Park is currently undergoing an exciting redevelopment project which started in summer 2016. You can read more about this on Dalkeith Country Park’s website.
Dalkeith Palace was built in 1702 on the site of an earlier Castle and until the 1920s was the principal seat of the Montagu Douglas Scott family in Scotland. The Palace was the creation of Anna Scott, the 1st Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch’s widow, who employed James Smith, Scotland’s leading architect in classical style at the time. Modelled on William of Orange’s palace in the Netherlands, Het Loo, no expense was spared as huge quantities of marble were important and engravings were done by Grinling Gibbons.
After Anna passed away, Dalkeith was further developed with a bridge by Robert Adam and a fine Stableblock. Fortunately, the dramatic neo-Jacobean makeover planned by William Burn in the 1820s never got beyond the stage of an elaborate model.
Dalkeith Palace has not been lived in by the Buccleuch family since 1914, and in 1920 the palace gardens and glasshouses were let as market gardens. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Dalkeith Palace was used as a research and development office by the computer firm International Computers Ltd. (ICL), which leased the Palace until 1983. From 1985 it was leased to the University of Wisconsin system for a study abroad programme. Approximately 60-80 students a semester lived in the palace, where they also took classes from UK and US faculty members. The University and Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust announced in July 2020 that the lease would end in January 2021
Dalkeith Palace
Dalkeith Palace is situated just five miles from Edinburgh’s city centre at the stunning Dalkeith Country Park. The Palace architecture and surrounding area are wonderful and, although it is not possible to see the interior, they are worth a visit alone. Furthermore, the Park is currently undergoing an exciting redevelopment project which started in summer 2016. You can read more about this on Dalkeith Country Park’s website.
Dalkeith Palace was built in 1702 on the site of an earlier Castle and until the 1920s was the principal seat of the Montagu Douglas Scott family in Scotland. The Palace was the creation of Anna Scott, the 1st Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch’s widow, who employed James Smith, Scotland’s leading architect in classical style at the time. Modelled on William of Orange’s palace in the Netherlands, Het Loo, no expense was spared as huge quantities of marble were important and engravings were done by Grinling Gibbons.
After Anna passed away, Dalkeith was further developed with a bridge by Robert Adam and a fine Stableblock. Fortunately, the dramatic neo-Jacobean makeover planned by William Burn in the 1820s never got beyond the stage of an elaborate model.
Dalkeith Palace has not been lived in by the Buccleuch family since 1914, and in 1920 the palace gardens and glasshouses were let as market gardens. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Dalkeith Palace was used as a research and development office by the computer firm International Computers Ltd. (ICL), which leased the Palace until 1983. From 1985 it was leased to the University of Wisconsin system for a study abroad programme. Approximately 60-80 students a semester lived in the palace, where they also took classes from UK and US faculty members. The University and Buccleuch Living Heritage Trust announced in July 2020 that the lease would end in January 2021