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Drumlanrig Castle 
drum-LAN-rig
Thornhill, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland
Started 1675
Completed 1689
Status: Fully Extant
drum-LAN-rig
Thornhill, Dumfries & Galloway, Scotland
Started 1675
Completed 1689
Status: Fully Extant
Special Info / Location/ Date
Special Info
Phonetic Pronunciation of House Name
drum-LAN-rig
Location
Country
Scotland
District Today
Dumfries & Galloway
Historic County
Dumfriesshire
City / Town / Village
Thornhill
Latitude
55.240082
Longitude
-3.76582
Date
Start Date
1675
Completion Date
1689
Circa Date
Images
Architects
| Designed | Italian Garden |
| Date | 1840 |
| Designed | Alterations and repairs, including new Gardener's House and probably Forecourt wings, for 5th Duke of Buccleuch. |
| Date | circa 1830-34 |
| Designed | Cascade for 2nd Duke of Buccleuch |
| Date | 1732 |
| Designed | Restoration work for 4th Duke of Buccleuch |
| Date | 1813 |
| Designed | Ogee-roofed Pavilions |
| Date | 1697-98 |
| Designed | Rebuilt House for 1st Duke of Queensbury, possibly based on design of Robert Mylne. |
| Date | circa 1680-90 |
Extant / Listed / References
Extant
Extant Type
Fully Extant
Extant Details
Listed
House Listed As
Grade A
Gardens Listed As
Unknown
On SAVE Britain's Heritage's List of Buildings at Risk
No
Country House: Yes
References
Vitruvius Britannicus
C. I, pls. 37, 38, 1715. C. IVth. Pls. 45, 46, 1739.
Vitruvius Scoticus
J.B. Burke (Burke's Visitation of Seats)
Country Life
XXXIII, 382 plan, 1913. CXXVIII, 378 plan, 434, 488, 1960.
J.P. Neale (Neale's Views of Seats)
Access / Ownership / Seat
Access
Open to Public Please note: Houses listed as being open "By Appointment" are usually country house hotels or B&Bs.
Yes
Historic Houses Association Member
Yes
Phone Number If calling from the U.S., delete the first "0" in British numbers.
01848-331-555
Fax Number
01848-331-682
Email
Website
Awards
Current Ownership
Current Ownership Type
Individual / Family Trust
Primary Current Ownership Use
Private Home
Current Ownership Use / Details
One of the three homes of the Duke of Buccleuch (Bowhill and Boughton are the other two).
Seat ("Seat" is loosely defined
as any family that occupied the house for a period of 2 years or more)
Today Seat of
Duke of Buccleuch & Queensberry, Earl of Dalkeith, Montagu-Douglas-Scott family.
A Past Seat(s) of
Duke of Queensberry.
Possible (Unsure) Seat of
History / Gardens & Park / Movies
History
Earlier House(s) / Building(s)
15th century castle
House Replaced By
Built / Designed For
17th Duke of Queensberry
House & Family History
The name Drumlanrig comes from the house's setting: it sits on a low hill (drum) at the end of a long (lang) ridge (rig). The cost of rebuilding Drumlanrig virtually put the 17th Duke of Queensberry into bankruptcy. The House has been the property of the Dukes of Buccleuch since 1810.
Collections
This field lists art objects that are currently or were previously in the collection of the house.
For information on the history of British currency, click here. To use a chart that allows you to compare the purchasing power of money In Great Britain from 1264 to any other year, including the present, click here. To use a currency conversion to see the current value of the British pound, click here.
For information on the history of British currency, click here. To use a chart that allows you to compare the purchasing power of money In Great Britain from 1264 to any other year, including the present, click here. To use a currency conversion to see the current value of the British pound, click here.
Drumlanrig contains an exceptional collection of art, including Rembrandt's "Old Woman Reading" and John Merton's 1957 portrait of the Countess of Dalkeith, the only painting in the 20th century to receive an "A" award from the Royal Academy. The Drawing Room contains 2 French cabinets of outstanding merit, each believed to have been presented by King Louis XIV to King Charles II, who, in turn, gave them to his illegitimate son, the Duke of Monmouth. Both cabinets were made for Versailles circa 1675; the larger of the two cabinets has a virtually identical twin in the Getty Museum, Los Angeles, while the smaller has a companion in The Wallace Collection, London. The Drawing Room also contains portraits of Charles II and the Duke of Monmouth by Lely, as well as large portraits of King James I and his Queen, Anne of Denmark, attributed to Paul van Somer. The Staircase Gallery is populated with an abundance of portraits, with all of the ones viewable at eye level by Sir Godfrey Kneller. The silver chandelier of circa 1670 has 16 branches in the form of dolphins and mermaids; it was purchased by the 5th Duke of Buccleuch in 1835, weighs over 120 pounds, and was originally in Whitehall Palace, London. On the morning of Aug 27, 2003 four men raided Drumlanrig and stole the "Madonna with Yarnwinder," the only painting by Leonardo da Vinci in private ownership. The painting, which experts say was painted between 1500 and 1510, depicts the Madonna with the infant Jesus holding a cross-shaped yarnwinder, said to symbolize the crucifixion of Jesus. The painting was recovered at a lawyer's office in Glasgow in Oct 2007 after police officers raided a meeting of five people.
Comments
Gardens & Park
Garden, Park, Follies and Outbuildings
Drumlanrig is today (2007) a 120,000-acre estate.
Chapel & Church
Movies
Location for Movies / TV
"The Thirty-nine [39] Steps" (1978).
Bibliography
| Author | Adams, Mark |
| Year Published | 2000 |
| Reference | pg. 168 |
| Author | Colvin, Howard |
| Year Published | 1995 |
| Reference | pgs. 187, 255, 341, 895 |
| Author | NA |
| Year Published | 1997 |
| Reference | pgs. 9, 16, 18 |
Related Resources
There are no documents associated with this house.
