Inventory Garden & Designed Landscape

DRYBURGH ABBEYGDL00145

Status: Designated

Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

Summary

Date Added
30/06/2011
Local Authority
Scottish Borders
Parish
Mertoun
NGR
NT 59269 32118
Coordinates
359269, 632118

The ruins of Dryburgh Abbey form the ultimate picturesque garden folly within this unique park and woodland landscape by the Tweed. Of major significance both archaeologically and architecturally, the Abbey serves as the main focus of a late 18th to early 19th-century designed landscape that was celebrated in the 19th century for its romantic and antiquarian appeal. The scenic value of the wider landscape endures, while surviving commemorative monuments and varied architectural features offer outstanding historic and architectural interest.

Type of Site

A romantic landscape of the late 18th to 19th century designed around the centrepiece of the consolidated medieval abbey ruins, with associated estate infrastructure. Although the designed landscape now contains seemingly disparate elements under separate ownerships (Dryburgh Abbey, Dryburgh village, the core policies of Dryburgh Abbey House, a 1930s hotel and grounds, agricultural buildings at Dryburgh Mains), unity still derives from wider landscape views in which principal design features remain visually prominent. In addition to the abbey, these include the inner parkland core, temple, and Wallace Monument, with important woodland backdrop.

Main Phases of Landscape Development

12th century (foundation and initial construction of Dryburgh Abbey); late 18th century to 19th century; 1930s

Artistic Interest

Level of interest
Outstanding

Created mainly by the prominent antiquarian, David Steuart Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan, the designed landscape encapsulated the romantic and antiquarian tastes of the 19th century and became a popular tourist destination. Despite separate ownerships and land-uses within Dryburgh, the unity of the design remains strong today.

Historical

Level of interest
Outstanding

In addition to historical links with Erskine, and Sir Walter Scott, who is buried at Dryburgh, the designed landscape may be considered an excellent example of a romantic, nationalist-historic landscape, designed to commemorate notable figures of Scotland's past.

Horticultural

Level of interest
Outstanding

Outstanding value in this category derives from the presence of an important heritage tree beside the abbey; the Dryburgh Yew, together with a wide range of impressive parkland and specimen conifer trees.

Architectural

Level of interest
Outstanding

Dryburgh Abbey and the Chapter House are both category-A listed buildings on account of their exceptional architectural and historical merit. The designed landscape also contains a diverse range of other notable monuments and structures, from Erskine's colossal Wallace statue, to the K6 telephone kiosk at the village Post Office.

Archaeological

Level of interest
Outstanding

The well-preserved and complex medieval site of Dryburgh Abbey is scheduled as an archaeological monument of national importance.

Scenic

Level of interest
Outstanding

The inner parkland, mature woodland canopy, and glimpses of the varied architectural features throughout the whole of the designed landscape make a significant contribution to the surrounding valley landscape.

Nature Conservation

Level of interest
High

The River Tweed, which meanders around the southern part of the designed landscape, is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), on account of its habitat value for riverine flora and fauna. The tree cover around the designed landscape is also of significant value for birds, insects and small mammals.

Location and Setting

The designed landscape is set within the valley floor of the Lower Tweed, and contains the small village of Dryburgh. This is a landscape dominated by the wide, meandering river channel, which flows in a pronounced loop around the southern boundary of the designed landscape. Wooded river bluffs on the south bank of the Tweed, together with steeply rising hillsides to the north, provide a certain degree of enclosure within this landscape. Dryburgh Abbey, and the core parkland and woodland policies of Dryburgh Abbey House occupy the flat ground within the loop of the Tweed. A natural wooded mound to the west, Bass Hill, and the more pronounced relief of the steep hillsides to the north, provide distinctive elevated stages for an early 19th century temple and Wallace Monument. Although many views within the valley landscape are intimate and small-scale in character, these higher locations provide good vantage points that encompass views of much of the designed landscape and the valley lands beyond. Encompassing a total of 98ha (242ac), the designed landscape is bounded to the south by the Tweed. The minor road approaching Dryburgh and the edge of Dryburgh Farm mark the eastern boundary. The northern boundary is formed by the summit of the hill to the north, together with the outer edge of the woodland plantation, while to the west, a field division to the west of Dryburgh Mains comprises the western boundary of the designed landscape.

