Research links

• Lost Heritage
  Matthew Beckett's memorial to the 2000 lost country houses of England, with much information.
• Lost Welsh Country Houses
  Dr Mark Baker's list of nearly 400 lost Welsh houses, as part of a wider study of the Welsh Country House.
• BISH - British and Irish Stately Homes
  Andrew Trigg's website includes, amid much other fascinating material, lists of all country houses known to be lost in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
• Historic Environment Scotland archives
  HES hosts the most comprehensive single source of information on the subject of Scottish Country Houses, past and present. Previously known as the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), it merged with Historic Scotland in 2015. The principal catalogue is the Scottish National Record of the Historic Environment (previously the National Monuments Record of Scotland). The catalogue is freely searchable online through an index system called Canmore, and much of their large collection of photographs is slowly being digitised. Of particular interest is the Demolitions Catalogue, published in Ian Gow's book, and the Charles Brand collection, a number of photographs and drawings taken by a demolition contractor in the mid-20th century and currently on long-term loan from the McManus Museum and Art Gallery, Dundee. Researchers wishing to study the photographs in the Brand Collection may find this informal catalogue useful.
  
  HES also maintain several other useful resources, including:
• SCRAN
  Nearly half a million images and other multimedia files, many from archives not otherwise available online, such as photographs by Thomas Annan and images from The Scotsman. Free to many Scottish and educational users, and free to browse thumbnails for all.
• National Library of Scotland Mapping
  A large variety of geo-referenced maps, including highly detailed Ordnance Survey series from Victorian and Edwardian eras. Historic sites can be compared with modern day satellite imagery.
• Dictionary of Scottish Architects
  A detailed cross-reference bringing together information from multiple sources, this includes individual property listings for many of Scotland's lost houses.
• Am Baile
  Am Baile is a resource concentrating on the Highlands, which includes access to archive images of lost country houses, and is bilingual in English and Gaelic.
• The DiCamillo Companion
  The DiCamillo Companion includes a database of British country houses, including many Scottish houses extant and lost. Although initially presented as a large list, it can easily be searched by country and status.
• The Gazetteer for Scotland
  A useful gazetteer of Scottish places, including many mentions of country houses past and present - there is a huge amount of information here, well worth browsing.
• The Glasgow Story
  An illustrated account of Glasgow's history, including some of its country houses and villas.
• Who Owns Scotland
  A useful paid resource for tracing current owners of estates for historic information.

Organisations

• Architectural Heritage Society of Scotland
  The AHSS aims to study and protect Scotland's buildings.
• Buildings at Risk
  The Scottish Civic Trust runs this register of buildings at risk all over Scotland. A number of lost and nearly lost country houses are included on the register.
• Historic Houses Association
  HHA properties are open to public but privately owned, and include a number in Scotland.
• Historic Environment Scotland
  HES is a government agency that looks after a large number of historic buildings, archeological sites and remains, and also controls the listed building process in Scotland. See Research Links above for their archives and projects.
• National Trust for Scotland
  The NTS owns and preserves some of Scotland's most significant land, houses and castles, most of which are open to the public.
• SAVE Britain's Heritage
  SAVE campaigns on behalf of threatened historic buildings throughout the UK.
• Scottish Civic Trust
  The Scottish Civic Trust encourages and enables people to engage with their own heritage and environment through local bodies.
• The Georgian Group
  Dedicated to preserving Georgian buildings and gardens across the UK.
• The Twentieth Century Society
  Campaigns for the preservation of significant 20th century buildings all over UK.
• The Victorian Society
  Campaigns on behalf of Victorian and Edwardian buildings throughout the UK.

References

The following books have been used in the preparation of this website, in addition to the websites and resources listed above, and various books, leaflets, and other resources pertaining to individual houses. The abbreviations used throughout the website are given in brackets. Where details on this website differ from any source, this reflects additional evidence.

