Skulferatu #154 - Friarscroft, Dunbar, East Lothian

On a warm spring day, a rarity in Scotland, I took a trip on the train from Edinburgh down the East Coast to the small town of Dunbar.  There, I went for a wander along to the glamorous location of the Co-op supermarket.  Not that I had any intention of shopping there, rather I’d come along to have a look at an old ruin standing in a grassy bit of land just a few metres away from the supermarket entrance.  A red stone building that was once the tower of a priory church and was later converted into a dovecot. 

 

 

The Dovecot at Friarscroft

 

 

Friarscroft Dovecot

 

 

Looking up

 

The church that once stood here was founded in around 1240 by Cristiana de Brus, the Countess of Dunbar, for the Trinitarian Order of Friars for the Redemption of Christian Captives.  They also went by the shorter name of the Trinitarians, though were more commonly known as the Red Friars.  The Trinitarians were founded in 1193 by John de Matha with the purpose of buying back Christians captured during the crusades and held for ransom.  The order was then confirmed by Pope Innocent III and instructed that its revenues were to be divided in three ways; to support themselves, to help the poor, and finally to pay the ransoms for Christians captured by ‘infidels’. Altogether the Trinitarians had eleven houses in Scotland and England, but all these establishments were quite small and consisted only of three friars and three lay brothers.  

 

 

A Trinitarian Friar

 

It is believed that the Trinitarians based at Friarscroft may have been responsible for founding an early hospital at Dunbar.  Little else is known about them and the priory itself fell out of use in 1529.

 

 

Sketch of the dovecot circa 1897

 

Recent excavations showed that the Dovecot was originally the central tower of the church, with the church building being thirty-nine metres long and eight metres wide, so pretty big for that time.  Excavations of the area also showed there had been a cemetery to the south of the building, and that there was evidence of ‘medieval ploughing’ to the north. 

 

 

 

The Watcher

 

 

Pigeons

 

As I had a look around the building and dodged the low hanging branches of the trees growing around it, pigeons flapped past me up to the entrance holes on the roof.  There they strutted and cooed, and ever so often peered down at me to see what I was up to. Maybe they were hoping that I wouldn’t notice the huge mound of pigeon poo at the entrance to the dovecot.  A mound so big that it had jammed open the small iron gate there.  A mound so big and smelly that I decided against trying to peer up through the doorway to see what it looked like inside, and to see if there was anywhere to leave a Skulferatu.  Instead, I went to a gap in the crumbling cement on the outside wall where I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me.

 

 

Skulferatu #154

 

 

Skulferatu #154 in a gap in the crumbling cement

 

 

Skulferatu #154 in a gap in the crumbling cement

 

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #154

 

The coordinates for the Skulferatu are -

 

Latitude 56.001388

Longitude -2.518205

 

what3words: wedding.sweat.shipwreck

 

I used the following sources for information on Friarscroft –

 

The Ecclesiastical Architecture of Scotland

From the Earliest Christian Times to the Seventeenth Century, Volume Three

David MacGibbon and Thomas Ross

1897

 

English Monastic Life

Francis Aidan Gasquet

1904

 

Friarscroft and the Trinitarians in Dunbar

John Wordsworth

1983

Skulferatu #147 - Balgone Barns Windmill, North Berwick

 

In a field outside of North Berwick there is an old and ruined stone tower.  It stands in an island of rough grass looking out over the ever-changing crops being grown and harvested around it.  I have often cycled by on the narrow country road that takes you past it and had thought that while it looked a bit like the remains of some fairytale tower fallen into disrepair, it was probably just one of the many dovecotes scattered around East Lothian.  However, though it was latterly used as that, it turns out that it was originally built as a windmill.

 

 

Balgone Barns Windmill

 

 

Balgone Barns Windmill

 

 

Balgone Barns Windmill

 

The windmill was built in the late 17th century for milling barley and is constructed of rubble and freestone.  It has an underground vault that extends out from the tower and about twenty feet into the field, which I assume was probably some sort of storage area.  The windmill carried on in its original industrious purpose up until the 18^th century when it fell into disuse and was then more than likely abandoned for a while.  Its working life over, someone, probably the local landowner, thought it would make a good doocot, so had it heightened by about ten feet and converted into that.  The building was recorded in 1799 on a map of Haddingtonshire by William Forrest as being a ‘Pidgeon Cot’.  How long it carried on in this function I have no idea, but at some point, a big chunk of the tower collapsed, and it fell out of use again.

 

 

Vault entrance to Balgone Barns Windmill

 

 

Vault entrance to Balgone Barns Windmill

 

 

Windmill tower and vault

 

 

View of the windmill tower

 

I had hoped to have a look around this building for a while but thought it best to wait until the crops around it had been harvested. Then they were and it rained for what seemed like weeks afterwards leaving the field a muddy mire.  So, after a few days of autumn sunshine I took a trip out and trudged through the field to the ruin.  The field was not quite as dry as I hoped, and the mud was a sticky clay that stuck and balled around my feet turning my stride into a boot heavy drag.

