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Stable House, Tyninghame, East Lothian

Location
(56°0′37″N, 2°36′33″W)
Tyninghame, Stable House
NT 621 799
pre-1975 traditional (Scotland) East Lothian
now East Lothian
medieval St. Andrews
medieval none
now none
  • James King
  • Neil Cameron
  • James King
13 Oct 2011

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Feature Sets
Description

The Stable House at Tyninghame is the S wing of the former stables of Tyninghame House. It, and the other stables, have been subsequently developed into a series of private houses, of which the S wing is the oldest part. Built into the fabric of the building are numerous, re-used medieval stones, many of which are 12th century. It has been assumed (most likely correctly) that the stones come from the nearby church of St Baldred, which is now a folly ruin in the grounds of Tyninghame House. Although the Earl of Haddington purchased the estate in 1628, the date for the construction of the Stable House appears to fall into the period 1761-1829. The church of St Baldred ceased to operate in 1761 when the old village was moved to a new location. In 1829, William Burn was employed to make make significant architectural changes to both Tyninghame House and its stables, work on the stables apparently undertaken in the early 1830s. As Burn's stable blocks were attached to what is now the Stable House, the Stable House must be older, as noted by Historic Environment Scotland in the Listed Buildings report. No medieval stones appear to have been used in the stable blocks designed by Burn. Tyninghame House and its policies, on which the Stable House is built, were sold in 1987, a year after the death of the 12th Earl of Haddington. The stables were made into houses in 1988, a date displayed above the north entrance of the Stable House.

History

For the medieval history of Tyninghame, see: St Baldred's Church, Tyninghame.

Features

Loose Sculpture

Comments/Opinions

Most of the carved stones are of 12th-century date are most likely to have come from St Baldred's Church, which is now a folly and serves as a mausoleum for the family of the Earls of Haddington. No specific date has been found for this part of the stable block, but since it was already in existence when William Burn added onto it, it must date to before his involvement. St Baldred's Church ceased to continue on this site in 1761, at which time the village around it was also moved. It would seem, therefore, that the Stable House was built at some date between 1761 and 1829. A few of fragments, which are particularly similar to those in the ruins of St Baldred's Church, support the suggestion that the carved stones built into the Stable House come from the church. Three of these are: (1) the curious semi-circular stone carved with two circles on the inner panel; (2) the rectangular stone carved with two adjacent chevron sections; and (3) the stones carved with diamond shapes in a row. The carved decoration of the first is identical to that on a loose stone now next to the church ruins, presumably found in excavations. The second parallels the chevron-carved stones placed mid-way down on the east-apse attached shafts. The only difference being that those on the ruins do not have the additional inner motif carved in the lower concave spaces. The third decoration, with diamond shapes, can be found at the church ruins on the imposts of the attached wall shafts.

It seems likely that many more carved stones from the church have been incorporated into the inner walls of the house, but as these are plastered over this cannot at present be confirmed.

Bibliography

Binney, M., 'Tyninghame House, Dunbar', Country Life, 183 no. 35 (London, 31 August 1989), 81-2.

Historic Environment Scotland, Listed Building Report: LB14607.

C. McWilliam, The Buildings of Scotland: Lothian (Harmondsworth, 1978), 454-9.