Staneyhill Tower is a 17th century tower house in West Lothian, Scotland.[1][2][3][4][5] The tower is located to the southeast of Hopetoun House.[1][6] It is a scheduled monument of national importance being the "remains of a 17th-century L-plan tower house which incorporates a particularly fine and unusual hexagonal tower".[7] The building is said to provide important information about 17th-century domestic architecture.[7] It is also said to be evidence of 17th court life in Scotland.[3]
Building
editThe building onsets primarily of a ruined octagonal stair tower that is built onto a L-plan structure.[1] The walls and vaults of the ground floor also partially remain.[1] It includes a "superb broken pedimented doorway of a highly fashionable house, possibly by Sir James Murray of Kilbaberton or William Ayton."[2]
History
editThe tower house was first erected circa 1630 for the Shairps family.[2] William Sharp of Staneyhill was the brother of James Sharp, Archbishop of St Andrews, who was murdered by Covenanters in 1679.[8] The site originally had a fine fountain which derived its water source from the nearby former Maggie's Loch which was drained in the 19th century.[5] Waterpipes have been recovered during digging by farmers.[5]
It had fallen out of use by the 18th century, coming under the ownership of the Earls of Hopetoun where many of its building materials were reused, potentially at Niddry Castle.[3]
The site became a scheduled monument on 24 Oct 1935 and additional designation given on 9 Oct 1998.[9][7]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Historic Environment Scotland. "Staneyhill Tower (49125)". Canmore. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ a b c Jaques, Richard; McKean, Charles (1994). West Lothian. Hyperion Books. p. 40. ISBN 1-873190-25-5.
- ^ a b c MacKechnie, Aonghus (1988). "Evidence of a Post-1603 Court Architecture in Scotland?". Architectural History. 31. JSTOR: 115-116. doi:10.2307/1568537. ISSN 0066-622X.
- ^ Pettifer, Adrian (2024). Scottish Castles. Boydell & Brewer. p. 384. ISBN 978-1-83765-204-4.
- ^ a b c Cadell, Patrick M. (1992). The County of West Lothian. Edinburgh: Scottish Academic Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-7073-0704-6.
- ^ "Staneyhill Tower". ScotlandsPlaces. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
- ^ a b c "Staneyhill Tower (SM1911)". Home. Retrieved 2024-10-06.
- ^ Stephen, Thomas (1889). The life and times of Archbishop Sharp. London: Joseph Rickerby. p. 623.
- ^ "Scheduled Monuments in West Lothian" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-10-06.