Kinneil House

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Kinneil House
James Watt's workshop

Kinneil House is a mansion on the western edge of the Scottish town of Bo'ness in the Council Area of Falkirk . In 1971 the building was included in the Scottish monument lists, initially in category B. The upgrade to the highest category A took place in 2006. An additional classification as a Scheduled Monument was removed in 2017.

history

Towards the end of the 13th century, the later King Robert I. Walter fitz awarded Gilbert of Cadzow , the oldest known ancestor of the Hamilton clan , the lands in what was then West Lothian . In the 1470s, James Hamilton, 1st Lord Hamilton, had a tower house built there. After James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran was installed as regent for the minor Queen Maria Stuart , he had Kinneil House expanded around 1550. In the course of the conflict after the fall of the Queen, James Douglas, 4th Earl of Morton, had the building attacked and largely blown up with gunpowder. However, some preserved fragments are still integrated into Kinneil Castle today. The northern part of the ruin was rebuilt as an L-shaped tower house. Parts of this structure are still preserved today in the northern part of the building.

Kinneil House got its current appearance when Anne Hamilton, 3rd Duchess of Hamilton between 1677 and 1688 had extensive renovations and additions made to create a seat for the House of Hamilton. Existing ruinous fragments were integrated into the new building. Loopholes from the original building can still be found on the windowless rear. In the end, no further planned extensions were carried out.

In the 18th century, Kinneil House was leased. One of the tenants was John Roebuck , an important figure in the industrial revolution . After hearing of James Watt's invention of the steam engine , he offered him space on the estate to further develop his invention. Watt accepted the offer and worked at Kinneil House for some time. Later the philosopher Dugald Stewart leased the property. The building remained in the possession of the Hamilton clan until 1936 when it was sold to the city of Bo'ness. Originally the mansion was supposed to be demolished. However, when religious ceiling and wall paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries were discovered after the work had begun, the project of demolition was abandoned. Only the L-shaped tower house was demolished.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  2. ↑ Scheduled Monument - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  3. ↑ a b Entry in the Gazetteer for Scotland
  4. ↑ a b Entry on Kinneil House  in Canmore, the Historic Environment Scotland database (English)

Web links

Commons : Kinneil House  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 56 ° 0 '25.6 "  N , 3 ° 38' 3.3"  W.