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Edinburgh, Glasgow Road, Castle Gogar

Ditch(S) (17th Century), Lairds House (17th Century)

Site Name Edinburgh, Glasgow Road, Castle Gogar

Classification Ditch(S) (17th Century), Lairds House (17th Century)

Alternative Name(s) Gogar Castle; Gogar House

Canmore ID 50717

Site Number NT17SE 9

NGR NT 16508 73018

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/50717

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Digital Images


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Administrative Areas

  • Council Edinburgh, City Of
  • Parish Edinburgh (Edinburgh, City Of)
  • Former Region Lothian
  • Former District City Of Edinburgh
  • Former County Midlothian

Archaeology Notes

NT17SE 9.00 16508 73018

NT17SE 9.01 17069 72528 Lodge with Gate and Gate Piers

NT17SE 9.02 16672 72860 Bridge

NT17SE 9.03 16474 72952 Cottage

(NT 1648 7300) Castle Gogar (NAT)

OS 1:10000 map (1973)

Gogar House was built in 1625 by John Couper, whose initials, together with those of his wife, and the date appear on pediments to dormer windows. It is a very interesting, well-preserved laird's house of the period. The walls, of harled rubble, rise to three storeys and an attic, with a watch-chamber at the head of the stair-tower. The original door was at the foot of this tower. The ground floor is vaulted.

RCAHMS 1929, visited 1920; D MacGibbon and T Ross 1889; N Tranter 1962

The original Castle Gogar (Gogar House), built about 1300, belonged to the Forresters of Corstorphine; in the 16th century, the owner was Robert Logan of Restalrig who sold the house and lands to Adam Couper in 1601. The existing house was built, incorporating the original in 1625 by John Couper and is generally as described in previous information. Externally the house shows no traces of the 14th century building, but traces of this period can be seen in the basement.

(Lady Steel-Maitland; The Scotsman 1964; N Patullo 1967)

Visited by OS (SFS) 10 December 1975

Architecture Notes

NT17SE 9.00 16508 73018

NMRS REFERENCE:

PRINTROOM:

W.Schomberg Scott Photograph Collection, Acc.1997/39

2 different exterior details.

Activities

Field Visit (10 September 1920)

Gogar House.

Two miles west of Corstorphine an avenue leads from the Broxburn Road to the fine Jacobean mansion, Gogar House (Fig. 37 [SC 1124554]), which is still inhabited. The stately gate-piers [NT17SE 9.01] at the avenue entrance are bereft of their ornate wrought-iron gates, which lately were removed to Sauchieburn, Stirlingshire.

The house stands on rich and level land, traversed by the Gogar Burn. It is built on a plan which is analogous to the L-type, but diverges from it in minor details. The main block runs north-north-west and south-southeast, and measures 47 feet by 25 feet externally; the wing lies to the west, runs east north-east and west-south-west, and measures 33 by 26 ½ feet. The lateral wall of the wing is not a prolongation of a gable of the main block; instead, wing and main block are attached only at one corner. There are therefore two main re-entrant angles instead of the usual one, and windows are obtained in the gables of the wings. A second divergence from type is the cylindrical tower at the north-east angle of the main block, balancing a semi-octagonal tower in the south re-entrant angle. The south-east and south-west angles of the main block, and the north-west angle of the wing, are graced with cylindrical angle-turrets borne on multi-membered continuous corbelling. In or towards the 18th century a one-storeyed structure was extended westward from the wing, with a passage on its south, running from the semi-octagonal tower, to give internal communication between the new and old portions. The two-storeyed cottage rectangularly disposed to this is probably of the same date.

The house is four storeys and a garret in height; the walls are of rubble and are roughcast. The windows have back-set margins, chamfered at jamb and lintel. Those of the third storey are dormers with semi-oval and triangular pediments which bear the initials I.C. and H.S. for John Cowper and his wife, in monogram in two cases, separately in the others; beneath one monogram is the date 1625. The gables are crow-stepped. The steeply pitched roof is of timber, is slated and retains the original stone ridging. The semi octagonal tower in the re-entrant angle that opens to the south-west contained the entrance and houses the main staircase, which ascends from ground- to third-floor level. The tower is circled internally but above wall-head level is developed externally to a square by means of an angle corbelling, French rather than Scottish in detail. The roof is flat and is enclosed by a Renaissance balustrade to form a balcony or lookout, as at Winton House, East Lothian (Inventory, East Lothian, No. 136) and Woolmet House, Midlothian (No. 192 [NT36NW 36]). The cylindrical tower rises sheer from ground-level to its conical slated roof. The turrets, on the other hand, break out at varying levels, and are banded with a string-course enriched with a continuous ornament resembling a mascle. This ornament also enriches the uppermost member of the corbelling and is returned on string-courses round the stair tower at two levels. The turrets have moulded eaves-courses, and the high conical timber roofs are slated.

The entrance is at basement-level in the west wall of the stair-tower. The doorway has been altered and is without the usual architrave and cornice. The basement chamber in the wing was entered from the lobby, from which also the two inter-communicating chambers in the main block were reached. The northern of these two communicates with a little chamber in the round tower; at the entrance to this latter chamber is the beginning of a mural staircase, which ascended to the first-floor chamber in the east tower. At the junction of tower and main block there are gun-holes placed in the angles to enfilade the north and east walls. The basement chambers are ceiled with semicircular barrel-vaults, in which remain several staples with pendent rings of wrought iron.

