Harvieston

[KiwiMartin]

The driveway from Birkenside leads up to and past the house on the west side. It then continues down past the formal lawn, past the farm and down to another gate. I don't remember the name of the place, but there used to be derelict houses on the other side of the main road just past there. At the bottom of the formal lawn, there was a walled garden with potting sheds and a large greenhouse inside the walls on the house side of the garden. The farm buildings were on the west side of the garden with some of the buildings backing on to the wall.
I have just looked at the satellite view on Google maps, and there seem to be a lot more trees on the formal lawn now than there were back in the 50s. There were only a couple there then. There used to be pathways dividing the lawn. I learned to ride a bike there. A bit softer if I fell off. There was one big tree near the top and a hollly tree at the side. There were several trees on the side sloping down towards the burn. Especially a huge horse chestnut.
In front of the house there was a gravelled square and in front of that was stone terracing leading down to lawn tennis courts. That seems to be all trees now too. West of the house there was a football field. I remember two big oaks by the drive a little in front of the house.
When you come in the front door, there was the big hall I mentioned before, and to the right was a dining room. It had a door to the little room jutting out on the corner of the house. It was literaly a "little room". There was access to it also from our sitting room. The south east corner of the house also had a huge wash room which seems to be gone. It dated from the orphanage days. I note the highest room in the house is stilll there. You can see it jutting up on the roof. There was a big water tank next to it.
I did cycle out there in the late sixties, and the kitchen had had a false ceiling installed. That used to be a huge room with a terrazo floor, and had a big modern coal range.

[srdy]

I was until recently a tenant at Harvieston House ... the oaks still  stand; there are indeed many more trees surrounding the housa - - an 'arboretum' was planted in the 70s andf 80s to the front of the house...; the building on the outside of the house side of the walled garden has become a cottage .

[ramsay123]

My father was a joiner who lived in nearby Birkenside. In the 70's and 80's he did a lot of work in Harviestoun House and worked on the renovations to turn the house into flats. - I know this because I used to help (hinder?) him at weekends. - it was walking distance to our house. I have been in the house many times but it was a long time ago. My father also built the wooden treehouse - I have also been in this. He was very proud of having done this - it was a bit of a local attraction for all the kids who used to play 'down the burn' which was nearby. There was also a huge chestnut tree in the grounds which the local kids used to get conkers from.
At this time I believe the house was owned by a man called Tom Mitchell - if he didn't own it then he was certainly the man who did the renovations - but the way my dad talked about him I think he was the owner. This would be around the period 1975-1985.
My dad used to do a lot of work for him on other properties especially in Edinburgh so he must have been a property developer.

[chrislumb]

I lived at Harvieston House from 1973 to 1976. The owner was Tom Mitchell who rescued the house from falling down in the early 1970's. He used to drive past when Harvieston was derelict, with cattle wandering in and out of the rooms and was determined to save it. He divided the house into flats which were all unique and personally vetted all the occupants. He was a Cumbrian farmer who lived at Calva farm near Workington.He was very involved in Rugby being the chairman of Workington RLFC for many years. Other than that he was a bit of a mystery man, he helped found the off-beat Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh and had connections with the Foreign Office as he travelled abroad a lot. He also had properties in Malta and Kyrenia in Northern Cyprus which he lost when the Turks invaded in 1974!
He had a wonderful collection of vintage cars and was a real character. A book has been written about his life called "The Memoirs and Sporting life of Tom Mitchell" Here is the link to see a picture of him -http://images.amazon.com/images/G/01/richmedia/images/cover.gif If it doesn't work google him on Amazon. I can't find any mention of Harvieston in it so I think it must have been a private "bolt hole"

[follyfoot]

Harvieston House For Sale (May 2011)

After seeing this beautiful house for sale today in the Scotsman, I thought I would do a search online and found this forum.  It seems a bargain at just £250K!

Selling agents are Smith Gore:
http://www.smithsgore.co.uk/property-for-sale-gorebridge-1498302

[Templar75]

Hi follyfoot,

                just looked at your post I think around 2 years ago Middleton House was going for 8 million pounds and eventually the price went down to 4 million pounds, so the price for this one is a snip.

Cheers.

Archie.

[Napoleon]

The farm at the time was run by the Quigleys.

Newbie here, just as an FYI, the farm is still run by the Quigleys.

[Dormitorium]

Hi, newb here.  Stayed up at Harvieston house for many years in the top of the house (yes with the water tank)  and had something of an interest in the history of the place whilst there. From my reading about it, the place once had quite extensive grounds. Something like 100 acres in fact were at one time laid out. They were modelled (as was the fashion in the 18th Century) upon the idea of a Grecian Arcadia.  In fact at one point in the course of the Gore river, down from the weir but heading into sunny Gorebrig on the Harvieston side of it, there were carved stone statues. Presumably of gods or who knows? These were held in a stone niche. Whilst the statuary has long since gone (tumbled into the river possibly?) the niche was still to be found. At least in 2001 or something when I lived up there.

