angus survey of gardens & designed landscapesorapweb.rcahms.gov.uk/wp/00/wp002966.pdf ·...

Duntrune Version 06 of 43

THE GARDEN HISTORY SOCIETY IN SCOTLAND

ANGUS SURVEY OF GARDENS & DESIGNED LANDSCAPES

RECORDING FORM

A. GENERAL SITE INFORMATION (Expand boxes as necessary)

A1 SITE NAME:

Duntrune House

A2 ALTERNATIVE NAMES OR SPELLINGS:

Dentrunone, Dentrone (register entry of Robert I Charter) Duntruyn (Pont 26) , Duntroon

(Moll, Taylor and Skinner, Ainslie, Thomson), Duntrim or Duntrum (Roy), Duntrone,

Duntroyne, Duntroun, Duntrum (National Archives of Scotland pre-1600), Dunstrune House

(Ordnance Survey Explorer 380, 2007 ?error)

A3 ADDRESS AND POSTCODE:

Private ownership

A4 GRID REFERENCE:

NO 4460 3500

A5 LOCAL AUTHORITY:

Angus Council (Historical County Forfarshire)

A6 PARISH:

RCAHMS and Historic Scotland currently record Duntrune House as in Murroes parish.

However, Ochterlony, A. J. Warden, the Old Statistical Account (OSA) and the New

Statistical Account (NSA) (references in section B1) include Duntrune in descriptions of the

parish of Dundee. The map of Angus parishes prepared by William Blackwood in 1838

makes clear that when the map was prepared Duntrune was in a detached part of the parish

of Dundee. See Dundee City Archives website Maps and Ordnance Survey Plans. Early

Ordnance Survey maps (25 inch and 6 inch) also differentiate between Murroes and Dundee

in the vicinity of Duntrune.

A7 INCLUDED IN ‘THE INVENTORY OF GARDENS & DESIGNED LANDSCAPES IN

SCOTLAND’:

No


A8 TYPE OF SITE: (eg. Landscaped estate, private garden, public park/gardens,

corporate/institutional landscape, cemetery, allotments, or other – please specify)

Former estate with landscaped grounds around the mansion house of Duntrune.

A9 SIZE IN HECTARES OR ACRES:

2012 Divided ownership: In 2012, major owners 4.86 hectares (12 acres) and 3.33 hectares (8.25

acres acres), Duntrune Mill 0.8 hectares ( 2 acres).

A10 PUBLIC ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS/OPENING TIMES (If any):

None

A11 NATIONAL & LOCAL AUTHORITY DESIGNATIONS: (eg. Conservation Area,

Green Belt, Tree Preservation Order(s), Nature Conservation Area, etc.

None

A12 LISTED STRUCTURES:

Duntrune House Including Ha-Ha, Terrace Steps, Wall with Bee-Boles, Gate-Piers and

Adjoining Walls Category B. Listed 10 December 1991 Ref 18669 http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2200:15:0::::BUILDING,HL:18669,Duntrune

Duntrune House Walled Garden Category C. Listed 10 December 1991 Ref 18994 http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2200:15:0::::BUILDING,HL:18994,Duntrune Road Bridge Over Fithie Burn Including Adjoining Walls and Milestone Category B. Listed

10 December 1991 Ref 18996 http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2200:15:0::::BUILDING,HL:18996,Duntrune

Weir Abutting Road Bridge Over Fithie Burn Category B. Listed 10 December 1991

Ref 18997 http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2200:15:0::::BUILDING,HL:18997,Duntrune

6/7, 8 and 9 Burnside of Duntrune Cottages Including Boundary Wall and Railings Category

C. 10 December 1991 Ref 18667 http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2200:15:0::::BUILDING,HL:18667,Duntrune

Duntrune Home Farm, The Steading Category B Listed 12 December 1988 Ref 18668 http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2200:15:0::::BUILDING,HL:18668,Duntrune

B. HISTORICAL SURVEY INFORMATION: MAPPED,

DOCUMENTARY & PUBLISHED SOURCES B1 MAPPED SOURCES: (please list maps below in date order and attach copies where

possible. Give the description or title, date, maker’s name if known, and for Ordnance

Survey maps give the date of survey, edition number and sheet number)

Unless otherwise stated all extracts from map images are reproduced by kind permission of

the Trustees of the National Library of Scotland

http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2200:15:0::::BUILDING,HL:18669,Duntrune







Timothy Pont (Pont 26) Lower Angus and Perthshire east of the Tay, imprint 1583-96 Duntrune appears as ‘Duntruyn Lds Ogilvy’

http://maps.nls.uk/view/00002323#zoom=5&lat=2615&lon=4043&layers=BT

The building shown by Pont associated with ‘Duntruyn’ may be an accurate epresentation of

a 3-storey tower house with an attached 2-storey building

1678 Robert Edward Angusia Provincia Scotiae sive The Shire of Angus http://maps.nls.uk/view/00000652#zoom=5&lat=1135&lon=3383&layers=BT




1732 Herman Moll The Shire of Angus or Forfar http://maps.nls.uk/view/00000295#zoom=5&lat=872&lon=1601&layers=BT

1747 - 55 Roy Military Survey of Scotland (Highland)

http://maps.nls.uk/geo/roy/print.cfm#zoom=15&lat=56.45987&lon=-2.86647&layers=B0000000TTT

©British Library Board. All rights Reserved.

The Roy map does not show Duntrune House, perhaps because of the method of survey.

Roads and rivers were surveyed instrumentally, while other landscape features were

sketched in by eye. Thus the mill, on the Dighty, and the property of Wr Hall (partly shown

on the map above) which is near the major road to Forfar, are both shown, while Duntrune

House which is not visible from either the burn or the road, is not shown.


http://maps.nls.uk/geo/roy/print.cfm#zoom=15&lat=56.45987&lon=-2.86647&layers=B0000000TTT


1776 George Taylor and Andrew Skinner, Survey and Maps of the Roads of North Britain or

Scotland Plate 33 The Road from Edinburgh to Dundee, Aberbrothick, Montrose, Inverbervie & Stonehaven


1974 John Ainslie, Map of the County of Forfar or Shire of Angus (South East Section)


The place-name ‘Duntroon’ shown north-west of ‘Duntroon’ House is sometimes labelled

‘Cotton of Duntroon’ or ‘Muirhouses’ by other mapmakers.




1832 John Thomson, Northern Part of Angus Shire. Southern Part from John Thomson’s Atlas of

Scotland http://maps.nls.uk/view/74400150#zoom=6&lat=3921&lon=6357&layers=BT

1850 James Knox, Map of the Basin of the Tay, including the greater part of Perth Shire, Strathmore

and the Braes of Angus or Forfar http://maps.nls.uk/view/74401106#zoom=6&lat=3490&lon=9436&layers=BT

Some artistic licence may have been used in Knox’s map, above, in the representation of

‘Duntroon’ House with south facing entrance, and in the position of the service drive, which

passes behind, not in front of the house.




Ordnance Survey 25 inch First Edition, Forfarshire Sheet L15 (and L11), Surveyed 1857-62 Published 1865


Ordnance Survey 6 inch First Edition, Forfarshire Sheet L Survey 1858 Published 1865 http://maps.nls.uk/view/74426927#zoom=6&lat=3190&lon=10340&layers=BT




Ordnance Survey One-inch to the Mile Maps of Scotland 1st Edition 1856-1891

Sheet 49 Arbroath, published 1888


Ordnance Survey 1 inch Second Edition Sheet 49 Arbroath Revised 1894 Published 1896 http://maps.nls.uk/view/74489065#zoom=6&lat=6377&lon=2479&layers=BT

.

