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Review
'[A] sumptuous book... Ian Gow covers all this indefensible waste and destruction with dry wit' (Gavin Stamp Times Literary Supplement )
‘Beautifully illustrated and evocative' (Country Life )
'An authoritative and beautiful book' (Scottish Field )
‘Beautifully illustrated and evocative' (Country Life )
'An authoritative and beautiful book' (Scottish Field )
Product Description
Nothing is more poignant than the ruination of a once-grand house –except, perhaps, the photographs which today represent the only surviving evidence that such a property ever existed. Since 1945, it has been estimated that over 200 major houses have been lost in Scotland, amongst them some of its grandest works of architecture, like Hamilton Palace. The reasons for the losses were many: fire, dry rot, mining subsidence, or simply demolition when the cost of a stately home’s upkeep became prohibitive. The architectural styles that fell victim to such destruction were similarly varied –from Scotch Baronial, typified by a house like Craigends, to a Palladian villa like Amisfield in East Lothian, or vast nineteenth-century Mixed Gothic properties like Perthshire’s Abercairney and Millearne. Even some of the finest work by one of Scotland’s greatest architects, Robert Adam, is gone forever with the loss of house like Mavisbank and Balbardie. But fortunately photographs remain, as a remarkably varied, often eerie record of these great lost houses. The lavish photographic content in Scotland’s Lost Houses derives primarily from the archive of the National Monuments Record in Edinburgh, but also draws on Country Life's photographs, local archives, even the remarkable albums taken by a Perthshire demolition contractor in the ‘50s as he sought to memorialise his handiwork in dynamiting country houses. In this beautifully produced book, Ian Gow, the most distinguished authority on Scotland’s historic houses, selects twenty of the country’s most important lost houses, prefacing these with a comprehensive introductory survey of the whole era of destruction. For anyone who mourns the impoverishment of Scotland’s architectural heritage by such large-scale post-war destruction, it will be a plangent and nostalgic experience.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Paperback
This beautifully illustrated book shows how little value was put on many of these beautiful and characterful buildings in the past. Needs must sometimes when the owners could no longer afford their up keep but thank goodness we now have organisiations like the National Trust and National Heritage to save any more of these amazing edifices from destruction. It must be remembered too that it was not just the bricks and mortar that existed but whole communities of staff and owners whose lives depended on these great houses. If only walls, where any are left, could talk!
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Excellent book, made all the more personal as it includes the Castle on the estate where I live. Enjoyed reading about the others as well and puts a lot of the heresay into truth.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
SCOTLAND'S TRAGIC LOSE
22 Jan 2008
Format:Hardcover
This is a very well produced book on Scotlands great lost estates. The text is highly informative and the images are fanstastic. It is so disgraceful that so many of these great houses were so underappreciated, they were torn down like dilapidated public housing: it's tragic. The great Robert Adam house Bardelie was the worst lose, how anyone could tear down this masterpiece is unfathonable. The book is a joy to peruse, but you can't help but have a touch of meloncholy for the ease at which the philitines pulled so many of these great houses down. Be assured, you'll never see the likes of these houses again.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Absolutely beautiful
1 Dec 2009
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I first saw this book on the bookshelf at a wee B&B (Samhchair) in Port Ellen, Islay, Scotland. Captivated by the photography and text I needed to own a copy. Now I do. Condition, etc. was better than described and it arrived in short time after placing the order. Very pleasant experience all around.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Fascinating read
29 Sep 2007
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
As a fan of Scottish country houses I found this book to be very interesting reading. There are many particularly fine photographs detailing the history of these fine buildings which unfortunately became victims of changing times.
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