Falkland Palace
Encyclopedia
Falkland Palace in Falkland, Fife
, Scotland, is a former royal palace of the Scottish Kings. Today it is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland
, and serves as a tourist attraction.
The Scottish Crown acquired Falkland Castle from MacDuff
of Fife in the 14th century. In 1402 Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany
imprisoned his nephew David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay
, the eldest son of King Robert III of Scotland
, at Falkland. The incarcerated Duke eventually died there from neglect and starvation.
Albany was exonerated from blame by Parliament, but suspicions of foul play persisted, suspicions which never left Rothesay's younger brother the future James I of Scotland, and which would eventually lead to the downfall of the Albany Stewarts. John Debrett, writing in 1805, was in no doubt of Duke Robert's motives and guilt:
and James V of Scotland transformed the old castle into a beautiful royal palace: with Stirling Castle
the only Renaissance
palace in Scotland. To address the poor state of the garden and park, James V appointed a new Captain and Keeper, William Barclay
, Master of Rhynd
, in March 1527. Ten years later, James V extended his father's buildings in French renaissance style. He died at Falkland in December 1542 after hearing that his wife had given birth to a daughter—Mary, Queen of Scots.
Falkland became a popular retreat with all the Stewart monarchs. They practised falconry
there and used the vast surrounding forests for hawking and for hunting deer. Wild boar, imported from France, were kept in the Park, within a fence made by the Laird of Fernie
.
Nearby Myres Castle
is the hereditary home of the Royal Macers and Sergeants at Arms who served Falkland Castle since at least the sixteenth century. John Scrimgeour of Myres
supervised building at the Palace from 1532 - 1563.
, Charles I
, and Charles II
all visited Falkland. Cromwell
's invading army set the palace on fire and it quickly fell into ruin. In 1887 John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute
started the restoration of the palace.
in 1952 to take care of the Palace.
Falkland Palace has been in the keepership of the Crichton Stuart family since its acquisition by the 3rd Marquess of Bute in 1887. In 1952 the National Trust for Scotland was appointed Deputy Keeper of the Palace, and they now care for and maintain the Palace and its extensive gardens.
The palace has two wings arranged in an 'L' shape, now called the South and East Quarters or Ranges. The palace courtyard is entered through the gatehouse tower at the west end of the South Quarter. The external ashlar façade of the South Quarter has gunloops at basement level. Above these are the small windows of the private lodgings, and on the second level the large paired windows of the Chapel Royal. Between these windows are weathered niches and statues. The corbels show the instruments of the passion
; the chapel at Falkland was dedicated to St Thomas
. The wallhead is finished with a decorated cornice and battlement which continues around the west side of the gate tower. To the east of the chapel there is small rectangular sectioned tower which once housed a circular staircase, and beyond is the partly reconstructed gable of the East Quarter. Although some writers have attributed part of the South Quarter to the time of James IV, the form of the gunloops, the continuous parapet, and the documented payments to Peter the Flemishman for the 5 statues in 1539 adequately demonstrate that the present appearance dates from the works of James V. Within, visitors can view the Keeper's Apartments in the Gatehouse tower, the Chapel Royal and gallery.
The East Quarter, apart from its courtyard façade is ruined. The centrally placed access tower, the Crosshouse, was reconstructed by the Marquess of Bute. The National Trust's architect, Schomberg Scott recreated the King and Queen's bedchambers within. The northern section of the East quarter was originally a lodging built by James IV. The master of works, James Murray of Kilbaberton
was ordered to repair the flat roof of the King and Queen's galleries and the roof of the lodging of the East Quarter in 1616 in anticipation of the visit of James VI.
The South and East courtyard façades were decorated and unified with pilasters in a French renaissance style between 1537 and 1542. Their appearance is comparable to the French Chateau of Villers-Cotterêts
. The buttresses on the East are dated 1537, and on the South, where the masonry is more sophisticated, 1539. The later work may be connected with Nicolas Roy, a French mason sent to Scotland in March 1539 by Antoinette of Bourbon, the mother of Mary of Guise
. The chapel ceiling dates from the time of James V and was re-decorated
for the visit of Charles I
in 1633. James Murray, master of works, was ordered to repair the roof of the South Quarter in 1625, with instructions to "have a special care and regard" that the great ceiling of the Chapel be "preserved and kept as far as possibly may be."
The courtyard was originally finished with a great hall to the north. The footprint of the building was established by excavation and laid out with paving slabs by the 3rd Marquess of Bute. On lower ground in the gardens, beyond slight remains of the medieval castle uncovered c. 1900, lies the original real tennis
court. Built in 1539, it is the world's oldest tennis court still in use, . The roofed spectator area is home to a number of swallow
s, who swoop in and out, through the door left open for them, during spring and summer. The court is home to the Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club
.
Falkland, Fife
Falkland is a town and former royal burgh, formerly known as the Parish of Kilgour c1300AD in Fife, Scotland at the foot of the Lomond Hills.According to the 2008 population estimate, the village has a population of 1,180.- History :...