 

 

Silhouette and shadow

 

Wanting to get into the building I walked first of all to the doorway only to find that there was a ten-foot drop to the ground below.  Having no intention of being thwarted I then followed the line of the vault round to where there was another way in.  Ducking through into the short tunnel there, I got through and into the structure of the windmill itself.

 

 

Inside the vault

 

 

Looking out from the vault

 

Like in so many other earth floored ruins I’ve wandered around I found that I was quickly surrounded by little biting flies who nipped at my balding head in a frenzy of blood lust.  Unfortunately for them, a few swipes over of my hand and their feeding frenzy was over.  Well, until the next lot appeared.

 

Inside the tower of the windmill, it was quiet and warm, with the sunlight from above spiralling down.  I watched the clouds above scudding past in the sky and thought how relaxing it would be, if the nasty, little biting flies weren’t around, to sit there in a comfy armchair and spend an hour or two just looking up.  Maybe one day I’ll dig a deep hole to lie in and watch the sky.

 

 

Looking up to the sky

 

Before leaving, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me, in a gap in the tower wall of the old windmill.

 

 

Skulferatu #147

 

 

Skulferatu #147 in a gap in the tower wall

 

 

Skulferatu #147 in a gap in the tower wall

 

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #147

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are -

 

Latitude 56.035724

Longitude -2.718919

 

what3words: flagging.copiers.legend

 

I used the following sources for information on Balgone Barns Windmill –

 

Canmore - Balgone Barns Windmill, North Berwick

 

Historic Environment Scotland - Balgone Farm, Old Windmill

 

National Library of Scotland – William Forrest, Mapmaker

 

 

 

Skulferatu #137 - The Curling House, Gosford Estate, Aberlady, East Lothian

 

On the coastal road from Edinburgh to North Berwick, just before Aberlady, you pass a long stone wall.  A long stone wall that hides behind it the estate and gardens of Gosford House.  I’ve cycled past here numerous times and have never paid much attention to it.  Then last year, during the couple of weeks it is open to the public, I went on a guided tour of the house. Afterwards, I went on a quick wander around the gardens and thought I really should venture back some time to explore a bit more.

 

The gardens, unlike the house, are open to the public for most of the year.  However, you have to purchase a permit to enter them.  This probably puts a lot of people off visiting, given how expensive it is at the massive cost of £1.  But, hey, being free and easy with my cash I thought nothing of forking that out for a visit and so headed off for a trek around the estate.

 

Walking along the woodland paths I spotted in the distance the rather grand pile that is Gosford House.  This was commissioned in the 1790s by the Earl of Wemyss as a place to house his art collection and impress his guests with.  It was then built on plans drawn up by the architect Robert Adam, who unfortunately died before it was completed.  Once the Earl had his fancy new abode he needed some landscaping of the rather barren grounds that surrounded it.  The architect and landscaper, James Ramsay was then employed to create a pleasure garden, and he did just that by creating ponds, grottoes and woodland walks.  So, just like the house, the gardens were built to impress those who visited, and they are still pretty impressive.  There are various rustic type buildings designed to give the gardens the look of an eighteenth century landscape painting.  These include an icehouse and a boathouse, while there is also a rather grand mausoleum with a pyramid roof.

 

Gosford House

 

The Icehouse

 

The Mausoleum

 

The Boathouse

 

The woodland in the estate is one of these well managed places that seems like it was always there.  It almost feels that the trees own the property especially when you come across some of the more ancient ones with their twisted, heavy and ancient branches curling down to the ground and up to the sky.

 

An ancient tree on the estate grounds

 

As I walked around the estate it was bustling with wildlife.  Numerous birds sang from the branches of the trees, insects hummed, and small creatures scurried through the undergrowth.  By one of the ponds, I watched as a goose taught her goslings to fly.  Skimming back and forwards the young ones followed her, flapping wildly.  Nearby a serene looking heron stood still, staring intently down at the water waiting to snatch a passing fish or two.

 

Further around the pond I came to a rather kinky little building with tufa rockwork walls, tufa being a soft and porous stone that was much favoured by the Romans.  The building was originally used as a summerhouse for the pleasure gardens and probably had a thatched roof when first built, but this was later replaced.  In the 1860s it acquired a function other than being a decorative and knobbly little folly, when it became the base of the Aberlady Curling Club and was converted into their Curling House.   When the pond froze over, the club would gather to play their games there and use the little house as a place to get warm, and to store their curling stones and brushes. 

