Hospitalfield House; The Building.

Pictures from my weekend visit to Hospitalfield House. This is the first set, the exterior of the building showing the many interesting architectural details.

Information from the council website

http://www.angus.gov.uk/history/features/buildings/hospitalfield.htm

Hospitalfield House

''Sir Walter Scott’s Monkbarns''

Hospitalfield was originally a plague and leprosy hospice, founded as the Hospital of St. John in the mid-1200s. The present building may contain fragments of the original building (just to the left of the front door) but what we see today dates from the mid-1800s. Sir Walter Scott’s fictional "Monkbarns" from "The Antiquary" was based upon the early nineteenth century Hospitalfield House.
Patrick Allan and Elizabeth Fraser
In 1843 Patrick Allan married the widowed heiress to the Hospitalfield estate, Elizabeth Fraser. He was the son of a weaving merchant in Arbroath. After initially embarking on a commercial career he changed to studying art in Edinburgh and then on the Continent. On their marriage he changed his name to Patrick Allan-Fraser. He embarked on a programme of estate management which quickly restored the family fortunes.
Estate improvements
Between 1850 and 1857 he extended and remodelled the building using stone from his own quarry at Drumyellow. He converted an eighteenth century barn into a gallery, added a large wing and tied the whole composition together with a five storey bartizan stair tower. The building is full of interesting architectural motifs and high quality stone carvings. There are crenellated parapets, oriel windows and craw step gables. The house is an architectural extravaganza.
Arts and Crafts influence
Allan-Fraser was a firm advocate of the Arts and Crafts movement and this is reflected in the building, inside and outside. Allan-Fraser was a visionary man who saw his house as a centre of inspiration and encouragement of the arts. He believed in encouraging and enlightening future young artists and musicians. He had a Gallery built which still houses a large collection of paintings, Victorian sculpture and fine wood-carvings to act as inspiration. He set up the Patrick Allan-Fraser of Hospitalfield Trust to give support and encouragement to young artists
The interior
The interior is dazzling. The house has a hammer-beam roof, Romanesque dado arcading and woodcarving of international importance. It also houses an important painting and sculpture collection. Hospitalfield House is a "must see".

Hospitalfield House open doors day

http://www.hospitalfield.org.uk/

HospitalField House had one of its open doors days today. These days give the public the opportunity to see inside this historic building. The weather was beautiful, I listened to a short piano recital given by a young Russian pianist in the beautiful gallery of the main house. There was a conducted tour around the interior of the house

and the opportunity to take plenty of photos around the grounds and exterior of the house.

The icing on the cake was a re-enactment of the historic signing of the Declaration of Arbroath performed by the Arbroath Abbey historic society.

This video was made a couple of years ago at the Abby but its more or less the same as I've just sat through this afternoon.

Part of what used to be the estate lands are now used as an organic gardening project, I had the opportunity to have a good look around there as well.

http://www.hopegardentrust.org.uk/

As you can imagine, I took many, many, many photos, all of which I will put into albums over the next couple of days.  This is just a little taster of my day out.