Site History

Dryburgh Abbey was founded in 1150 by Hugh de Moreville, Constable of Scotland and friend of King David I (1124-53). King David funded many of Scotland's abbeys and priories around this time, and de Moreville invited the Premonstratensians, a recently established order from Alnwick, Northumberland, to set up their religious house at Dryburgh. An ancient yew close to the ruins may date from this early period of the abbey's history (Rodger et al. 2003: 29). The seclusion afforded by the Tweed, which flows around the site on three sides, was appropriate for the contemplative life, which would have involved the cultivation of monastic gardens to serve the culinary and medicinal needs of the religious community. The form and history of such gardens are unknown and it is likely that they were destroyed during the Border conflicts and raids of the 15th and 16th centuries.

Having served merely as a source of building material in the centuries following the Reformation, the abbey attained a new role in the late 18th and 19th century as a picturesque folly in an aristocratic park. David Erskine, the 11th Earl of Buchan and founder of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland, acquired the estate in the 1780s, possibly inspired by a perceived ancestral link with the lands (Mackechnie 2002: 227). He was in a position to exert considerable change on the existing landscape. Erskine was a wealthy aristocrat and renowned antiquarian known for his eccentricity and penchant for pomp and display. Over the coming years, the local Tweed valley landscape became an arena for building and design projects that perfectly encapsulated his taste for the romantic and the historic.

Although some guidance may have come from Captain George Isham Parkyns in 1804, a theorist on the Romantic landscape, Erskine is credited as the main driving force for the overall design at Dryburgh. In 1784, he ordered the demolition of much of the earlier tower house on the site of the present Dryburgh House in order to extend and rebuild a new mansion from the remaining parts. Naturally, the surrounding policies became a focus for development and Erskine set about integrating the abbey into a much wider design. Most invasive was the programme of excavation, alteration, consolidation and landscaping that took place among the surviving ruins themselves. Memorial stones were shifted about, a medieval-style Latin phrase was cut into a wall, busts were placed in the chapter house, shrubs and trees planted, and an obelisk erected as a gesture of commemoration to the Abbey's founder (Mackechnie 2002: 226). Meanwhile, Erskine commissioned new and conspicuous monuments to the Scottish past. In 1812, he dedicated the newly-built, Neo-Grecian Temple of the Nine Muses to the local Borders poet James Thomson (1700-1748). Two years later, a colossal statue of Sir William Wallace was complete. Raised on the hillside overlooking Dryburgh, the statue became the first landscape monument to this national hero (Mackechnie 2002: 228). Perhaps the ultimate coup came later on, however, when Buchan persuaded his contemporary, Sir Walter Scott, to accept a burial plot within the footprint of Dryburgh Abbey church (Mackechnie 2002: 229). Erskine died before Scott, but would surely have approved of the high drama with which the funeral cortege was performed in 1832.

Erskine had helped usher in a romantic era of taste with antiquarian interests. Via historical and literary associations, made explicit in the landscape, Dryburgh became a celebrated destination for a kind of pilgrimage- tourism during the 19th century. Contemporary engravings depict elegantly-dressed ladies and gentlemen strolling through the lush, ivy-clad ruins of the abbey. Thomas Agar Holland published long fervent poems on the qualities of the landscape in the 1820s (Agar Holland 1826), and tourist guides of the earlier-mid 19th century recommended a visit (eg. 1836), and the system of access to the abbey had certainly become One visitor was dismayed at the In addition to the built elements, the landscape was also noted for the presence of the veteran Dryburgh yew and the long-established parkland trees. During this period, further specimen conifers were planted around the ruins; trees that remain distinctive in the present landscape.

