Lauderdale House, formerly Dunbar House and then Castle Park Barracks, was a private house and then a military installation in

Dunbar Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the Anglo–Scottish border, English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed. Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The building, which is now used as private residential accommodation, is a Category A

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 ...

History

Early history

The central part of the building was originally commissioned by the former member of parliament, James Fall, as "Dunbar House". It was south-facing, built in red brick and was completed in around 1730. After the Fall family got into financial difficulties,

James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale James Maitland, 8th Earl of Lauderdale, (26 January 1759 – 10 September 1839) was Keeper of the Great Seal of Scotland, a Scottish representative peer in the House of Lords. and a writer on political economy. Early years Born at Haltoun ...

acquired the building in 1788. The earl commissioned

Robert Adam Robert Adam (3 July 17283 March 1792) was a British neoclassical architect, interior designer and furniture designer. He was the son of William Adam (architect), William Adam (1689–1748), Scotland's foremost architect of the time, and train ...

to prepare plans to enlarge the building. The building was then enlarged, after Robert Adam's death, to a design by Robert Adam's brother, John Adam, in the

neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

with the north frontage being encased in

ashlar Ashlar () is a cut and dressed rock (geology), stone, worked using a chisel to achieve a specific form, typically rectangular in shape. The term can also refer to a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, a ...

stone and the work being completed in 1792. The design involved a new main frontage of thirteen bays facing north with the new end sections of three bays each projected forward as

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

s. The old central section of nine bays was enhanced by the addition of a semi-circular

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

formed by four full-height

Ionic order The Ionic order is one of the three canonic classical order, orders of classical architecture, the other two being the Doric order, Doric and the Corinthian order, Corinthian. There are two lesser orders: the Tuscan order, Tuscan (a plainer Doric) ...

columns supporting an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

and a

balustrade A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

. The completed structure then became known as Lauderdale House. A sculpture of a

sphinx A sphinx ( ; , ; or sphinges ) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of an eagle. In Culture of Greece, Greek tradition, the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, th ...

was placed at roof level on the northern frontage of the building, and a kitchen garden was established to the west of the house.

Castle Park Barracks

The barracks have their origins in a hotel known as the New Inn which provided accommodation for officers from 1797. Private soldiers, who were not allowed to use the New Inn, had to use tented accommodation at Belhaven Sands and West Barns Links during the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. The

War Office The War Office has referred to several British government organisations throughout history, all relating to the army. It was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, at ...

acquired both the hotel and Lauderdale House and developed the whole site into barracks in 1855. A two-storey barrack block was built adjacent to the main house in 1911. During the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

the barracks served as the 6th cavalry depot providing accommodation for the

1st King's Dragoon Guards The 1st King's Dragoon Guards was an armoured cavalry and dragoon guard regiment in the British Army. The regiment was raised by Sir John Lanier in 1685 as the 2nd Queen's Regiment of Horse, named in honour of Queen Mary, consort of King James ...

, the

5th Dragoon Guards The 5th (Princess Charlotte of Wales's) Dragoon Guards was a British army cavalry regiment, officially raised in January 1686 as Shrewsbury's Regiment of Horse or the Earl of Shrewsbury's Horse. By 1687, it was known as Langsdale's Horse, from ...

, the

1st Royal Dragoons The Royal Dragoons (1st Dragoons) was a heavy cavalry regiment of the British Army. The regiment was formed in 1661 as the Tangier Horse. It served for three centuries and was in action during the First and the Second World Wars. It was amalg ...

and the 2nd Dragoons (Royal Scots Greys). During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

the barracks served as headquarters for the 165th Officer Cadet Training Unit.

Conversion into flats

The barracks were decommissioned in 1955 and the property sold to East Lothian County Council. Castle Rock Housing Association launched an initiative to convert the building into private flats in December 1991. The conversion work, which led to the creation of 27 private homes, was completed in 1994. The old two-storey barrack block was also demolished at that time.

References

{{reflist Barracks in Scotland Installations of the British Army Dunbar