On the first floor the main block contains a single large and well-proportioned apartment, the drawing-room, which was remodelled with rounded ends in the late 18th century. The south-east turret, which contained a stair ascending to the floor above, formerly opened into the drawing-room, but the access is covered by the circled boxing at that angle; a chamber in the round tower still communicates with the drawing-room. In the wing there is an access lobby, panelled in Memel pine and with an enriched plaster cornice and ceiling; off this are entered the drawing-room on the east and the dining-room on the west. This latter apartment is panelled in Memel pine and has an enriched plaster cornice and ceiling. The mantelpiece is a late 18th-century insertion, and the bay window is modern. On either side of the fireplace is a mural cupboard. The panels over the doors and mantelpiece are painted with romantic landscapes in oil colour. At the end of the lobby is a servery communicating with the dining-room. The second and third floors are devoted to bedrooms; those on the former level have been panelled in Memel pine, but only a portion of the panelling remains. The plaster cornices, however, are original. As the stair above the first floor rises unbroken by plats or landings, it follows that the bedrooms of the wings are at a lower level than those in the main block. The doors in the stair-well which admit to the bedrooms are heavily studded and are furnished with wrought-iron latches and plates apparently contemporary with the building.

Gogar House is well preserved and is in sound condition structurally.

HISTORICAL NOTE. Adam Couper of Gogar was in 1594 a writer in Edinburgh (1), and in 1609 Sir John Couper, a Lord Ordinary of the Court of Session, served heir to his father, Adam Couper, in the lands of (Nether) Gogar (2). Sir John was succeeded by his son John (3).

RCAHMS 1929, visited 10 September 1920.

(1) Laing Charters, No. 1273; (2) Inquis. Spec., Edinb., No. 271; (3) Ibid., No. 859.

Photographic Survey (1957)

Photographic survey by the Scottish National Buildings Record in 1956.

Photographic Survey (May 1965)

Photographs by the Scottish National Buildings Record/Ministry of Work in May 1965.

Project (July 2005 - January 2006)

NT 165 730 Castle Gogar is a 17th-century tower house on the outskirts of Edinburgh associated with a walled garden, stables and cottage. The buildings are Grade A listed as a group including the gate lodge, piers and a 17th-century bridge on the approach drive. The castle is being fully renovated and elements of the walled garden, stables and cottage are being altered. The current programme of archaeological work was undertaken between May 2005 and September 2006 as a condition of planning consent. It included historic building survey, evaluations of the gardens and the castle interior and a watching brief during the excavation of foul and storm water drainage. Together with the historical research undertaken recently for the medieval settlement of Nether Gogar this work has provided a clearer picture of the castle, its development and context.

Evaluation

The evaluation in the walled garden and areas W of the stables uncovered evidence for previous garden buildings and 19th-century garden features. The evaluation within the castle did not uncover any depth of archaeological deposits, in contrast to many medieval castles. The implication is that the floors were cleared of material and possibly lowered during the laying of any flagstones and during major phases of rebuilding. The watching brief showed that features do survive in the N garden, though nothing of apparently early date. The area immediately around the castle has been disturbed by services from the 19th century, though some earlier drainage survives.

Castle

In summary, the combination of evidence suggests that a castle was probably built on the site in the early 16th century. This was almost certainly a high square tower possibly with ancillary buildings and boundary, probably built by the Logans of Restalrig or their tenants. The building was expanded and altered by the Couper family around 1625, possibly using the architect William Aytoun. His alterations, though greatly changing the nature and appearance of the building, incorporated much of the earlier fabric in an offset L-plan. Since then, the buildings at Gogar have been expanded and altered as the need for comfort increased. The Level 2 RCHME analysis, though supplemented by phased plans, can only begin to look at the detail of the alterations and history of this complex building.

Stables cottage

The cottage, SW of the castle itself, has areas of random rubble which are probably remnants of an 18th-century building that may have been part of the stables or a tack room or bothy. It was converted for accommodation in the later 19th century and has had limited alterations, mainly decorative, in the 20th century.

A watching brief during the demolition suggested that the foundations were fairly insubstantial, reaching a maximum depth of 0.6m at the W and the N faces. The E elevation of the building had a very insubstantial foundation. No further features were found.

Stables and walled garden

These ancillary structures were subject to a Level 1 survey. Both provide evidence of a complex history: the walled garden had been heightened at least twice and possibly enlarged with changed entrances; the fenestration and layout of the stable block had clearly been significantly altered.

Archive to be deposited in NMRS, including digital photographs. Report and digital photographs lodged with Edinburgh City Council.

Sponsor: Mr Scott Seath and Dennis Developments (Castle Gogar) Ltd

George Geddes, 2006.

Archaeological Evaluation (28 February 2017 - 15 June 2017)

Headland Archaeology (UK) Ltd undertook a watching brief and excavation south-west of Gogar Castle to the west of Edinburgh. The work was commissioned by Quarry Investments as part of mitigation for enforcement action required by the City of Edinburgh Archaeological Services (CECAS) in order to establish if any archaeology was present on site, and if so, to what extent it had been impacted by the development. The works comprised cleaning and recording of already exposed sections at the southern limit of the site, and monitored stripping of three targeted areas across the site. The exposed sections revealed a foundation cut of a wall to the west of the two apartment blocks and a further ditch, possibly associated with a foundation cut to the east of the apartments. A ditch along with the remains of a stone wall were also recorded on the same alignment further to the east within the easternmost monitored topsoil strip areas. The monitoring at the north of the development area revealed a stone-built culvert in association with a large linear ditch, along with a small pit. All identified features are of potentially 16th to 17th century date. No other archaeological features or deposits were identified.

Information from Aris Palyvos (Headland Archaeology) 2017. OASIS ID: headland1-289058

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