Ordnance Survey 25 inch Second Edition & Subsequent Editions Forfarshire Sheets 050.11 & 050.15 Revised 1900 Published 1902


Sheets 050.11 & 050.15 Revised 1921 Published 1922 http://maps.nls.uk/view/82884621#zoom=5&lat=10515&lon=9084&layers=BT






Ordnance Survey 1 inch Second Edition Sheet 49 Arbroath with Coloured Parishes Published 1904


This is the earliest map showing Duntrune in Murroes parish.

Ordnance Survey 6 inch Second and Later Editions Forfarshire

Sheet L.SE Revised 1900 Published 1903 http://maps.nls.uk/view/75535139#zoom=5&lat=3382&lon=2982&layers=BT

Sheet L.SE Revised 1921 Published 1923 http://maps.nls.uk/view/75535136#zoom=5&lat=3456&lon=3112&layers=BT


Ordnance Survey 1 inch Third Edition Sheet 49 Arbroath Revised 1904-5 Published 1907 http://maps.nls.uk/view/74489066#zoom=6&lat=6418&lon=2285&layers=BT







1912 John Bartholomew Plate 36 Dunkeld From the ‘Survey Atlas of Scotland’


Ordnance Survey 1 inch “Popular” Edition Sheet 57 Forfar and Dundee Revised 1925-6,

Published 1927. With National Grid 1945-47 http://maps.nls.uk/view/91527143#zoom=6&lat=3155&lon=8883&layers=BT

Ordnance Survey 1 inch Seventh Series Sheet 50 Forfar Revised 1954, Published 1961


B2 PRIMARY & DOCUMENTARY SOURCES: (plans, manuscript documents and other

estate records) Please list material consulted in date order and attach copies where possible.

Give description of material, and location and reference number of archival holding.

1. Charter of Robert I King of Scots to Walter de Morthington, in Lost Rolls VIII, (undated but

probably around 1324 or later). This charter is indexed in the Registrum Magni Sigilli

Regum Scotorum, AD 1306-1424 (New edition, Ed J.M.Thomson, printed Clark Constable,

Edinburgh 1984) in Appendix 2, Index A, number 447 and in Index B, number 71.

2.

3. Bond by Alexander of Ogilby of Duntrone to David of Ogilby of Inchmartyne 18 May 1462.

National Archives of Scotland (NAS) GD 26/3/999

4. Bond of renunciation by Silvester de Rettray of that ilk. and Margaret de Ogilvy sister of

deceased Alexander to David Ogilby of Inchmartyne of lands of Duntroon 18 Mar 1475.

NAS GD 26/3/1002.

5.

6. Instrument of ratification by Alexander Ogilby son and apparent heir of David Ogilvie….of

disposition to his natural son David Ogilvy of the lands of Duntrone 6 August 1480. NAS

GD 26/3/1006.

7.

8. Extract Contract, John Scrymgeour of Glasswell..and Henry Ogilvie of Duntrone to sell to

Henry Ogilvie a tenement of land in Seagate. 29 Sep 1586. NAS GD 30/323.





9. Henry Ogilvy, son of Henry Ogilvy of Duntrune sells the Seagate tenement to Captain

Alexander Wishart 18 Dec 1591-1592. NAS GD 30/329.

10. 11. Marriage contract between Sir William Graham of Claverhouse, George his eldest son and

Walter of Duntrune, his second son, on the one hand, and David Guthrie of that Ilk,

Alexander Guthrie of Kincaldronne, his eldest son, and Elizabeth, or Bessie, his daughter, on

the other 27 Apr 1630. University of Dundee (UoD) Archives MS 57/1/2/2.

12. 13. Contract of Sale by Sir John Scrymgeour of Dudop to Sir William Graham of Claverhouse,

Mr George Graham fiear thereof and Walter Graham fiear of Duntrune his son of the lands

of Mylntoun of Craigie..also the tiends of Duntrune in the parish of Dundee. 1633. (NAS)

GD 137/873.

14. 15. Assignation by James Viscount Dudhope to Walter Graham of Duntrune of all tacks or tiend

sheaves granted to him or his late father ..and of the teind sheaves or parsonage sheaves of

the lands of Duntrune. 12 and 20 Jan 1644. NAS GD 137/3995 and/3996.

16. 17. Registered tack by James Viscount Dudhope to Walter Graham of Duntrune of the teind

sheaves of Duntrune. 20 Jan 1644, copied 1735. UoD Archives MS 57/1/5.

18. 19. Charter of James Fairweather in favour of James Graham of the lands of Duntrune 7 July

1735 (in Latin) mentions houses, grain mill, gardens, apple orchards, dovecots, crofts and

pendicles. UoD Archives MS 57/1/15.

20. 21. Captain Alex Graham 13 Sep 1757/1758 UoD Archives MS 57/1/8.

22. 23. David Graham and son Alexander 28 Oct 1758. UoD Archives MS 57/1/9.

24. . 25. Plan of Duntrune Estate, 1760. Title “A plan of the estate of Duntroon the property of

Captain Alexander Graham” by John Holden Scale 1” = 5 chs. Estate plan coloured to show

field boundaries. Names of adjacent lands. Table of contents giving names of fields and

acreages. Elevations of (?) Duntrune House and of cottages at Muirhouses. NAS RHP

141329. http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/record/nrs/RHP141329/plan-duntrune-estate-angus/nrs

26. 27. Renunciation of the Mill of Duntrune with the land by Andrew Butchart of Duntrune in

favour of Alexander Graham Esquire.1776. UoD Archives MS 57/1/4/6.

28. 29. Mrs Amelia Stirling Graham 26 July 1805 UoD Archives MS 57/1/10.

30. 31. Estate plan of Duntrune by William Ireland, Landsurveyor 1805 scale 1”= 5 chs.

32. Dimensions 790x250. Title ‘Plan The Estate of Duntrune The property of (Blank)

Surveyed and planned by William Ireland landsurveyor 1805’. Annotated ‘Dundee 9th

October 1812. This is the plan referred to in the Decreet Arbitical pronounced by us for

dividing the Estate of Duntrune and figured from (?) of this date’. UoD Archives MS 57P/5.

33. 34. 35. Inventory of Writs referred to in the Disposition of the Fourth Part of the Land of Duntrune

and others by Mrs Clementina Graham or Drummond to Miss Alison Graham, 1812. UoD

Archives MS 57/1/4 (1).

http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/record/nrs/RHP141329/plan-duntrune-estate-angus/nrs


36. 37. Extract of Decreed Division of the Valued rent of Duntrune 1816. Estate divided between

Mrs Amelia Stirling Graham and her son William Stirling Graham, Miss Alison Graham and

David Blair. The farm of Craighill became the possession of David Blair. UoD Archives

MS 57/1/4/3.

38. 39. Rental of the Estate of Duntrune exclusive of mansion house, garden, woods and shootings,

1892. Lists rentals of farms, pendicles, houses, cottages, shop, smithy, quarries, grass parks.

Gives an idea of the extent of the estate at this date. UoD Archives MS 57/1/5(11).

40. 41. Letter to Mr Ogilvie about the planting scheme at Duntrune, 9 November, 1911. Gives

details of choice of trees for different locations around the mansion house. UoD Archives

MS57/1/8/6. Photocopied

42. 43. Hand drawn tracing of map featuring Duntrune House, Hill and sawmill. N.d. Digital image.

UoD Archives MS 57/1/8/28.

44. National Library of Scotland Inventory Acc.10742 Royal and historical autographs, has an

entry number 13, ‘Volume of papers, 1587-1823, of the Grahams of Duntrune, including

documents concerning John Graham of Claverhouse, 1st Viscount Dundee’. This

acquisition is the collection of papers which was made by J.E.Lacon and shown to

A.J.Warden when he visited Duntrune during the writing of his history of Forfarshire

(reference in Bibliography section B4).

