The entrance facade
The garden facade
The garden facade
The garden facade from across the lake
The lantern with tapestries depicting the triumphs of Julius Caesar, woven from Mantegna's cartoons.
The dining room fireplace
Detail of the dining room fireplace
Lady Caroline Scott as "Winter" by Joshua Reynolds
The Buccleuch Legend Candelabrum
Silver sconce
Dining room candelabrum
Classical candelabrum
Silver cistern
Miniatures, with Oliver Cromwell in the middle
The garden
The garden
View from the garden facade
Built / Designed For: John Murray, Lord Bowhill
House & Family History: The game of Rugby was invented at Bowhill (not, as commonly thought, at Rugby); it was then known as Caterhaugh Ba Game and involved much larger opposing teams than today's standard of 15 players. The man responsible for overseeing the first game was Sir Walter Scott. Bowhill was called "Sweet Bowhill" by Scott in his novel "Lay of the Last Minstrel."
Collections: One of Britain's great treasure houses, Bowhill has an outstanding collection of art, most of which King Charles II gave to his illegitimate son, James, Duke of Monmouth and Buccleuch. The collection includes paintings by Canaletto, Guardi, Claude, Ruysdael, Gainsborough, Raeburn, van Dyck, and Wilkie, with particular standouts being Reynolds's "Pink Boy" and Canaletto's view of Whitehall. In addition, the only Leonardo still in private hands, "The Madonna of the Yarn Winder," is in the Bowhill collection (though it is currently on loan to the Scottish National Gallery). The Leonardo had been lent to a gallery in Milan before World War II and was stranded in Italy during the war. After the Italian surrender, the Leonardo was discovered, amazingly, undamaged in a cellar; the 8th Duke brought it back to Britain wrapped in newspaper. Bowhill contains one of the most important collections of miniatures in the world, with works by Nicholas Hilliard, Isaac Oliver, Samuel Cooper, and Hans Holbein. The collection of over 800 pieces features images of Charles I, Oliver Cromwell, Mary I, Pepys, James VI and I, Elizabeth I, Katharine of Aragon, Henry VIII, and even George Washington and Benjamin Franklin! Relics in the collection include Monmouth's saddle and execution shirt, the proof editions Sir Walter Scott's works, and the famous portrait of Scott by Raeburn. The collection also includes Queen Victoria's letters and gifts to the Duchess of Buccleuch, her mistress of the robes. The gallery hall contains three great Mortlake tapestries depicting the triumphs of Julius Caesar. The tapestries were woven in 1670 from Mantegna's magisterial nine canvases, collectively called "The Triumphs of Caesar," which have hung at Hampton Court Palace since 1630. Considered among the finest achievements of Italian Renaissance art, the paintings were created circa 1484-92 for the 4th Marquis of Mantua (Franceso II Gonzaga) and were acquired by Charles I in 1629, when he purchased significant parts of the Gonzaga family's art collection.
Garden & Outbuildings: John Gilpin designed the garden and landscaping.
Architect: William Stark
Date: 1812-19Architect: William Burn
Date: 1830-33Architect: John MacVicar Anderson
Date: 1857Architect: William Atkinson
Date: 1812-19John Bernard (J.B.) Burke, published under the title of A Visitation of the Seats and Arms of the Noblemen and Gentlemen of Great Britain and Ireland, among other titles: Vol. II, p. 198, 1853.
Country Life: John Cornforth in CLVII, 1448, 1558, 1618, 1678, 1975.
Title: Bowhill: The House, its People and its Paintings
Author: Duke of Buccleuch
Year Published: 2012
Reference: pgs. 106, 108
Publisher: Scotland: Caique Publishing Ltd.
ISBN: 9780956594822
Book Type: Softback
Title: Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600-1840, A - HARDBACK
Author: Colvin, Howard
Year Published: 2008
Reference: pg. 190
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300125085
Book Type: Hardback
Title: Buildings of Scotland: Borders, The
Author: Cruft, Kitty; Dunbar, John; Fawcett, Richard; et al
Year Published: 2006
Publisher: New Haven: Yale University Press
ISBN: 0300107021
Book Type: Hardback
Title: Country House in the 1980s, The
Author: Young, John
Year Published: 1981
Reference: pg. 25, 26, 27, 28
Publisher: London: George Allen & Unwin
ISBN: 0047200227
Book Type: Hardback
House Listed: Category A
Park Listed: Designated Garden & Designed Landscape
Current Seat / Home of: Richard Walter John Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 10th Duke of Buccleuch and 12th Duke of Queensberry
Past Seat / Home of: John Murray, Lord Bowhill, 1708-14. Francis Scott, 2nd Duke of Buccleuch, 1747-51; Henry Scott, 3rd Duke of Buccleuch and 5th Duke of Queensberry, 1751-1812; Charles William Henry Montagu-Scott, 4th Duke of Buccleuch and 6th Duke of Queensberry, 1812-19; Walter Francis Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 5th Duke of Buccleuch and 7th Duke of Queensberry, 1819-84; William Henry Walter Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 6th Duke of Buccleuch and 8th Duke of Queensberry, 1884-1914; John Charles Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 7th Duke of Buccleuch and 9th Duke of Queensberry, 1914-35; Walter John Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 8th Duke of Buccleuch and 10th Duke of Queensberry, 1935-73; Walter Francis John Montagu-Douglas-Scott, 9th Duke of Buccleuch and 11th Duke of Queensberry, 1973-2007.
Current Ownership Type: Individual / Family Trust
Primary Current Ownership Use: Private Home
House Open to Public: Yes
Phone: 0175-022-204
Email: info@bowhillhouse.co.uk
Website: https://www.bowhillhouse.co.uk/
Historic Houses Member: Yes