A number of changes occurred during the late 19th century and early 20th century. Dryburgh Abbey House and the stables had to be rebuilt in the 1890s following a major fire. Erskine's vast orchard, which had been part of his more functional programme of estate improvement and development, was much reduced by the close of the 19th century (1896-8, OS 25”). In 1931, the other country house within the designed landscape was rebuilt, and developed as a hotel; the present Dryburgh Abbey Hotel. In 1919, Dryburgh Abbey itself was taken into state care, and over the following years, work commenced to consolidate the ruins and to level and returf the ground surfaces. Dryburgh Abbey remains under the stewardship of Historic Scotland, while Dryburgh Abbey House and immediate grounds remain in private hands.

Landscape Components

Architectural Features

Dryburgh Abbey comprises the substantial medieval and late-medieval remains of the abbey church and associated monastic complex, including gatehouse, cloister and conventual ranges. The entire site is scheduled on account of its nationally significant archaeological remains. The chapter house, an impressive barrel-vaulted room with early decorative painting, may be the earliest complete example in Scotland (Cruft et al. 2006: 221). Later monuments and memorials are prominent in and around the ruins and include features relating to David Erskine's late 18th-century to early 19th-century interventions and design projects, such as a carved obelisk, erected 1794 to commemorate Hugh de Moreville, the Abbey's founder. Among other later memorials set within the abbey church is the red, polished-granite tomb-chest of Sir Walter Scott (d.1832), and a memorial to Field Marshal Earl Haig, also buried at Dryburgh in 1928.

David Erskine's other key commemorative, architectural features occupy prominent locations in the local landscape. The enormous red sandstone Wallace Monument overlooks the designed landscape from Clint Hill to the north. Constructed by local artisan John Smith and set within mature woodland, it was erected on its pedestal in 1814 and comprises a colossal statue of William Wallace complete with brightly-painted, saltire shield and double-handed sword, and an adjacent, ornamental, inscribed urn. Stretching across the wide channel of the Tweed, to the west of Dryburgh Abbey, is the Dryburgh suspension bridge (just outside the designed landscape boundary). The present structure, built 1872, is a replacement for two earlier, failed bridges on the same site. The first, commissioned and opened by Erskine in 1818, was the first chain bridge in Britain, constructed in 1817 by John & Thomas Smith (Cruft et al. 2006: 223). The bridge provides access from the south bank of the river to the circular, neo-classical Temple of The Muses, which sits atop the summit of a distinctive natural mound known as Bass Hill, and which was dedicated to the poet James Thomson in 1812 through an elaborate Masonic ceremony (Murray Lyon 1900: 455-6). It features 9 Ionic columns, a shallow domed roof and bronze figures of the Four Seasons, by Siobhan O'Hehir. These were installed in 2002 to replace the original missing centrepiece of statue and circular pedestal.

Erskine's principal residence was Dryburgh Abbey House, set in parkland immediately to the south east of the medieval abbey complex. The present structure was largely rebuilt in 1892-4 by Henry Francis Kerr following a fire. Comprising 2 storeys with basement and attic, it features a symmetrical principal elevation and central entrance with Ionic columns. It occupies the site of a 16th-century tower house that was drastically remodelled for Erskine in 1784. Some 18th century core features remain, while the internal scheme, and external embellishments are Kerr's work, and are chiefly in Scottish Renaissance style. The policies feature two lodge buildings (c.1817 and 1840), a cylindrical rubble-built, pink-harled dovecot, dated 1828, an adjacent sundial with large, square, stone base and circular dial, by Adam Simpson of Lessudden, and a tunnel-form ice-house (Cruft et al. 2006: 224). Like the house, the Gothick-style stables were rebuilt following the late 19th century fire. Originally constructed in 1820 by John Smith of Darnick, they comprise a courtyard block with ornate, crenellated principal elevation, and entrance archway. The old corn mill was rebuilt from abbey remains and is now in use for fishing.