 

A view across the pond to the Curling House

 

A view across the pond to the Curling House

 

The Curling House

 

Doorway to the Curling House

 

Tufa rock wall

 

A view of the Curling House

 

Clamshell bird bath

 

Thankfully, I was there on a lovely warm day, so rather than freezing my butt off I could sit on a bench in the sunshine and watch the trees sway in a gentle summer breeze.  Looking over at the little Curling House it had an almost fairytale quality, and I half expected some character from the tales of the Brothers Grimm to come out and greet me.  Though rather than a wolf in grandma’s clothing or three hungry bears the only creature to come by was a large dragonfly, who buzzed around busily and then shot away off over the pond.

 

After catching the suns rays for more time than was really healthy, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me on my walk in a hollow in one of the stones of the Curling House wall.

 

Skulferatu #137

 

Skulferatu #137 in a hollow in the Curling House wall

 

Skulferatu #137 in a hollow in the Curling House wall

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #137

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are -

 

Latitude 55.999447

Longitude -2.86996

 

what3words: gossiped.healthier.orchids

 

I used the following sources for information on the Curling House –

 

Historic Environment Scotland - Gosford Curling House

 

Gosford House Pleasure Grounds & Policies

 

Stories in Stone – Gosford Curling House and Ice House

 

 

 

Skulferatu #128 - Phantassie Doocot, Phantassie, East Linton

‘Come to see victory

In a land called fantasy

Loving life, a new degree

Bring your mind to everlasting liberty…’

 

So sang Earth Wind and Fire in their disco banger, Fantasy, and it was off to a land called Phantassie that I headed today.  Well, when I say land, I mean a couple of fields and a farm.  I also wasn’t seeking the impossible goal of victory and liberty, but rather was looking to find a luxurious dwelling house for pigeons.

 

Wandering through and out of the town of East Linton I came to a rather fabulous and bent looking old building, Preston Mill.  This stone building with a red tiled roof looking a bit like some witch’s cap is an old watermill that was in the past used for grinding down, milling, grain.  The present building probably dates from around the 18^th century, though it is believed that a mill has stood on the site from sometime before 1599.

 

Preston Mill

 

Preston Mill by the River Tyne

 

Strolling past and over the River Tyne, I made my way down through Phantassie on a gentle path that led me through some fields to the Doocot.  Around me birds sang, and a gentle wind made the wires on the telegraph poles hum in a low meditative way.

 

Path down to Phantassie Doocot

 

So, you may wonder, how did Phantassie get its name?  Some say it comes from the Gaelic for a gentle and damp slope, but as Gaelic was not really spoken around here that seems unlikely.  Others say that it is a made up name coming from the French ‘fantaisie’ (fantasy) and point out that in 1654 the area was recorded as Trapren. By 1800 it did however have the name Phantassie, which was sometimes spelt with a ‘ph’ and at others with an ‘f’.

 

Arriving at Phantassie Doocot I found it to be quite a strange looking little building, with one side having the appearance of a series of concrete collapsed hats designed by some brutalist architect, and the other, with its sloping tiled roof and entry holes looking more like a little fortress.

 

Phantassie Doocot

 

View of Phantassie Doocot

 

Phantassie Doocot

 

Sloping roof of the doocot

 

Entrance holes for the pigeons

 

The Doocot was built sometime in the Sixteenth Century and is a Beehive Doocot with five hundred nesting places inside.  It is unusual in its design in that it has a horseshoe parapet with a sloping south facing roof that would protect the birds from the wind.  This is a design that was popular in the south of France, so it may be that the designer or builder had some connection there. 

 

Doocots or Dovecotes were introduced to Britain by the Normans in the Eleventh Century and were basically buildings designed for pigeons to nest in.  These nesting houses were not built for altruistic reasons, but rather that during the winter months pigeons were seen as a good source of fresh meat.  By building a place for hundreds of them to gather and nest it made it easy to gather them, and their eggs, up to eat.

 

There was, of course, one big problem with the pigeons in the Doocots, and that was the amount of grain they could eat.  Something that didn’t bother the landowner who owned the Doocot, as he got the plump juicy birds to eat, but his tenant farmers would often have to watch in despair as the pigeons munched away at their crops.

 

While watched by some nesting pigeons, and a couple of inquisitive crows, I left the Skulferatu that had accompanied me in a gap in the stonework of the Doocot.

 

Skulferatu #128

 

Skulferatu #128 in a gap in the stonework of the doocot

 

Skulferatu #128 in a gap in the stonework of the doocot

 

Map showing location of Skulferatu #128

 

The coordinates for the location of the Skulferatu are -

 

Latitude 55.987858

Longitude -2.647786

 

what3words: hunk.collapsed.blush

 

I used the following sources for information on Phantassie Doocot –

 

East Lothian

by Thomas Scott Muir

1915

 

Preston Mill and Phantassie Doocot

National Trust for Scotland

by Clare White and Gillian Simison

2012