Cross House, Falkland Palace

Cross House, Falkland Palace

This is a Grade A listed building forming part of a three-sided quadrangular palace structure. The complex originally comprised a north quarter, east quarter, and south quarter, with the Cross House positioned as a rectangular tower at the centre of the east front.

The north quarter dates from the mid-15th century and originally contained a great hall, evidently similar in plan to the hall at Stirling. It was renovated from 1502 onwards but was burnt in 1654; only foundations now remain.

The east quarter dates from circa 1500-12 and is a three-storey structure with a vaulted ground floor. The courtyard facade was recast from 1537 under the direction of John Merlioun, who left the original rubble work exposed. The facade features a six-bay treatment with Corinthian columned buttresses and roundels to match the work on the south range by Nicholas Roy and Moses Martin. A circular stair tower, known as the dovecot, stands at the north-east corner. The vaulted ground floor and courtyard facade with its dormerheads survive largely intact, though the remainder is much ruined.

The Cross House itself, built circa 1500-12, is a rectangular tower with a circular stair turret at the north-east. It was largely rebuilt from the first floor level upwards in the 1890s, except for the stair turret which had mostly survived. The King James V room was decorated by W Schomberg Scott and David McClure during this period.

The south quarter originally dates from circa 1501-12 and comprises three storeys and an attic, with the tall second floor containing a chapel. It has a vaulted ground floor and northern lean-to corridor. The entire south quarter was completely refaced in ashlar between 1537 and 1541. Thomas French and James Black worked on the project in 1538-9, creating a six-bay late gothic south front with niched buttresses and statuary by Peter Flemishman. Square-headed two-light windows light the second floor, and the parapet is richly corbelled and crenellated. Nicholas Roy and Moses Martin completed the work in 1540-41, creating the north courtyard facade with Corinthian columned buttresses and roundels with busts, mullioned and transomed second floor windows, and segmentally pedimented dormers showing Loire School detailing. The chapel ceiling was decorated with painted work in 1633. The original wooden screen survives, and the Royal Pew was reconstructed on the model of that at Scone, incorporating fragments of the original Falkland example.

The gatehouse, known as the Foirentre and tower (Captain's Chambers), was completed by John Brownhill and Henry Bawte between 1539 and 1541, evidently incorporating earlier work. It is three storeys high with a crenellated parapet and cap house, a pend entry flanked to the south by round towers, and a corridor on the north side left unbuilt. The structure is ashlar except at the site of the unbuilt corridor. Panel embellishments were added during the 1893-6 restoration.

Alterations were made circa 1840, presumably under the supervision of William Burn for O Tyndall Bruce. Most of Burn's work was later removed. Extensive restorations and repairs, both inside and out, were undertaken by John Kinross from 1893 onwards, chiefly between 1893 and 1896. Elaborate painted decoration based on the paintings of David Scott was added by Thomas Bonnar in 1895-6, and interior fittings were sourced from the Bute workshops at Cardiff.

The palace was begun by James II. In the 16th century, the Bethunes of Creich became hereditary keepers. The keepership passed by marriage to David Viscount Murray of Stormont, who built a house on the site of the original castle in the early 17th century, since demolished. The keepership subsequently passed to the Earl of Atholl during the Commonwealth and thence to the Dukes of Atholl. The property was acquired in 1787 by Skene of Pitlour and subsequently passed by marriage to the Moncrieffs of the Myres. In 1820, General George Moncrieff sold it to Professor John Bruce, whose niece brought it to O Tyndall Bruce, who repaired the neglected south quarter and gatehouse in 1840. The 3rd Marquess of Bute acquired it from the Bruces in 1887. It passed to Lord Ninian Crichton Stuart in 1900 and to Major Michael Crichton Stuart in 1915. It became the responsibility of the National Trust for Scotland in 1952.

This is a scheduled monument forming part of Falkland Burgh.