, Scotland, is a former royal palace of the Scottish Kings. Today it is in the care of the National Trust for Scotland
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland describes itself as the conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to...
, and serves as a tourist attraction.
Early years
Clan MacDuff
Clan MacDuff is a Scottish armigerous clan, which is registered with Lyon Court, though currently without a chief. Moncreiffe wrote that the Clan MacDuff was the premier clan among the Scottish Gaels. The early chiefs of Clan MacDuff were the Earls of Fife...
of Fife in the 14th century. In 1402 Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany
Robert Stewart, 1st Duke of Albany
Robert Stewart, Duke of Albany , a member of the Scottish royal house, served as Regent to three different Scottish monarchs...
imprisoned his nephew David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay
David Stewart, Duke of Rothesay
David Stewart was the heir to the throne of Scotland from 1390 and the first Duke of Rothesay from 1398. He also held the titles of Earl of Atholl and Earl of Carrick...
, the eldest son of King Robert III of Scotland
Robert III of Scotland
Robert III was King of Scots from 1390 to his death. His given name was John Stewart, and he was known primarily as the Earl of Carrick before ascending the throne at age 53...
, at Falkland. The incarcerated Duke eventually died there from neglect and starvation.
Albany was exonerated from blame by Parliament, but suspicions of foul play persisted, suspicions which never left Rothesay's younger brother the future James I of Scotland, and which would eventually lead to the downfall of the Albany Stewarts. John Debrett, writing in 1805, was in no doubt of Duke Robert's motives and guilt:
- "This Robert, Duke of Albany, having obtained the entire government from his brother, King Robert, he caused the Duke of Rothesay to be murdered, thinking to bring the Crown into his own family; but to avoid the like fate, King Robert resolved to send his younger son James, to France, then about nine years old, who being sea-sick, and forced to land on the English coast...was detained a captive in England eighteen years. At these misfortunes King Robert died of grief in 1406".
16th century improvements
Between 1501 and 1541 Kings James IVJames IV of Scotland
James IV was King of Scots from 11 June 1488 to his death. He is generally regarded as the most successful of the Stewart monarchs of Scotland, but his reign ended with the disastrous defeat at the Battle of Flodden Field, where he became the last monarch from not only Scotland, but also from all...
and James V of Scotland transformed the old castle into a beautiful royal palace: with Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle
Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles, both historically and architecturally, in Scotland. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological formation. It is surrounded on three sides by steep...
the only Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
palace in Scotland. To address the poor state of the garden and park, James V appointed a new Captain and Keeper, William Barclay
Clan Barclay
-Origins of the clan:Since the eighteenth century, Barclay historians, noted for their low level in medieval scholarship, have assumed the Scottish family Barclay is a branch of one of the Anglo-Norman Berkeley family of Berkeley in Gloucestershire...
, Master of Rhynd
Rhynd
Rhynd is a hamlet in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It is located south-east of Perth, on the south side of the River Tay.The parish church was built in 1842, and replaced an earlier church at Easter Rhynd, to the south-east, where the churchyard can still be seen...
, in March 1527. Ten years later, James V extended his father's buildings in French renaissance style. He died at Falkland in December 1542 after hearing that his wife had given birth to a daughter—Mary, Queen of Scots.
Falkland became a popular retreat with all the Stewart monarchs. They practised falconry
Falconry
Falconry is "the taking of wild quarry in its natural state and habitat by means of a trained raptor". There are two traditional terms used to describe a person involved in falconry: a falconer flies a falcon; an austringer flies a hawk or an eagle...
there and used the vast surrounding forests for hawking and for hunting deer. Wild boar, imported from France, were kept in the Park, within a fence made by the Laird of Fernie
Fernie Castle
Fernie Castle is an enlarged sixteenth century tower house in north-east Fife, Scotland.Situated just east of the village of Letham, it was originally in an L-plan layout...
.
Nearby Myres Castle
Myres Castle
Myres Castle is a Scottish castle situated in Fife near the village of Auchtermuchty . Its history is interleaved with that of nearby Falkland Palace with present day castle construction dating to 1530...
is the hereditary home of the Royal Macers and Sergeants at Arms who served Falkland Castle since at least the sixteenth century. John Scrimgeour of Myres
John Scrimgeour of Myres
John Scrimgeour of Myres Castle near Falkland, Fife was Master of Work for royal buildings for James V and Mary, Queen of Scots, and Precentor of the Scottish Chapel Royal....
supervised building at the Palace from 1532 - 1563.
Civil war
After the Union of the Crowns, James VI and IJames I of England
James VI and I was King of Scots as James VI from 24 July 1567 and King of England and Ireland as James I from the union of the English and Scottish crowns on 24 March 1603...
, Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
, and Charles II
Charles II of England
Charles II was monarch of the three kingdoms of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father, King Charles I, was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War...
all visited Falkland. Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
's invading army set the palace on fire and it quickly fell into ruin. In 1887 John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute
John Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute
John Patrick Crichton-Stuart, 3rd Marquess of Bute KT, KSG, KGCHS was a landed aristocrat, industrial magnate, antiquarian, scholar, philanthropist and architectural patron.-Early life:...
started the restoration of the palace.