Other architectural features of note include Dryburgh Mains, a two-storey farmhouse, and the adjacent Orchard Field, a large walled enclosure commissioned by Erskine to establish fruit trees on a sheltered site. Its entrance, the Orchard Gate is a grand, heavily-ornamented, pink-sandstone arch, built around 1820, and bearing the inscription; Hoc pomarium sua manu satum parentibus suis optimis sac D S Buchanae comes ('D. S. Erskine, Earl of Buchan, dedicated this orchard, planted with his own hands, to the best of parents.'). The fine wrought iron gates beneath the arch resemble the bear gates at Traquair (q.v. Inventory) and were presented by Lord Glenconner. The nearby Stirling Tower, is a crenellated tower painted white and blue, and forms part of Stirling Cottage, which is named after a former resident, the sculptor Edwin Stirling. At the crossroads, the telephone kiosk is of the K6 variety, designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1935. Standing within its own grounds to the north-west of the abbey complex is Dryburgh Abbey Hotel. This is a red-sandstone, Baronial-style building, remodelled in 1931 from an existing early 19th-century house. Associated features include stables, walled garden enclosure and crow-stepped lodge, probably by John Smith c.1840.

Drives & Approaches

The present designed landscape contains separately-owned grounds, accessed by separate drives. Dryburgh Abbey House, the residential centre of the 18th-19th century estate, is accessed via a relatively straight, beech-lined drive that leads through parkland before curving towards the entrance forecourt. It traces an approach depicted on historic maps and the first OS edition (Blackadder 1797; Sharp Greenwood and Fowler 1826, 1855-7,OS 25”). Dryburgh Abbey Hotel is accessed via a separate drive that leads from a lodge at the main crossroads of Dryburgh village. Similarly, it follows a trajectory in place by the mid-19th century (1855-7, OS 25”), is lined with beech trees, and traverses a relatively straight course before curving towards the present hotel building.

Parkland

The inner parkland core of the designed landscape enriches local landscape views and forms a crucial setting for the principal architectural features of Dryburgh, most notably the medieval abbey ruins, and Dryburgh Abbey House. Partly fringed by loose clumps and strips of trees along the curving bank of the Tweed, the parkland incorporates a good range of specimens, including a relatively high number of “county champions”, recorded on account of their girth and/or height (www.thetreeregister.org). Sycamore, oak, lime, Scot's pine, beech and copper beech grow in the vicinity of Dryburgh Abbey House. Closer to the abbey, meanwhile, the broadleaves are interspersed with fine conifer specimens, mainly established during the 19th century. These include Atlas cedar, Lebanon cedar, Lawson's cypress and Wellingtonia. The most famous specimen is the Dryburgh Yew, a well-proportioned heritage tree said by tradition to have been planted around the time of the foundation of the abbey in the 12th century (Rodger et al. 2003: 29). More recent plantings carried out at Dryburgh Abbey under Historic Scotland's stewardship include maples, sweet chestnut, ash, Himalayan cherry and Dawyck beech.

Woodland

Mixed deciduous woodland borders the north bank of the Tweed where it loops around the abbey site. Further woodland strips and blocks are situated to the north of the designed landscape core. The largest blocks ascend the steep hillsides of Clint Hill, and form the immediate landscape setting for the Wallace Monument. The woods comprise an attractive mix of oak, sycamore, ash and hawthorn with occasional holly underplantings Terraced paths to the monument lead through this woodland, and are lined with some particularly fine veteran beech specimens. The small clump of woodland in the field north of the statue may have been a Scot's pine roundel, but has now lost any clear artistic outline. Meanwhile, the woodland on Bass Hill around the Temple of The Muses is also scenically prominent, with the tops of conifer specimens projecting from the surrounding broadleaf canopy.

Walled Gardens

Productive gardens cultivated during the 19th century included the orchard by Dryburgh Mains. This vast enclosed orchard, with its unusually ornate gate, was founded by David Erskine, 11th Earl of Buchan in the early 19th century. By the end of the 19th century, however, only the southern half of the orchard was maintained, and today, the entire enclosure lies empty.