Note: a. The on-line index to University of Dundee (UoD) Archives lists 9 pages of manuscript material relating to Duntrune. Many entries contain several manuscripts. Only those which seemed

relevant to the estate of Duntrune and the succession of owners have been listed above http://www.dundee.ac.uk/archives/ The National Archives of Scotland (NAS) or National Records of Scotland (NRS) also contain

around 40 entries under ‘Duntrune’ http://www.nas.gov.uk/

Note b: The Estate Plan of Duntrune held in the National Archives of Scotland (entry 14, above) has

been digitized and can be seen online on the ‘Scotland’s Places’ website http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/record/nrs/RHP141329/plan-duntrune-estate-angus/nrs

B3 HISTORICAL ILLUSTRATIONS & PICTORIAL SOURCES: (drawings, paintings,

photographs, aerial photographs etc. Include type, subject, artist, source or reference

location, and date if known)

Gershom Cumming ‘Forfarshire Illustrated being views of Gentlemen’s seats, antiquities and

scenery in Forfarshire with descriptive and historical notices’, end papers at back of book.

Published Gershom Cumming Engravers 37 Reform Street Dundee, 1843 and 1848, with

similar title.

RCAHMS Canmore ID 159489, Burnside of Duntrune Mill Dam, digital image available

on-line http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/details/502383/

RCAHMS Canmore ID 159492, do. Sluice, digital image available on-line http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/details/502384/

http://www.dundee.ac.uk/archives/

http://www.nas.gov.uk/

http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/record/nrs/RHP141329/plan-duntrune-estate-angus/nrs

http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/details/502383/

http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/details/502384/


RCAHMS C12704 : Duntrune House, modern copy of historic photograph 16.6.1894

RCAHMS AND 15/1 to AND 15/10P : Photographic copies of William Burn floor plans of

Duntrune House (1826)

Charles McKean and David Walker ‘Dundee, an Illustrated Architectural Guide’, 155.

The owners of the main wing own a copyright aerial photograph which shows the mansion

house, garden and steading in 1967, when the walled garden was under cultivation and the

steading was in use.

Google images contain several pictures of Duntrune House.

Duntrune House has its own website http://duntrunehouse.co.uk/

B4 BIBLIOGRAPHY OF PUBLISHED SOURCES: (Statistical Accounts, Gazetteers,

Directories, Travel Accounts etc.) Please list publications consulted in alphabetical order.

Include details of author, title, journal or periodical, and date, volume/edition and page

numbers where relevant.

Connachan-Holmes, J.R.A. 1995 Country Houses of Scotland Isle of Colonsay, Argyll PA16

7YP, House of Lochar, 160.

Cumming, G. 1843 Forfarshire Illustrated being views of Gentlemen’s seats, antiquities and

scenery in Forfarshire with descriptive and historical notices Dundee, 37 Reform Street,

Gershom Cumming Engravers, Duntrune House engraving in back end pages.

MacGregor, P. D. 1856 The Baronage of Angus and Mearns Edinburgh, Oliver & Boyd.

Translates the motto of William Stirling Graham, Recta Sursum, as ‘Things are right which

are above”. An alternative translation is “Heaven’s way is right”.

M’Laughlan, The Rev A. et al 1834-45 The New Statistical Account of Scotland, Dundee,

On-line edition, Vol 11, 15.

Malcolm, D. 1910 The Parish of Monifieth in ancient and modern times, with a history of the

landed estates and lives of eminent men Edinburgh, William Green, 69-78. Description of

the assistance given by David Graham of Duntrune in the escape of the Chevalier de

Johnstone after the Battle of Culloden (a highly entertaining account).

Matthew, D. 2009 Murroes Wellbank Past and Present 8th

edition, 39. History of the lands

of Duntrune probably derived from A.J. Warden. Also describes the village of Burnside of

Duntrune and its flax mill.

Matthew, D. 2009 Stone Getters of Angus 2nd

edition, 27. Mentions Duntrune Quarry and

the Stirling Graham memorial stone in the Howff, Dundee, from the quarry.

McKean, C and Walker, D. 1993 Dundee An Illustrated Architectural Guide Edinburgh,

Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland, 155.

http://duntrunehouse.co.uk/


Ochterlony of Guynd, J. 1682 Account of the Shire of Forfar, 18. ‘Duntroone, Grahame, a

pleasant place with fine parks and meadows about it’. Described in the Parish of Dundie.

Regesta regum scottorum Vol V. The Acts of Robert I, King of Scots, 1306-1329, 1988,

A.A.M. Duncan (Ed) Edinburgh, Edinburgh University Press.

Scotland’s Places website: www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst8872.html.

Description of Duntrune House from Francis Groome’s Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland,

with links to relevant entries on the Historic Scotland and the RCAHMS websites.

Small, The Rev. R. 1791-99 Old Statistical Account of Scotland, Dundee, On-line edition,

Vol. 8, 194, 197. ‘None of these (estates) except Duntroon and Douglas, have been above

100 years in possession of the family of its present proprietors’; ‘the south bank of Duntroon

is also fertile’.

Valentine, E.S. 1912 Forfarshire, 87. ‘Forfarshire in 1715 was strongly Jacobite’ and ‘The

Magistrates of Dundee being for James, the Old Pretender, although most of the citizens

were Hanoverian, Graham of Duntrune proclaimed him king there’.

Warden, A.J. 1884 Angus or Forfarshire The land and its people, descriptive and historical

Vol 4, 146-155. Very detailed account of the history of the Estate of Duntrune and the

Grahams from the reign of King Robert I (1305-1329) to just before the publication date.

Note: Several of the above books which relate to Angus or Forfarshire, may be found on the website

http://archive.org by searching with keyword Forfarshire. The section of Warden, A.J. 1884 referred

to above has also been reproduced on the Monikie, Scotland Website http://www.monikie.org.uk/

B5 PRINCIPAL PERIODS OF DEVELOPMENT OF THE HOUSE

The lands of Duntrune were recognized by name from the reign of Robert the Bruce (1306-

1329) when granted by royal charter in the Sheriffdom of Forfar to Walter de Morthington

(Mordington, Morthyntoun NT9556 in Berwickshire), according to A.J.Warden (Angus or

Forfarshire) and A.A.M. Duncan ( Regesta Regum Scottorum). The wording of this charter

cannot be verified as it was a part of lost roll VIII (A.A.M. Duncan) and only the reference

exists in the Register of Charters. However the wording of a similar charter giving the

barony of Corseby or Crossebie to Walter de Morthingtoun is ‘faciendo servitium debitum et

consuetum’ or ‘for customary dutiful service’. The history of Duntrune between the award

of the charter (probably around 1324) and the middle of the following century is not known,

but probably could be traced by searching on Morthingtoun or variants of the name.

There is documentary evidence and map evidence (Timothy Pont) to show that Duntrune

then belonged to the Ogilvys of Easter Powrie from mid-15th

century until nearly the end

of the 16th century. The site of the castle of Easter Powrie or Wedderburn is shown on the

1856 OS 6 inch map to be on the west side of the Fithie burn, to the north and within less

than 1 mile of Duntrune House.

A J Warden also suggests that the first house of Duntrune was built in the 16th century when

the land was the property of the Scrymgeours. Warden does not site the evidence for this,

but the small tower house depicted by Pont may represent the earliest house documented.

http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst8872.html

http://archive.org/

http://www.monikie.org.uk/


An Ogilvie ‘of Duntrune’ is certainly recorded in 1591-92. The Scrymgeours may have

become superiors of Duntrune sometime after this date and feued the estate to the Grahams

at the beginning of the 17th century. There is some manuscript evidence suggesting this.