I did have extensive notes on Harvieston but have since lost them.  I only have vague memories now. Possibly George Cranstoun? stated in reference to the vast amount of money he had spent upon landscaping,"that he may as well have covered the grounds in banknotes."  Architecturally the house is interesting. I have a scan from a photocopy from a book called:
The Castles and Mansions of the Lothians. J. Small. 1883.
Published by J. Paterson,
Edinburgh.



Forgive the quality of the picture, it is just off a photocopy. The original is much better!  But it clearly shows some development of the house. Perhaps the oldest part of the house (born out by the thickness of walls) is where the entrance now is. Not the formal entrance but around the side. The first thing that is noticeable is that the line of the approach to the drive has changed.  There is an absence of castellations or battlement-type crenellated features.  A  stone relief-type carving of a crane can be seen today. It commemorates a date. "1901". Thus dating the castellations to then. The crane motif is a, "Cranstoun" emblem.  I cannot now recall exactly how the family name of, "Cranstoun" came to be associated with "Trotter."  This may help:

http://www.ancestor-links.com/chart_images/Family-Links-Broomhouse-Chirnside-Bridge-Mills.htm

Above the exterior of one of the windows where the Dormitorium II kitchen is at the front upon the first floor, there is a carved monogram of, "TC."  I believe (but am not certain of this) that the owners before the days of the Temperance hotel in the twenties moved to South Africa. This was following the loss of close family members during the First World War.  Curiously the place-name, "Harvieston" can also be found in Zimbabwe which may bear this out. There is a modest dwelling house also called, "Harvieston" in Elie, Fife! I cannot believe that this anything but the MLO place-name of the Harvieston estate growing some legs.

 I think internally it would take a genuine house detective to work out all stages of development. As any ex Harviestonian knows - the place is a bit of a rambling warren. Going up the turnpike spiral stairs in the dark was a very scary and disorientating experience during power cuts.

The crows steps upon the gable end of the roof of the house were added in 1869.  Again, I don't have a source and quote, it is just my memory from the book.  Around 1900 the gardens at Harvieston had got themselves a good reputation for being well kept.  Again, sorry no source.  Different book.

Best Wishes to you all!

Chris.

[Dormitorium]

Now place-names, not wishing to ruffle any feathers, here  concerning the meaning of Harvieston, it seems most likely that rather than it being "a market," as one contributor stated the place-name, "Harvieston" is simply derived from a possessive and a personal name.  Thus:

Hervie + tun.   

Hervie's tun. 

I retrieved this information from an unpublished PH.d thesis that sat upon the shelves of the School of Scottish studies at Edinburgh University and which I consulted whist an undergraduate in my final year at Uni whilst living at Harvieston.  Here's the source:

"The place names of Midlothian"
Norman Dixon. 
1947.

(If anybody wishes to consult Dixon's work it is available to download as a fully searchable pdf here). 

http://www.spns.org.uk/PNsMIDLOTHIANv3.pdf

Note: The earliest recorded entry for the pn. is 13th Century and is recorded in the Bannatyne Club which was founded by Sir Walter Scott, to print rare works of Scottish interest. Though nowadays one is cautioned against using the Bann CL as a primary source.  Second reference is in the Calendar of Charters contained in H.M. General Register House, Edinburgh. 13 vols. 1142-1591.  On page 51, Dixon deals with the pn.  Here's what Dixon wrote:

"HARVIESTON
Herviistun 13 th Cent. Bann. Cl. 69.
Herwyngistoun 1354 Reg.Ho.Ch.
Heruystone 1336-7 Bain.
Herviston 1354 Reg.Ho.Ch.
Hervi(e)stoun 1449 Bann. Cl. 109 1517 1537 1544 RSS 1627 R on P. 1656 RMS.
Harv(i)(e)stoun 1510 RSS 1773 Arm.
Harwestoun 1614 LC.
‘Hervey’s farm’ v. t
ū
n; Hervey is a M.E. surname.
Note
: Harvieston had three pendicles, now lost, mentioned in 1627 R on P:
Bogend is
Boigend v. Gael. now Scots bog OE ende;
Mochhollie is thus
; probably ‘moth-eaten (place)’ or ‘maggot-ridden field’ v. Scots moch SDD 363 ‘moth, maggot’
hollie SDD 268 adj. ‘having holes, holed’; cf. moch-eaten SDD 363; Feidlaw is thus;
probably ‘small field’ v. Scots feedlie SDD 16"

I hope this helps and is of interest. The upshot of these place name references and dates is that we can track settlement here for a very long time. An older house could indeed too have stood upon the site of the current property with a settlement cluster and a big hoose growing up around it. Though this is speculation.

Best Wishes to you all.