The House sits within a small agricultural estate on the edge of the Angus coastline bordering the North Sea, on an ancient raised sea-beach which allows views across the Firth of Tay to Fife. This famously historical area contains a wealth of archaeological and architectural sites, and is situated in one of the most productive agricultural regions of Scotland. The site is largely surrounded by the town of Arbroath (pop. 25000), and is 18 miles NE of Dundee, 11 miles SW of Montrose and 53 miles SW of Aberdeen.
The historical axis of the site has always been between the land approach to the town, with its C12 Tironensian Abbey, and the landfall of maritime traffic onto the nearest sand beach to the community, prior to the construction of the later medieval harbour closer to the Abbey. This was the point at which the pilgrim processions would form, at the Chapel of St John the Baptist, for their processional entry, past a succession of shrines, to the Abbey precinct itself. The present House is on the site of a pilgrim hospice known as the Hospital of St John the Baptist, hence the present name, Hospitalfield.
The Old Red Sandstone, one of the oldest sedimentary rock strata breaks onto the coast at Arbroath providing an ample supply of materials, creating the characteristic red buildings of the area. It is predominantly the impression of this monumental stone which greets the visitor to Hospitalfield. Of the original hospital and chapel, little evidence now remains. The first documentation of the site relates to new agricultural buildings on the site in 1325, and to which foundations in the present building can be identified.
Essentially the building we have today is a z-plan composed of three historical elements; the North Wing, initially constructed as the early C14 monks barn, later upgraded in the C18 to a modern granary, and finally incorporated into the mansion-house in the mid C19 transformed into the elaborately decorated Picture Gallery; the central section of the plan is generally identified as the earliest section of the building, but subsequent building in the C16 & C19 has removed any visible trace; the South Wing, built as a self-contained family unit by the first generation of the Frasers of Hospitalfield in 1664, looking towards the sea.
The building, as redefined in the C19, is faced with red sandstone ashlar blockwork, articulated with decorated stonework and naturalistic carving. Much of this covers original construction of field-stone and lime mortar in walls which are up to 1.5m thick. Only the C16 south wing retains the original finishing of lime harle on the corner tower and garden façade.
Key:
A : The Cedar Gallery
B : The Picture Gallery
C : The Anteroom
D : Drawing Room
E : Dining Room
The north wing is joined to the central section by a 5 storey bartizan tower which dominates the approach to the building, and shadows the clock-tower and gate which give way to a series of service yards to the rear of the building. Visitors must pass below the twin turrets and large triple areol window of the Gallery to arrive at the entrance front. The crenellated wall-head of the Gallery begins a decorative system which extends to the south wing tower across the entrance façade, supported by heavily stepped out stone support brackets, known in Scotland as corbels, producing a dramatic effect on the visitor, while unifying the irregular frontage of the earliest part of the building.
The variety of these architectural forms not only reflect the great age spanned by the building, but is further complicated by the C19 revival of C16 historical detail and decoration, urged on in this case by the great Scottish poet and novelist, Walter Scott, who used the early C19 building as the home of The Antiquary (1816), describing it as:
“Secluded from the town by the rising ground by the rising ground, which also screened it from the north-west wind, the house had a solitary and sheltered appearance…it was an irregular old-fashioned building, some part of which belonged to a grange or solitary farmhouse inhabited by the bailiff, or steward, of the monastery, when the place was in the possession of the monks…to the remains of the bailiff’s house, the succeeding lay inhabitants had made various additions in proportion to the accommodation by their families and as this was done with an equal contempt of convenience within and architectural regularity without, the whole bore the appearance of a hamlet which had suddenly stood still when in the act of leading down one of Amphion’s or Orpheus’s country dances.”
The emphasis on seclusion and shelter is a feature of the site, which continues today despite the contraction of the estate to less than 24 hectares, and is created by the careful and enthusiastic planting of woodland and avenues, principally beech, sycamore, elm, oak and ash.
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