From 1633 documentary evidence has Graham as the family name associated with Duntrune,

confirmed by Ochterlony. The estate was divided on the death of Alexander Graham

without issue in 1802. The main claimants were his sisters Mrs Amelia Stirling (and her son

William), Miss Alison Graham, Mrs Clementina Drummond and possibly a fourth sister,

Janet Graham. Miss Alison Graham sold the fields of Craighill and Bonnybank (field names

from the 1760 estate plan) to David Blair around the date of her marriage to Mr Robert

Hunter of Burnside from the family of Hunter of Balgillo. This land became the farm of

Craighill, but otherwise the estate appears to have survived relatively intact. Mrs Stirling

and William became Duntrune’s owners around 1815 and adopted Graham as their surname

by royal assent.

Duntrune House was built in 1826 for William Stirling Graham. Any favourable financial

circumstances which might have made WSG choose to build the mansion at this time have

not been identified. However, a gentleman’s seat with the barnyard in close proximity, as

shown in the 1760 estate map, would have been unfashionable in the extreme at the

beginning of the 19th century. WSG died without issue in 1844 and was succeeded by his

sister, Clementina Stirling Graham, a lady apparently of great spirit and stamina, who died at

95 in 1877. A newspaper cutting records that she launched the clipper Duntrune at 93.

Regular sales of standing wood are advertised at Duntrune in the second half of the 19th

century. On the death of Miss Clementina the estate passed to John Edmond Lacon, her

nephew. After the death of J E Lacon a trust administered the property in his name. C B

Ovenstone was the tenant until 1917, when he became proprietor.

The whittling down of the estate to its present size probably took place mainly in the 20th

century.

B6 PRINCIPAL ARCHITECTS/DESIGNERS ASSOCIATED WITH SITE: (please

reference source of information)

Duntrune House, William Burn (Connachan-Holmes, J.R.A. ‘Country Houses of Scotland’,

complete reference in B4). Duntrune House seems at odds with other commissions which

William Burn was working on between 1820 and 1830, and indeed with the scale of the

buildings for which he is best known. He designed Union Street, Dundee, completed in

1824, Camperdown House 1824-26, Murray Royal Hospital, Perth 1822-27 and Union (now

Bank of Scotland) Bank in Murraygate, Dundee, among others.

The final structure differed in detail from the architect’s drawings. I have not identified

an architect of the early 20th century addition to the service bay.

B7 ORAL RECORDS/REMINISCENSES Please include a list of any people interviewed

during the course of research/survey work. Include name and role of interviewee (eg. family

member, former employee, local resident), date of conversation and major dates, features or

events recalled. Attach a transcript of the conversation if possible.

The present owners of the main wing of Duntrune House have many memories of events

which took place since they moved there in 1981. They remember that the tacksman’s house


in the steading was occupied by an elderly lady who had no running water or electricity, who

looked after the wildlife in the neighbourhood, and who is now looked after in a Care Home.

Duntrune Doocot – The farmer at Westhall confirmed that, with permission from RCAHMS,

they demolished a ruinous doocot at Westhall shortly after they acquired the property. A

further reference to ‘Duntrune Doocot’ is made in Section C1D.

C. SITE SURVEY Use map provided to mark positions and boundaries. Take

photographs where possible.

C1 ARCHITECTURAL ELEMENTS Note the materials used, the dates and styles of

various phases of development, and category of listing if appropriate

C1A PRINCIPAL HOUSE OR BUILDING:

Duntrune House, stone-built country house 1826 for William Stirling Graham, architect

William Burn. Built in typical Burn Tudor revival style of sandstone ashlar probably

quarried locally. The house is described in full architectural detail on N, S, E and W

elevations in the listing text of 1991, which can be accessed on the Historic Scotland and

British Listed Buildings websites. The 20th

century extension to the service wing is easily

identified on the north side of the house. The listing text suggests that the present house may

incorporate the basement of an older house which it replaced. Apparent irregularities in the

building may be due to deviations from the original drawings made as building proceeded, as

can be seen by comparing the architect’s drawings with the building as it stands now. The

final result is a very elegant and unique country house, on a site outstanding for its views

over the coast and countryside to the south, east and west. From east to west, the Bell Rock

lighthouse, Fife Ness, the Hopetoun Monument, the East Lomond, Norman’s Law and the

West Lomond are all visible under reasonable weather conditions. The site appears to have

the classic situation of a prehistoric dun, well represented in the Taylor and Skinner map.

Duntrune House is Category B listed.

Duntrune House South Elevation


Listing text: http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2200:15:0::::BUILDING,HL:18669,Duntrune

William Burn, dated 1826; service wing extended early 20th century. 2-storey and basement

on falling ground with single, 2- and 3-storey service wings, irregular-plan, plain Tudor-style

country house. Sandstone ashlar with droved angles, grey slate roof. Base course at S, E and

W elevations, string course at 1st floor S and E elevations; windows mostly bi- and tripartite

with chamfered and cavetto moulded margins and mullions, originally lying-pane glazing in

sash and case frames, now mostly plate-glass; gabled dormerheads to 1st floor windows of

main house (arrow slit ventilators at S elevation) with scroll skewputts and gabletted coping;

similarly coped skew gables, some with finials, others with corbelled single and linked

diagonal gable stacks (some at ridges and wallheads); plain cast-iron rainwater goods

(decorative hopper at entrance porch).

Notes from listing text:

Duntrune House was built for the Stirling Graham family on the site of an earlier house

whose basement may have been incorporated into the present building. The plan reflects

Burn's concern for convenience and separation of family and service areas. Burn's surviving

drawings show that minor modifications were made to the design as built. The plain Tudor

style contrasts dramatically with the same architect's Greek temple-style Camperdown House

on the north eastern edge of Dundee, built from 1824. The bee-boles in the garden which

may pre-date the present house reflect Clementina Stirling Graham's interest in bees; her

MYSTIFICATIONS also illuminate amusing aspects of 19th century middle class

assemblies. There is an 1877 inventory of Miss Stirling Graham's furniture and effects from

Duntrune in the Dundee University Archives (also a drawing of her memorial window in St

Mary's Church, Broughty Ferry). Electricity was installed in 1904, generated by water

power at Duntrune Mill. During the 1745 rebellion the Graham's were Jacobites and part of

their involvement with this cause is related by

Malcolm. The Stirling Grahams' relationship to the Grahams of Claverhouse and others is

shown in the manuscript volume in the National Library. Duntrune House is now sub-

divided into 5 units.

Historic Scotland and British Listed Buildings references

Clementina Stirling Graham, MYSTIFICATIONS (1869); Jonas de Geliue, THE BEE

PRESERVER, translated by Clementina Stirling Graham (1829);

James Malcolm, PARISH OF MONIFIETH (1910), pp69-78; Graham family lineage, MS

3566-7, National Library of Scotland.



Heraldic Panel above Main Door, East Elevation

The Coat of Arms is that of William Stirling Graham and is described in detail by P.D

Macgregor (reference in Section B4, Bibliography). The various motifs show descent from

Lovell of Ballumbie and from King Robert III. The motto is Recta Sursum, ‘Heaven’s way

is right’.

William Burn Drawing South Elevation

C1B OFFICES (stables, outbuildings, etc):

Dairy and coal store adjoin service bay N of mansion house. A well, still in serviceable

condition lies N and W of the dairy.