Modern era
The Crichton-Stuarts, the Keepers of Falkland Palace, at the time headed by the 5th Marquess of Bute made a decision in the early 1950s, he appointed the National Trust for ScotlandNational Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, commonly known as the National Trust for Scotland describes itself as the conservation charity that protects and promotes Scotland's natural and cultural heritage for present and future generations to...
in 1952 to take care of the Palace.
Falkland Palace has been in the keepership of the Crichton Stuart family since its acquisition by the 3rd Marquess of Bute in 1887. In 1952 the National Trust for Scotland was appointed Deputy Keeper of the Palace, and they now care for and maintain the Palace and its extensive gardens.
Description
Arma Christi
Arma Christi , or the Instruments of the Passion, are the objects associated with Jesus' Passion in Christian symbolism and art....
; the chapel at Falkland was dedicated to St Thomas
Thomas the Apostle
Thomas the Apostle, also called Doubting Thomas or Didymus was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. He is best known for questioning Jesus' resurrection when first told of it, then proclaiming "My Lord and my God" on seeing Jesus in . He was perhaps the only Apostle who went outside the Roman...
. The wallhead is finished with a decorated cornice and battlement which continues around the west side of the gate tower. To the east of the chapel there is small rectangular sectioned tower which once housed a circular staircase, and beyond is the partly reconstructed gable of the East Quarter. Although some writers have attributed part of the South Quarter to the time of James IV, the form of the gunloops, the continuous parapet, and the documented payments to Peter the Flemishman for the 5 statues in 1539 adequately demonstrate that the present appearance dates from the works of James V. Within, visitors can view the Keeper's Apartments in the Gatehouse tower, the Chapel Royal and gallery.
The East Quarter, apart from its courtyard façade is ruined. The centrally placed access tower, the Crosshouse, was reconstructed by the Marquess of Bute. The National Trust's architect, Schomberg Scott recreated the King and Queen's bedchambers within. The northern section of the East quarter was originally a lodging built by James IV. The master of works, James Murray of Kilbaberton
James Murray (architect)
Sir James Murray of Kilbaberton, , was a Scottish master wright and architect. He served as the King's Master of Works under James VI, and Charles I. He was one of the first men in Scotland to be called an architect....
was ordered to repair the flat roof of the King and Queen's galleries and the roof of the lodging of the East Quarter in 1616 in anticipation of the visit of James VI.
The South and East courtyard façades were decorated and unified with pilasters in a French renaissance style between 1537 and 1542. Their appearance is comparable to the French Chateau of Villers-Cotterêts
Villers-Cotterêts
Villers-Cotterêts is a commune in the Aisne department in Picardy in northern France.-Geography:It is located NE of Paris via the RN2 facing Laon...
. The buttresses on the East are dated 1537, and on the South, where the masonry is more sophisticated, 1539. The later work may be connected with Nicolas Roy, a French mason sent to Scotland in March 1539 by Antoinette of Bourbon, the mother of Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise
Mary of Guise was a queen consort of Scotland as the second spouse of King James V. She was the mother of Mary, Queen of Scots, and served as regent of Scotland in her daughter's name from 1554 to 1560...
. The chapel ceiling dates from the time of James V and was re-decorated
Scottish Renaissance painted ceilings
A number of Scottish houses and castles built between 1540 and 1640 have painted ceilings. This is a distinctive national style, though there is common ground with similar work elsewhere, especially in France, Spain and Scandinavia. Most surviving examples are painted simply on the boards and...
for the visit of Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
in 1633. James Murray, master of works, was ordered to repair the roof of the South Quarter in 1625, with instructions to "have a special care and regard" that the great ceiling of the Chapel be "preserved and kept as far as possibly may be."
The courtyard was originally finished with a great hall to the north. The footprint of the building was established by excavation and laid out with paving slabs by the 3rd Marquess of Bute. On lower ground in the gardens, beyond slight remains of the medieval castle uncovered c. 1900, lies the original real tennis
Real tennis
Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original indoor racquet sport from which the modern game of lawn tennis , is descended...
court. Built in 1539, it is the world's oldest tennis court still in use, . The roofed spectator area is home to a number of swallow
Swallow
The swallows and martins are a group of passerine birds in the family Hirundinidae which are characterised by their adaptation to aerial feeding...
s, who swoop in and out, through the door left open for them, during spring and summer. The court is home to the Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club
Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club
The Falkland Palace Royal Tennis Club organizes play at the real tennis court in the gardens of Falkland Palace, Fife, Scotland....
.
Further reading
- Dunbar, John G., (1991), Some 16th century French parallels for Falkland, in Review of Scottish Culture, vol. 7, 3-8.
- Bentley-Cranch, Dana, (1986), An early 16th century French architectural source for Falkland, in Review of Scottish Culture, vol. 2 85-96.