• Jones Views of the Seats, Mansions, Castles &c. of Noblemen and Gentlemen, Series of Scottish Seats
  Jones & Co., London, circa 1830 (Jones, available online here)
  Quarto. Print copies are scarce, being rarer than the British Isles series of 6+5 vols
• A History of Peebleshire
  by William Chambers, 1864 (Chambers, available online here)
  Octavo. Print copies are moderately scarce, but often found in reference libraries
• The Old Country Houses of the Old Glasgow Gentry
  by John Guthrie Smith and John Oswald Mitchell, 1878 (second edition) (GG, available online here)
  Folio. Print copies are fairly rare, 225 copies were printed of the second edition, plus 125 of the less comprehensive 1870 first edition. Unusually, therefore, the first edition is less desirable than the second.
• The Castles and Mansions of Ayrshire
  Alexander Hastie Millar, 1885 (Millar Ayrshire, MA, available online here)
  Folio. Print copies are rare, 200 were printed, with two versions distinguished only by one different view of a property. Many reproductions are available, these mostly reprint the scanned version linked above or OCR'd versions of it, and lack the Thomas Annan pictures which are an integral part of the whole. One exception is the Grimsay Press reprinting, although as with many Print on Demand books, the photographic quality is limited.
• The Castles and Mansions of Renfrewshire and Buteshire
  Alexander Hastie Millar, 1888/9 (Millar Renfrewshire, MR)
  Folio. Two versions are known of this rare book, illustrated with carbon prints by Thomas Annan. One edition is from 1888 and only one copy is known, the second more common edition is from 1889, and can be found in the following libraries: St Andrews University, British Library (London), Cambridge University, National Library of Scotland, Oxford University, Paisley Library, RCAHMS search room in Edinburgh, and Trinity College Library, Dublin. The 1888 edition omits one house and has a different choice of photograph for Rouken Glen, and the ordering of entries is slightly different. The comparative lack of known copies suggest that both versions together may have been limited to around 125 copies, although this is not noted in the book.
• Fife Pictorial and Historical, its Peoples, Burghs, Castles and Mansions
  by Alexander Hastie Millar, 1895 (Millar Fife, MF)
• Kilbarchan - A Parish History
  by Robert MacKenzie, 1902 (MacKenzie, available online here)
  Large quarto. Uncommon.
• Famous Scottish Houses: The Lowlands
  by Thomas Hannan, published A & C Black, 1928 (Hannan)
  Octavo. Readily available second-hand, also reprinted by the Mercat Press in 1976. The reprint reproduces the original sepia photogravures in monochrome shades, but is otherwise good quality.
• The Destruction of the Country House, 1875-1975
  by Roy Strong, Marcus Binney and John Harris, published Thames and Hudson, 1974 (DCH). This erroneously includes:
  • Alastrean or Cromar House, Aberdeenshire, restored after a 1952 fire with altered roofline and now a care home, see website.
  • Archerfield, East Lothian, shown as partially demolished in 1962. Certainly it was badly altered to permit conversion to, essentially, a barn, but the external structure and its roof remained, and have recently been restored as the centrepiece to a golf course. See website.
  • Auchterlees House, Aberdeenshire, no further details given. The source is presumably the RCAHMS Demolitions catalogue, which includes this incorrect spelling, but this refers to Blackford House in Auchterless Parish, now a farmhouse, reduced to a single storey plus attics.
  Becoming scarce, particularly in hardback, some forty years after the accompanying exhibition at the V&A museum. Ex-library copies do crop up from time to time.
• Country Houses in Britain - can they survive?
  by John Cornforth, Country Life/BTA 1974 (CHB)
• Mr David Bryce, 1803-1876
  by Valerie Fiddes and Alistair Rowan, published University of Edinburgh, 1976 (DB)
• The Country House Guide
  Robin Fedden and John Kenworthy-Browne, 1979 (CHG)
• Lost Houses of Scotland
  by Marcus Binney, John Harris and Emma Winnington, published SAVE, 1980 (LHS). Erroneously includes:
  • Alastrean, as DCH above
  • Auchterlees, as DCH above
  • Bargany, Ayrshire, restored following threat of demolition. See website.
  • Benholm Castle, previously a ruined tower house and shell of a 19th century mansion, appears to have been restored.
  • Bellatly Lodge, Peebleshire (also mentioned thus in RCAHMS demolitions catalogue) is probably Bellaty Lodge, Angus, demolished 1954-5.
• The City that Disappeared
  by Frank Worsdall, Richard Drew Publishing, 1981 (CTD)
• Old and New Edinburgh - Its History, its People, and its Places
  by James Grant, published by Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Co. 1880-1883. (ONE, available online here)
• The South Clyde Estuary - An Illustrated Architectural Guide to Inverclyde and Renfrew
  by Frank Arneil Walker, published RIAS 1986 (SCE)
• Scotland's Endangered Houses
  by Mary Miers and Marcus Dean, published SAVE, 1990 (SEH)
• A History of Scottish Architecture
  by Miles Glendinning, Ranald MacInnes and Aonghus MacKechnie, published Edinburgh University Press, 1996
• Scotland's Lost Houses
  by Ian Gow, 2006, including the NMRS Demolitions Catalogue and many illustrations of selected lost houses. Not associated in any way with this website, despite appearing not long after this site was first published.
  

• NMRS - the National Monument Records Service (as was)
• BAR - the Buildings at Risk register
• GAZ - the Gazetteer for Scotland