Dairy on North Elevation, Cheese Press


C1C HOME FARM OR MAINS:

A group of stone-built farm buildings known as Duntrune Home Farm or The Steading lies

150 m WNW of Duntrune House and shares the same rocky outcrop. The group of buildings

was listed in 1988, and the listing text describes in detail the courtyard plan of the

‘improved’ steading with stable block built in the 18th century and later additions in 1824 of

horse mill and threshing barn. The steading was listed in1990, but is now very dilapidated

and on the Buildings at Risk register. The south gable of the stable range contains the most

outstanding feature of the steading. Two inserted reused armorial panels dated 1664 have

the initials EG and WG, denoting Elizabeth Guthrie and Walter Graham, the first Graham of

Duntrune. Their marriage contract dated 1630 is held in the University of Dundee archives

(see section B2). It is unclear which event is referred to in 1664, possibly the building of a

new house at Duntrune, around a century later than the house which A.J.Warden suggests

was built in the mid-16th

century. Above the armorial panels is a triangular panel with the

initials WG, which may have the remains of a date beginning 16. The National Trust for

Scotland archaeologist, Dr Shannon Fraser, suggests that stones of this type were

dormer-head pediments. They may have been salvaged from an older house demolished to

build the 1824 mansion.

The 1760 estate map does not show any buildings in the position of the steading, although

the listing text suggests an 18th

century date for the stable block. Instead, a large rectangular

enclosure is shown immediately E of the house of that period, labelled ‘Barnyaird’. The

estate map of 1805 does show the steading in its present position in relation to the house,

with the configuration of buildings which existed in 1990. This suggests a building date for

the steading between 1750 and 1805, with further building around 1824, the date reportedly

on the dovecote. Dates reported in the listing texts on lintel and sill stones in the steading

could not be verified as we did not have access to the buildings.

A photograph of ‘Duntrune Dovecote’ taken by Lady Maitland is associated with documents

relating to Duntrune held in RCAHMS Search Room (B 88003 PO) This

photograph does not represent the dovecote which is part of The Steading at Duntrune, but is

of a now demolished dovecote on the neighbouring farm of Westhall. It is probably the

dovecot with the ID 224353 on the RCAHMS Canmore database.

Photographs of the steading and its listing text can be found on the Buildings at Risk

Register: http://www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk/search/planning_authority/175/p/8/event_id/902233/building_name/duntrune

-farm-steading-burnside-of-duntrune

http://www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk/search/planning_authority/175/p/8/event_id/902233/building_name/duntrune-farm-steading-burnside-of-duntrune

http://www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk/search/planning_authority/175/p/8/event_id/902233/building_name/duntrune-farm-steading-burnside-of-duntrune


C1D BOUNDARIES (External & internal; estate walls, ha-has, park fences etc.):

East and north boundaries of the present policies are coped drystone walls, strongly built of

local freestone, with the exception of the walls around the main entrance gate. Western

boundary is Fithie Burn. The south boundary is a stone-faced ha-ha (B listed) which runs

along the south of the house and gardens for a length of 500m and has projecting stone steps

which lead down into what was formerly a sloping grass park in front of the house, but is

now a field under cultivation. This field was part of a large park labelled the ‘Forebanck’ in

the estate map of 1760. When Duntrune Estate existed, the ha-ha would have been an

internal boundary. The present eastern boundary of Duntrune House policies, the ‘coo road’

is clearly marked on the 1760 estate map.

The Ha-Ha Marking the South Boundary of Duntrune House Policies

C1E GATES/GATE LODGES:

No lodges. Main entrance has 2 ashlar gatepiers with moulded cap and ball finials, with 2

angle dies from which the adjoining walls sweep away in 2 quadrants with roll-moulded

coping terminating in pyramidal capped piers. The ball finials are missing from the north

angle die and from the terminating pier, which is wreathed in ivy. Modern metal gate.

Listing test: http://data.historic-scotland.gov.uk/pls/htmldb/f?p=2200:15:0::::BUILDING,HL:18669,Duntrune



Duntrune House Main Gate

Typical Field Gate Posts on the ‘Coo Road’

C1F GARDEN BUILDINGS (Summer houses, view houses, temples, grottoes etc):

Potting shed cum apple store with recently restored hipped, slated roof and interior upper

wooden floor and stairs, is attached to the E wall of walled garden to form the SE corner.

From the finer stonework this building may have been added at the time of the 1826

building.


Restored Apple House cum Potting Shed

A stone-paved area with a shallow step between the south wall of the walled garden and the

ha-ha may have belonged to a wooden view house of some kind. A break in the S wall of

the walled garden, aligned with this feature, is recent.

C1G CHAPELS/MAUSOLEUMS/BURIAL GROUNDS:

None.

C1H CONSERVATORIES/FERNERIES:

None

C1J GARDEN STATUARY (Fountains, statues, sundials, monuments etc.) Note any

inscriptions:

The lawn area on the south front of the house has a circular stone trough for annual planting,

supported on the stone pillars of a bench. A similar stone bench is sited on the terrace

overlooking the ha-ha, east of the house. Two armorial lions flank the flight of steps to the

tripartite window of the S elevation of the house. The armorial lions, planter and bird bath

are modern concrete.

C1K BURIAL GROUNDS/CEMETERIES (Note principal memorials and headstones with

inscriptions where possible):

There are no burial grounds or cemeteries in the policies of Duntrune House, but the


ancient graveyard in the centre of Dundee known as the Howff has a memorial of 1670 to

Bailley William Rait, with an inserted slab of sandstone from Duntrune Quarry

commemorating the Grahams and Stirling Grahams of Duntrune.

The Stirling-Graham Memorial in the Howff Burial Ground, Dundee

Miss Clementina Stirling Grahams’s gravestone in the burial ground at Mains Castle,

Dundee, is also a sandstone slab probably quarried in Angus.

C1L BRIDGES:

Road bridge at Burnside of Duntrune is mid-18th century, built of random rubble with a

single segmental arch. Bridge, weir and mill lades are contemporary (Grade B listed). The

weir, mill and mill lade are described in section C1S.

Duntrune House website has a very fine illustration of the bridge http://duntrunehouse.co.uk/

http://duntrunehouse.co.uk/


C1M TERRACES (Including steps & stairways):

Two flights of stone steps with coped balustrades and ball-finial pillars lead west and south

from the level of the front of the house, down to the west lawn and the ha-ha. The

stonework and ball finials of the steps match those of the main entrance. A much less

decorative flight of 4 steps leads from the west lawn to the service area at the rear of the

house.

Steps from House Terrace to West Lawn

Steps from House Terrace to Top of Ha-Ha

C1N WALLED GARDENS (Including potting sheds, bothies, glasshouse ranges etc.):

The large garden lying about 40 m west and slightly north of the house is walled with

rectangular slabs of local stone and dates to before 1805, as it is shown as a rectangular


enclosure probably in its current position in relation to the house of that period on an estate

map of 1805. The north wall is the highest wall at 3-4 m and has had bee-boles built in it,

now filled with rubble, but a supporting buttress is still visible on the outside of the wall.

The north wall curves at both its western and eastern ends; the vehicular entrance to the

garden has been created through the north wall, close to the western curve. The east and west

walls are lower in height, around 2 m, and the south wall of the garden is about 0.6 m high

and has the remains of light ornamental railings at the east end of the wall. The outer face of

the west wall has the remains of plant supports, and from the 1865 first edition 25” OS map

had an enclosed garden, possibly a slip garden, built around it. The aerial view referred to in

section B3 shows a glasshouse range in this garden, all traces of which have been obliterated

by the siting of a modern, unfinished single-storey house just outside the west wall of the

walled garden. The east wall has an entrance door which is directly accessible from the rear

of the house, and the south wall has an entrance with a low metal gate.

