Walter Scott, William Stark, and early Planning at Abbotsford

What is it about?

The significance of Sir Walter Scott’s Abbotsford as an important nineteenth-century manor house in the Scottish-Baronial style is rarely contested. The complexity of the property’s development, however, has left open important questions about its history. In the main, previous studies of Abbotsford have shown a slow evolution from the original farmhouse on the estate through several stages until the main structure as it existed in Scott’s lifetime was completed in 1825. What has now become more clearly visible, however, is the fact that for at least the first year after the purchase the property in June 1811 Scott was aiming to build his residence on fresh ground immediately adjacent to the Tweed, according plans commissioned from the eminent Glasgow architect William Stark. Using a range of materials from the period -- some newly-discovered -- this study traces Scott’s plan to build his ‘cottage’ by the Tweed, from the inception of the scheme in summer of 1811 until its effectual abandonment after 1812.

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Why is it important?

New interpretation relating to early planning of Scott's home at Abbotsford and the architect William Stark.