Kimmerghame House is a 19th-century mansion in the

Scottish Borders The Scottish Borders is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It is bordered by West Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, and East Lothian to the north, the North Sea to the east, Dumfries and Galloway to the south-west, South Lanarkshire to the we ...

, located south-east of Duns by the

Blackadder Water Blackadder Water () is a river in Berwickshire in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland, forming part of the River Tweed system. It reached 2.84m at Mouthbridge, which was its highest level ever recorded on Tuesday 22 October 2002 at 2:45pm. Ety ...

. It is the seat of the Swintons of Kimmerghame, a branch of the

Lowland Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of a ...

Clan Swinton Clan Swinton is a Scottish Border clan.Way, George and Squire, Romily. (1994). ''Collins Scottish Clan & Family Encyclopedia''. (Foreword by The Rt Hon. The Earl of Elgin KT, Convenor, The Standing Council of Scottish Chiefs). pp. 334–335. ...

. The house was designed in the

Scottish Baronial Scottish baronial or Scots baronial is an architectural style of 19th-century Gothic Revival which revived the forms and ornaments of historical architecture of Scotland in the Late Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Reminiscent of Scot ...

style by

David Bryce David Bryce Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE FRIBA Royal Scottish Academy, RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scotland, Scottish architect. Life Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David B ...

in 1851. Kimmerghame is protected as a category B

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

and the grounds are included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

History

Kimmerghame was held by the Moreham family, before passing to the Polwarth family whose heiress married into the Sinclair family in the 14th century with the estate passing to the Home family in the 15th century. The estate was the site of an earlier house, the home of Sir Andrew Home in the 1730s. An inventory of the house and its furnishing survives from this period. Old Kimmerghame house and estate was purchased in 1770 by Captain Archibald Swinton of Manderston, who later sold it in 1803. However his son John Swinton acquired Kimmerghame in 1850 from his aunt Mary Campbell of Blythswood. This older house was demolished and rebuilt in the early 1850s.

William Burn William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival, often referred ...

had produced designs for a new house in 1825, although nothing was done at the time. The present house is dated 1851, and was designed by

. It incorporates interior panelling from the earlier house. Kimmerghame was partially destroyed by fire in 1938, and subsequently only partly rebuilt. Until 2018, the

laird Laird () is a Scottish word for minor lord (or landlord) and is a designation that applies to an owner of a large, long-established Scotland, Scottish estate. In the traditional Scottish order of precedence, a laird ranked below a Baronage of ...

was Major-General Sir John Swinton KCVO

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

, a former

Lord Lieutenant of Berwickshire This is a list of people who have served as lord-lieutenant for Berwickshire. List of officeholders * Alexander Home, 10th Earl of Home 17 March 1794 – 20 October 1841 * James Maitland, 9th Earl of Lauderdale 2 November 1841 – 22 August 1860 ...

, and the father of the actress

Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. She is known for playing eccentric and enigmatic characters, often working with auteurs. Her accolades include an Academy Award, two BAFTA Awards, and a Volpi Cup, in addit ...

Gallery

KimmerghameHouseDuns.jpg, Kimmerghame House before the fire of 1938 Kimmerghamefire.jpg, Kimmerghame on Fire Kimmerghamepostfire.jpg, Kimmerghame Post Fire

References

*{{cite web , url=http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/59757/details/kimmerghame+house/ , publisher=

RCAHMS The Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) was an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government that was "sponsored" inanced and with oversightthrough Historic Scotland, an executive ...

, work= CANMORE , title= Kimmerghame House , accessdate=2011-04-15

External links

The Principals of Duns Summer Festival at Kimmerghame House in 1953

SCRAN Scran is a Scottish online resource for educational use by the public, schools, further education and higher education. It presents nearly 490,000 (still and moving) images and sounds contributed by museums, galleries, archives and the media. It ...

Image Houses completed in 1851 Category B listed buildings in the Scottish Borders Listed houses in Scotland Berwickshire Country houses in the Scottish Borders Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes 1851 establishments in Scotland

History

Gallery

See also

References

External links