North-East Corner of Walled Garden

Within the walled garden two modern houses have been built. The entrances to the garden

from east and south suggest that the east side might have been used as a kitchen garden, and

the south as an ornamental planted area. There are remains of iron supports for wires at each

end of the south wall, which could have supported ornamental climbing

shrubs along the length of the wall.


Access to Walled Garden from Duntrune House

Information from the owner of the main wing indicates that there are pockets in the west

wall which may have housed the end of a small fence along the south wall. From this and

evidence of metal fixings on top of the wall, I believe there were short lengths of fencing,

triangular in elevation, at either end of the south wall between the west wall and the opening

in the south wall. I believe that the remainder of the south wall between the two sections of

fence had a ditch on the south side effectively forming a ha-ha.

South Entrance to Walled Garden (note ‘Arts and Crafts’ type metal railing)

The owner of the earlier of the two modern houses in the walled garden has planted

specimen trees described in C21D Ornamental Tree Planting’.


Information from the owner of Burnside House, the former Mill of Duntrune, indicated that

there was a walled garden there also which had been an orchard, but we did not have access

to confirm this. The 1760 estate map shows two adjoining rectangular enclosure on the mill

land, one labelled ‘Nurs’y’.

The 1760 estate map also shows three quadrangular attached enclosures labelled ‘Gardens’

lying W and N of the main house of that period, almost certainly occupying part of the space

where the current walled garden lies. It is possible that the ‘bee-bole’ wall (section C1S) is a

surviving wall of one of these enclosures.

Different periods of building of the walled garden (Bee-bole wall, right; walled garden, apple house, left)

C1P AVENUES, CARRIAGE DRIVES, ORNAMENTAL WALKS, SERVICE DRIVES

ETC:

A short carriage drive of about 150 m leads round a circular grassed area to the main

entrance to the mansion at the east end of the main wing, forming a carriage sweep. About

70 m inside the main gates a service drive diverges to the right from the main drive and leads

E towards the back of the house, then curves N to pass along the north wall of the walled

garden to its main entrance, then through gate posts to join a second service road about 100

m long which curves up from the main road between drystone walls to the steading.

C1Q ROCKERIES:

None

C1R WATER FEATURES (natural & man-made including rivers, cascades, lochs, pools


etc.):

The Fithie Burn flowing in a deep dene once formed the western boundary of the estate,

separating Duntrune from Ballumbie, The burn is now bordered by cultivated land.

Inside the public road which borders the policies of Duntrune House on the north, there is a

low-lying swampy area which was once a pond, but no longer becomes filled with water. It

has been planted with poplar and alder to try to maintain its character as a wet area.

C1S ANY OTHER FEATURES NOT INCLUDED ABOVE (Include any historic or

modern feature and indicate use where possible):

The Bee-boles. A very curious feature of the garden on the west side of the house is a

drystone wall of 1.5 m in height, in which are situated 4 rectangular openings for beehives

which would have been made of plaited straw (bee-boles or skeps). The wall is buttressed

behind where the beehives would have been situated. The wall runs from the west side of

the house between the 20th century extension and the wall of the present walled garden. Part

of the wall collapsed at one point some years ago in a storm and the resulting gap still

remains. Previous to this there seems to have been no direct access from the W lawn to the

rear of the house, other than via the walled garden. It may be that this wall formed part of a

previous walled garden. This possibility is discussed in Section C1N above.

Old Drystone Wall with Bee Boles

Burnside of Duntrune

Duntrune mill, situated down on the Fithie burn, below and west of Duntrune House and

steading, is a constant feature of the archives pertaining to Duntrune House and estate. The

earliest mill was a grain mill powered by a water wheel with a lade from the Fithie burn.

The mill building is no longer standing. The later saw mill still exists, and was

powered initially by the same water wheel as the grain mill, and later by an electricity-

generating turbine run by the water wheel (see listing text). This system provided electric

power for Duntrune House before the electric grid system was introduced. Duntrune Mill is


now Burnside House and although some features are described, we did not have access to the

site to make a direct record.

The Mill Weir

There is a horse-shoe weir which dams the Fithie burn just north of the road bridge (Section

C1L) to provide a head of water for the mill lade which still functions, with an intact sluice

at the centre which can empty the mill pond, and another sluice on the E side of the Fithie

which diverts water to the mill lade. The horse-shoe weir abuts the north side of the road

bridge previously described and is a listed structure dated to the earlier 19th century.

Duntrune Mill Weir, Open Sluice to Drained Mill Pond

Burnside of Duntrune Village

The village of Burnside of Duntrune lies outwith the boundary of the estate of Duntrune as it

previously existed, but probably came into existence to provide homes for estate workers

other than farm servants, such as forestry and quarry workers. Four adjoining stone-built

cottages are listed buildings and are dated as 1828, incorporating a slightly earlier block.


Burnside of Duntrune, East Cottage of Listed Row

Quarries

West of the steading a small quarry is still visible (entered from the public road), and was

probably the source of the drystone flags used to build the ha-ha, and drystone walls within

and on the boundary of the garden. The much larger quarry known as Duntrune Quarry lies

about 750 m N of the Fithie road bridge, but is now disused and filled in, so was not visited.

World War II Structures. Duntrune House acted as one of the centres for fire-fighting

operations for Dundee during the second World War. Traces of this period in its history are

in the remains of the base of a tower, E of the carriage sweep and the presence of water

tanks, now covered, under the circular lawn.

C2 PLANTED ELEMENTS: The garden or park should divide up naturally and

historically into different areas, e.g. ornamental gardens, parkland, walled garden,

policy planting. Each area should be delineated on a plan and current use noted.

C2.1 ORNAMENTAL GROUNDS

C2.1A GRASSED AREAS (Lawns, meadows, terraces):

Duntrune House stands on an extensive flat lawn, possibly the site of a formal plat or

parterre in the 17th

or early 18th

century. Beyond this feature grass terraces slope S towards

the ha-ha and W, towards the walled garden. The W area of lawn is interrupted by the ‘bee-

bole wall’. E of the house in front of the entrance is a large circular area of grass forming the

centre of the ‘carriage sweep’. A fine grass terrace varying in width from 2 m in front of the

house to about 1.5 m at each end, stretches along the top of the ha-ha, running for the total

length of the ha-ha (500 m). Where the ha-ha continues in front of the neighbouring

property, the terrace is hidden in piles of sawn wood and broken branches. The ha-ha and

terrace are major features of the garden, giving outstanding views to S, E and W, and the

terrace in particular was described with

enthusiasm by A.J. Warden “there are few to equal it…and perhaps none in the country to


surpass it”

South Lawn in Front of Mansion House, from West

C2.1B FLOWER BEDS (Indicate theme or type – parterres, perennial herbaceous

border/annual bedding where possible. Note whether significant plant collection):

The south, east and west faces of the house have shrub and herbaceous perennial borders,

with climbing shrubs trained on the house walls. A new rose garden is being developed in

the sheltered south-east facing angle between the apple store and the bee-bole wall. In front

of the south face of the same wall and below the bee-boles a wild flower meadow is being

created.


C2.1C SHRUBBERY INCLUDING HEDGES & TOPIARY (Include details of height,

species etc. if possible):

Over the last 30 years the present owners have replaced Rhododendron ponticum with

species rhododendrons around the house and along the service drive. The drive just inside

the main gate is lined with newly planted Mahonia backed by ancient laurel, well cut back.

The gravel path and stone steps from the terrace in front of the house to the grass terrace

along the ha-ha are lined with box backed by species Rhododendrons. Between the back of

the house and the entrance to the walled garden, the service drive is lined on one side by a

Laurel hedge and on the other by clipped Berberis. Evergreen shrubs such as

Rhododendron, Laurel and Spotted Laurel have been planted at various times along the ha-

ha terrace to replace fallen trees. The species Rhododendron bushes are reaching a mature

height of 2-3 m and in early summer are a spectacular show.

