Luffness House

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Luffness House , also Luffness Castle , is a mansion near the Scottish town of Aberlady in the East Lothian Council Area . In 1971 the building was included in the Scottish Monuments List in the highest category A. In addition, the associated pigeon tower is also independently classified as a category A structure. Finally, ten other associated buildings are recorded as Category B and Category C structures.

history

In the 13th century, a castle was built at the strategically important location of today's Luffness House at the head of Aberlady Bay . It was built on the remains of an older Viking settlement. In the course of the Anglo-Scottish wars , French troops substantially expanded the fortress. When the war was over, Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford insisted that the fortress be destroyed as a condition of the peace treaty, after which it was razed in 1551.

Patrick Hepburn acquired the land and had a reinforced building with a T-shaped floor plan built there, probably in 1584, which formed the nucleus of today's Luffness House. Charles Hope, 1st Earl of Hopetoun acquired the property in 1739 and has been in the family ever since. The manor house got its present appearance in several construction phases during the 19th century. Well-known architects such as William Burn and David Bryce were hired for the expansion and revision . Initially, Luffness House was designed in the historicizing Jacobean style . Bryce largely shaped today's look through his revisions in the Scottish Baronial style . French prisoners of war of the coalition wars laid out the gardens around 1815.

description

Luffness House is located off the A198 near the confluence of the Peffer Burn in Aberlady Bay, around one kilometer northeast of Aberlady. The original Tower House was built in several construction phases, which can be concluded from the use of different building materials. The masonry is made of quarry stone . The roofs of the asymmetrically constructed building complex are covered with gray slate.

Pigeon tower

Pigeon tower of Luffness House

The pigeon tower was built in the late 16th century. Unconfirmed research by the owner, however, shows a year of construction around 1420. The tower rises around 100 m east of the manor house. It is a 5.5 m high beehive hut made of natural stone. The masonry is one meter thick. There are three simple cornices around it. The bottom at a height of around two meters and the top directly below the vaulted ceiling. In the center there is a small lantern with eight entry holes. Inside there are 500 nesting boxes.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  2. ↑ a b Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  3. ↑ a b Entry in the Gazetteer for Scotland
  4. ↑ a b Entry on Luffness House  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
  5. ↑ Entry on the pigeon tower of Luffness House  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)

Web links

Coordinates: 56 ° 0 ′ 50.7 "  N , 2 ° 50 ′ 38.3"  W.