Manderston
Encyclopedia
Duns
Duns is the county town of the historic county of Berwickshire, within the Scottish Borders.-Early history:Duns law, the original site of the town of Duns, has the remains of an Iron Age hillfort at its summit...
, Berwickshire
Berwickshire
Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, is the home of Adrian Bailie Nottage Palmer, 4th Baron Palmer
Adrian Palmer, 4th Baron Palmer
Adrian Bailie Nottage Palmer, 4th Baron Palmer, & 4th Baronet , is a peer and landowner in Scotland. He succeeded his uncle in the 1933 peerage in 1990, and is now one of the ninety hereditary peers elected to remain in the House of Lords after the passing of the House of Lords Act 1999; he sits...
. It was completely rebuilt between 1901 and 1903 and has sumptuous interiors with a silver plated staircase. The proprietor, Sir James Miller, 2nd Baronet (1864–1906), told the architect, John Kinross
John Kinross
-Biography:Born in Stirling, Kinross was articled to Glasgow architect John Hutchison around 1870, and moved to the Edinburgh firm of Wardrop and Reid in 1875. He travelled to Italy in 1880 to study Renaissance buildings. In 1882 Kinross he established a partnership with Henry Seymour, which lasted...
, that there was no budget - "It really doesn't matter".
Origins
Manderston was anciently an estate of the powerful Home family, and their tower houseTower house
A tower house is a particular type of stone structure, built for defensive purposes as well as habitation.-History:Tower houses began to appear in the Middle Ages, especially in mountain or limited access areas, in order to command and defend strategic points with reduced forces...
appears on General Roy's map of 1750. It was owned for a short while by the Swinton Family
Clan Swinton
Clan Swinton is a Lowland Scottish clan and founder of Clan Gordon, Clan Elphinstone, Clan Arbuthnott, Clan Nisbet and the Greystoke Family. Being a Border family, they were prominent Border Reivers.-Origins:...
who now reside at Kimmerghame House
Kimmerghame House, Berwickshire
Kimmerghame House is a 19th-century mansion in the Scottish Borders, located south-east of Duns by the Blackadder Water. It is the home of the Swintons of Kimmerghame. The house was designed in the Scottish Baronial style by David Bryce in 1851...
, including the actress Tilda Swinton
Tilda Swinton
Katherine Mathilda "Tilda" Swinton is a British actress known for both arthouse and mainstream films. She has appeared in a number of films including The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Burn After Reading, The Beach, We Need to Talk About Kevin and was nominated for a Golden Globe for her...
. The present house incorporates the earlier Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
mansion built c1790 for Dalhousie Watherston (1752–1803).
Family
Sir James Miller's father, Sir William Miller, 1st BaronetSir William Miller, 1st Baronet
Sir William Miller, 1st Baronet, of Manderston, Berwickshire was British Vice-Consul at Saint Petersburg 1842-54, and a Member of Parliament for Leith Burghs 1859 - 1868, for Berwickshire 1873/74, and an armiger....
(1809–1887), had, with his father James, made a fortune trading in Russia, mainly in herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
and hemp
Hemp
Hemp is mostly used as a name for low tetrahydrocannabinol strains of the plant Cannabis sativa, of fiber and/or oilseed varieties. In modern times, hemp has been used for industrial purposes including paper, textiles, biodegradable plastics, construction, health food and fuel with modest...
. He was British Vice-Consul at St.Petersburg 1842-54; Member of Parliament for Leith 1859 - 1868, and for Berwickshire 1873/74.
Sir James Miller, 2nd Bt., had married Eveline, daughter of Alfred Nathaniel Curzon, 4th Baron Scarsdale, and his grand house remodelling scheme was said to be in order to remind his wife of the splendour of her family home, Kedleston Hall
Kedleston Hall
Kedleston Hall is an English country house in Kedleston, Derbyshire, approximately four miles north-west of Derby, and is the seat of the Curzon family whose name originates in Notre-Dame-de-Courson in Normandy...
. They had no issue and the estate passed to his brother John Alexander Miller, 3rd Baronet, (1867–1918). He also had no issue by either of his two wives, and the estate passed to his sister Amy Elizabeth Miller, the present Lord Palmer's great-grandmother.
Trivia
The house contains the world's largest collection of Huntley & PalmersHuntley & Palmers
Huntley & Palmers was a British firm of biscuit makers originally based in Reading, Berkshire. The company created one of the world's first global brands and ran what was once the world’s largest biscuit factory. Over the years, the company was also known as J...
biscuit tins, dating back to 1868.
The house is open to the public on selected days only.
Films
The house was used in- a film about the Prince & Princess of Wales
- The Edwardian Country HouseThe Edwardian Country HouseThe Edwardian Country House was an acclaimed British mini-series in the reality television genre, produced by Channel 4. It was first aired in the UK in April, 2002 and was later broadcast in the U.S. on various PBS stations in 2003 as Manor House, where extra footage was added...
- ("Manor House" in the USA).