Service Drive with Laurel, Clipped Yew and Box, North of Walled Garden

C2.1D ORNAMENTAL TREE PLANTING (Single specimens, groups – include details of

age and species if possible):

The garden edge of the ha-ha terrace is planted with alternate mature Yew and Holly trees,

some variegated, with gaps filled with evergreen shrubs where trees have been weather

victims. Towards the western end of the ha-ha, the west lawn narrows to a few metres and

contains several mature deciduous trees within the Yew and Holly edging, including Spanish

Chestnut, Fern-Leaf Beech and Sycamore. These trees may be contemporary with the 1826

house. On the south lawn near the house entrance is a mature spreading Lime tree, to give

shade without obscuring the view, and a little south and west of the Lime is an equally

mature Plane tree.

The Yew and Holly continue along the ha-ha east of the house, again with large deciduous

trees such as Birch, Beech and Ash to the north. Several Spanish Chestnut trees have been

lost in this area, and have been replaced within the last 30 years by native species, Beech,

Ash, Oak and Elm, with some Maples. This woodland area is dominated


by a Sequoiadendron species, probably 25 m tall, which is a focal point when looking east

from the house entrance. Between the Redwood and the main drive there is an area of mature

Beech, Ash and Oak, growing in a sheltered hollow, which could be around 100 years old.

Californian Redwood, a Focal Point from Outwith the Policies

A young Pine tree is planted in the centre of the circular lawn east of the house entrance.

A very large Copper Beech planted at the junction of the main and service drives felled

recently.

The north-west edge of the service drive is lined with conifers, mainly Sitka Spruce, but

also four Douglas Firs of around 17 m in height.


Douglas Firs Lining the Service Drive, View from House Entrance

The north edge of the west lawn has a line of conifers, including Yew, which is dominated

by a very large Sycamore tree.

In the walled garden, soil excavated to lower the level of the foundations of the earlier of the

two modern houses has been used to create banks to the south of the house which are planted

with a selection of young specimen trees of varied origin, Camperdown Red Oak, native

Juniper and Scots Pine, Deodar and Atlas Cedar, Eucalyptus, Rowan, Hornbeam, hardy

Fuchsia and Mahonia, Araucaria, Metasequoia, Gingko biloba and Norway Maple, which are

slowly maturing.

Behind the Laurel hedge on the service drive beyond the rear of the house a line of flowering

Cherry trees has been planted.

C2.1E AVENUE PLANTING (May also cross parkland and policy planting. Note

predominant species and whether single or double planted if possible):

We speculated whether trees planted on a field boundary as it crossed pastureland (now

cultivated) south-east of Duntrune might have been intended as an ornamental feature. If so,

exposure to the wind has caused stunted growth and many gaps. The field boundaries

existed when the 1760 estate map was drawn, as internal boundaries in a very large field

known as the forebanck.


C2.1F ANY OTHER ORNAMENTAL PLANTING FEATURE NOT COVERED ABOVE:

C2.2. KITCHEN GARDENS AND ORCHARDS

C2.2A KITCHEN GARDENS (walled, hedged or other boundary. Note any other historical

features and current use)

The kitchen garden for Duntrune House is likely to have been within the walled garden

described under architectural elements (C1N). At present Duntrune House is run as a guest

house using organic produce, grown in rabbit- and deer-proofed enclosures in an area east of

the house, beyond the circular lawn and on the edge of the woodland planting.

C2.2B ORCHARDS (walled, hedged or other boundary. Note any other historical features

and current use)

A new orchard of apples of Scottish origin from Butterworth’s nursery is being established

in a triangular area where trees have been cleared, to the north of the north wall of the

garden. It is bordered on one side by the service drive as it passes along the north wall of the

walled garden, and is sheltered by tall trees, rhododendrons and laurels bordering the service

drive, and by the drystone wall running along the edge of the road leading to the steading.

There may have been an older site of an orchard at Burnside House (Section C1N Walled

gardens).

Recently Planted Orchard, Traditional Scots Apple Varieties

C2.3 PARKLAND

C2.3A GRASSED AREAS (Note current use, amenity grassland, agricultural use – grazing,

cultivation etc.):

A broad field sloping south lies south of the ha-ha, outwith the present policies of Duntrune

House. In 1760 this field belonged to the estate of Duntrune, and was known as the

forebanck. Possibly it was one of the grass parks referred to in the rental document of the

estate, entry 20 in section B2, kept under grass to enhance the view from the house. The

field is now under cultivation.

C2.3B TREE PLANTING (Individual specimens, clumps, belts, roundels etc. Note species if

possible, and whether fenced):


A single roundel of Beech trees surrounded by a broken-down drystone wall can be seen in

the grass park mentioned in C2.3A. The present owners of Duntrune House say that other

clumps of trees used to exist in the field, but have been removed during cultivation. Early

Ordnance Survey maps show both roundels and isolated trees in this field. The trees are

probably Beech.

Tree Roundel Surviving in an Area under Cultivation

C2.3C ANY OTHER PARKLAND FEATURE NOT INCLUDED ABOVE:

None

C2.4 POLICY WOODLAND PLANTING

C2.4A COMPOSITION (Note composition of woodland; deciduous/coniferous/mixed, and

principal species if possible. Note current use eg. commercial timber cropping/amenity

woodland):

The policy woodland consists mainly of hardwoods, Spruce and Douglas Fir.

In the 19th and early 20

th centuries, Duntrune policies were extensively planted with Beech

and Sycamore, Douglas and Silver Fir, Larch and Spruce. The estate owned its own sawmill

at Burnside of Duntrune. The planting in the present policies of Duntrune is largely

ornamental, but the views of trees from below and around Duntrune provide a pleasant

contrast to the fields under cultivation. Therefore it seems appropriate to note woodland

planting which still survives around Duntrune and contributes to the landscape.

Mixed woodland planting is found bordering the public road which runs along the N of the

present policies. The planting along the roadside is described from E to W.

Just before the entrance to the “coo road” is reached, there is a triangular area of hardwood

trees.


Spruce Bordering the Public Road North of Duntrune House

Duntrune Hill was clear-felled in the 20th

century and has been left to regenerate. The young

trees are Birch, Beech and Oak. Before the entrance to Duntrune House is reached, there is

the area of mature hardwood, Beech, Oak and Ash within the policies, mentioned previously

(section C2.1D).

Continuing across the entrance, bordering the area of marsh the trees are Birch and Spruce,

and in the marshy area itself Alder and Poplar have been planted to try to retain its wetland

characteristics. West of the marshy area the trees are immature hardwood, Birch and Beech,

with some conifers.

Beyond the track to the steading an area has been clear-felled recently, but further west an

area of mixed conifers, Douglas Fir, Pine and Spruce with some Beech continues. The

quarry interrupts this planting.

The hill above Burnside House is planted with Beech, which will probably have some

commercial value when mature.


Morrison’s Hill, Maturing Beech

C2.4B ANY OTHER POLICY WOODLAND FEATURE NOT INCLUDED ABOVE:

None

C2.5 VIEWS, VISTAS, BORROWED LANDSCAPE & PERIPHERAL AREAS,

C2.5A KEY VIEWS (please note views inwards to the house, outwards from the house, and

internally within the landscape):

Duntrune House is situated so that as it is approached from the main drive east of the house,

one suddenly becomes aware of the extensive view which the house commands, from

Dundee Law in the west, across the Tay Estuary to Fife and Norman’s Law, to the forests of

Tentsmuir and St Andrews Bay. On a clear day it is possible to see Fife Ness and the Bell

Rock. There are only one or two points at which the house itself can be seen from the

surrounding countryside, but the trees in which it sits are very visible.