To the north of the present Dryburgh Abbey Hotel is a large, rectangular walled enclosure. Similarly, this formed a productive garden space during the 19th century, associated with the former country house on this site. Divided into quadrants by intersecting paths, the walled garden became disused during the 20th century, and is no longer maintained for horticultural use. There are other small gardens attached to houses in the designed landscape, but these are not relevant to the designed whole

References

Bibliography

Maps, Plans and Archives

1747-55 General Roy's Military Survey

1771 Andrew Armstrong and Mostyn Armstrong, 'Map of the County of Berwick'

1797 John Blackadder, 'Berwickshire'

1826 T Sharp, C Greenwood and W Fowler, 'The County of Berwick'

1855-7 survey Berwickshire, 1st edition OS 1:2500 (25”) and 1:10560 (6”), published 1862

1896-8 survey Berwickshire, 2nd edition OS 1:2500 (25”) and 1:10560 (6”), published 1909

RCAHMS: National Monuments Record of Scotland (NMRS) and Photographic and manuscript collection

Sources

Printed Sources

ASH Consulting Group 1998, The Borders landscape assessment, Edinburgh: Scottish Natural Heritage

Cruft, K, Dunbar, J and Fawcett, R 2006, Borders, New Haven, Conn and London: Yale University Press

Fawcet, R and Oram, R 2005, Dryburgh Abbey, Stroud: Tempus

Historic Scotland on behalf of Scottish Ministers, The Lists of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historical Interest

Holland, T A 1826, Dryburgh Abbey and other poems, London

Land Use Consultants 1987, Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, Edinburgh: Historic Scotland, Scottish Natural Heritage

Mackechnie, A 2002, 'Scottish historical landscapes', Studies in the history of gardens & designed landscapes, 22, 3, 214-39

Murray Lyon, David 1900, History of the Lodge of Edinburgh (Mary's Chapel) No. 1, London: Gresham Publishing Co.

Rodger, D, Stokes, J and Ogilvie, J 2003, Heritage Trees of Scotland, London: The Tree Council

Scottish tourist 1836, The Scottish tourist, and itinerary; or, A guide to the scenery and antiquities of Scotland and the Western Islands: With a Description of the Principal Steam-boat Tours, Stirling: Kenney & Co

Internet Sources

PASTMAP: Historic Scotland on behalf of Scottish Ministers, The Schedule of Monuments, jura.rcahms.gov.uk/PASTMAP/start.jsp [accessed 18 June 2009]

SiteLink: Scottish Natural Heritage, Sites designated for their natural heritage value, www.snh.org.uk/snhi/ [accessed 18 June 2009]

Note of Abbreviations used in references

RCAHMS: Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland

Historic Environment Scotland Properties

Dryburgh Abbey

https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/dryburgh-abbey

Find out more

Related Designations

  1. Tomb of Sir Walter Scott, King James obelisk, headstone of Field Marshall Earl Haig and memorials in burial ground to the north of Dryburgh Abbey and excluding scheduled monument SM90103, DryburghLB15114

    Designation Type
    Listed Building (A)
    Status
    Designated
  2. Dryburgh AbbeySM90103

    Designation Type
    Scheduled Monument
    Status
    Designated

About the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

The inventory is a list of Scotland's most important gardens and designed landscapes. We maintain the inventory under the terms of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We add sites of national importance to the inventory using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

The information in the inventory record gives an indication of the national importance of the site(s). It is not a definitive account or a complete description of the site(s). The format of records has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

Enquiries about development proposals, such as those requiring planning permission, on or around inventory sites should be made to the planning authority. The planning authority is the main point of contact for all applications of this type.

Find out more about the inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

Images

DRYBURGH ABBEY
DRYBURGH ABBEY
DRYBURGH ABBEY
DRYBURGH ABBEY
DRYBURGH ABBEY
DRYBURGH ABBEY
DRYBURGH ABBEY
DRYBURGH ABBEY
DRYBURGH ABBEY
DRYBURGH ABBEY
DRYBURGH ABBEY
DRYBURGH ABBEY
DRYBURGH ABBEY

Printed: 29/03/2024 13:32