View Southwards to the Tay from Duntrune

Within the policies there is a fine view of the west elevation of the house from the west wall

of the walled garden.

Tree-framed Vista of Duntrune House from West

C2.5B BORROWED LANDSCAPE (please note any features, natural or man-made, lying

outside the designed landscape which act as eye-catchers or contribute to the outward

views):

None


C2.5C PERIPHERAL AREAS (please note any features lying outside the main landscape

but which are clearly designed eg. regularly spaced roadside/field boundary trees, estate

walls etc.):

None

C3 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS ON CURRENT CONDITION OR CARE OF THE

LANDSCAPE

None

C4 SURVEY DRAWINGS AND/OR PHOTOGRAPHS

Please include a list and copies where possible of any drawings, photographs made/taken

during the ground survey.

1. A hand-drawn map of the immediate surroundings of Duntrune House has been

made to allow identification of features of the garden landscape.

2. Boundaries of the Estate of Duntrune, 1805. The boundaries of the Estate of Duntrune

at 1805 have been superimposed on the 1-inch Ordnance Survey map 1st edition, Sheet 49 –

Arbroath, published 1888, by following the field boundaries of the estate map (section B2,

entry 17). The estate boundary exactly matches the dotted line of the OS map which

delineates a detached part of the parish of Dundee. The estate boundary may reflect the

origins of the estate as a royal property associated with Dundee.

D. SUMMARY HISTORY OF THE POLICIES

This section should be set out in chronological form and should include information on the

way the site has developed and changed since it was first recorded, using dates and maps

where possible. The names of owners, architects or designers involved, and relevant

historical events should be recorded, and the sources noted.

The lands of Duntrune are recorded first as the gift of Robert the Bruce to Sir Walter

Mordington or Mordintoun, a landowner in the Scottish Borders, for ‘constancy in loyal and

dutiful service’, to quote from an existing charter of property gifted to him by the king. The

Charter recording the gift of Duntrune was part of one of the ‘lost rolls ’of Royal Charters,

possibly a ‘geographical roll’ signed in Forfar, but the record remains in the Index to the

Charters, Registrum Magni Sigilli. The date of the gift was probably around 1325.

The sequence of later owners has been traced by A J Warden, from documents held at

Duntrune House when he was writing his history of Angus or Forfarshire in 1884.

Documentary evidence confirming Warden’s line of proprietors can be found among the

Duntrune papers held in the University of Dundee archives (Section B2), and also from

Timothy Pont’s manuscript map of Angus of around 1583 (Section B1). The 18th and 19th

century maps of John Ainslie (1794), John Thomson (1832) and James Knox

(1850), and the Ordnance Survey maps of the 19th and early 20th century consistently record


the estate of Duntrune as a Detached Part of the Parish of Dundee, and this may be a relic of

the Royal origins of the estate.

The earliest description of the surroundings of Duntrune House comes from John Ochterlony

of the Guynd (Section B4), writing in 1682 ‘Duntroone, Grahame, a pleasant place with fine

parks and meadows about it’. Ainslie’s map of 1794 shows tree plantations to the north of

Duntrune House, on Duntrune Hill and to the west, above Duntrune Mill (here labelled ‘Ark

Mill’), areas which are still wooded today although the current plantings are no more than 50

to 100 years old. Two estate maps of 1750 and 1805 (Section B2) cover the period of

greatest change in the policies of Duntrune House itself. The 1750 map, drawn when the

owner was Captain Alexander Graham, shows a modest 2-storey house surrounded by four

walled enclosures labelled ‘Gardens’ and ‘Barnyaird’. No buildings are shown in the present

position of the steading. A heavy line on the map passing through the barnyard and one of

the garden enclosures shows at least part of the current position of the ha-ha, which would

imply a date between 1750 and 1805 for its construction, and for that of the present walled

garden, the main drive to the house and the steading, all of which are shown in their present

positions in 1805. This is the period when ‘landscape gardening’ developed in Scotland and

when the noted landscape gardener James Abercrombie Junior was ‘improving’ Glamis

Castle and The Guynd. The house shown on the 1750 map may have been built in 1664,

since a gable of the steading, raised in height from the original, has a dormer pediment with

that date built in. The ‘tower house’ depicted on Pont 26 (c. 1583) might imply an even

earlier house, as suggested by A. J. Warden. Between 1805 and 1815, the estate of Duntrune

passed from the Grahams to the Stirling Grahams. Most of the estate remained intact, with

the exception of the farm of Craighill. William Stirling Graham inherited from his mother

Amelia Graham, and built the present mansion house of Duntrune in 1826, presumably with

money inherited from his Stirling forebears. The house is a fine example of the architect

William Burn’s ‘neo-Jacobean’ or ‘Tudor’ style. The elegant sets of terrace steps and the

entrance gateposts and returns, all of ashlar, are contemporary with the house. The mature

trees to the east and west of the house, and the sycamore and lime on the south lawn were

probably planted in the second half of the 19th century. It is difficult to date the ornamental

planting of holly and yew along the line of the ha-ha, but it almost certainly post-dates the

construction of the mansion house.

The earliest Ordnance Survey maps, the 6-inch and 25-inch maps published in 1865 show

considerable detail both within and around the walled garden. Two distinct shrub-lined

paths meeting in a circular area divide the interior of the garden into four sectors, all of

which have regular planting. Along the outer west face of the walled garden a narrow ‘slip’

garden is shown, possibly with a glass house at the north end and two rectangular planted

beds to the south. The remains of plant supports can still be seen on the outer west wall of

the walled garden where the slip garden was situated. Later editions of the Ordnance Survey

maps of the same scale, published in 1902 and 1922, show no detail at all within the walled

garden, although the slip garden is still evident. This may not imply that the walled garden

fell out of use, since an aerial photograph of 1967 belonging to the

present owners of Duntrune House, shows the walled garden in full production as a

market garden. The east-west path of the Ordnance Survey map can still be seen. These

early OS maps also show roundels and groups of trees as well as individual trees in the park

which slopes south from the front of the mansion house, which probably were planted to


enhance the park. A single group of trees still survives among the cultivation.

The policies of Duntrune House remained in the ownership of the Ovenstone family for most

of the 20th century. The fine rhododendron plantings which are a feature of the early

summer garden were planted by the present owners, who replaced many R.ponticum bushes.

These species may have overgrown Victorian plantings of rarer rhododendrons made by the

last Stirling Grahams, Clementina or her nephew John Edmond Lacon. Other features of the

20th century garden, no longer in existence, are tennis courts to the west of the house (shown

as a rectangular enclosure on the Second Edition Ordnance Survey maps), and a rustic

summerhouse on the ha-ha, shown in a photograph album of the Ovenstone family. The

walled garden now contains two modern houses, one with attractive maturing plantings of

native and other species of trees and shrubs. Extensive lawns surround the mansion house,

with herbaceous planting at the foot of the house walls and climbing shrubs on the walls

themselves. A new orchard of old Scots varieties of apples has been planted. The panoramic

view from the ha-ha continues to be an outstanding feature of the garden. The policies of

Duntrune House might well still be describe as Ochterlony wrote, a fine place with parks and

meadows about it, despite the evident agricultural developments and the urban sprawl of the

city of Dundee.

Name:

Jean Harthill

Dates of ground survey work:

February 2012

Date research completed:

17 May 2012

angus survey of gardens & designed landscapesorapweb.rcahms.gov.uk/wp/00/wp002966.pdf ·...

Documents