Scotland · Still standing
Friars Carse
Friars Carse is a red sandstone baronial-style mansion house and estate on the west bank of the River Nith in Dumfriesshire, Scotland. The present house was remodelled and substantially extended in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and sits within parkland, with listed estate outbuildings including stables and a hermitage nearby.
Its prime
1909
Today
Still standing
As it stood in 1909
What Friars Carse looked like in its prime.
Wide, asymmetrical baronial mansion of dressed red sandstone with a complex southeast frontage: crenellated parapets, tall square chimneys and a distinctive round tower whose upper rectangular stage is corbelled out above the circular base. Mullioned and leaded windows, a projecting three-storey bay and a small conical roofed turret with finial punctuate the roofline. Steep slate roofs and varied gables rise above the façade. The house sits within parkland and woodland on the west bank of the River Nith, complete in its early 20th-century form.
Its story
The story of Friars Carse.
Friars' Carse sits on the west bank of the River Nith in the parish of Dunscore. The lands had been held by Melrose Abbey; at the Reformation the commendator granted the property to the Laird of Elliesland, a cadet branch of the Kirkpatricks of Closeburn, and in 1565 it was held by Thomas Kirkpatrick and his wife Janet Gordon.
Walter Riddell of Newhouse, grandfather of Robert Riddell, married his cousin Anne and through her inherited the estate of Glenriddell, which her family had held since not long after the Reformation. The house is known for its strong associations with Robert Burns, who lived for a while at the nearby Ellisland farm. After Robert's death his widow, who disliked Walter Riddell, refused to keep the property in the family, and it was sold.
Provost John Crichton of Sanquhar bought the estate in 1809, and the Crichton Royal Hospital in Dumfries was founded with a £100,000 bequest in his memory. His widow, Elizabeth Grierson of Lag, sold Friars' Carse to Thomas Nelson of Carlisle, said to have been an engineer on the Forth Rail Bridge; after a spell as a summer residence for paying patients it was sold in 1908 for £21,150, extended by Charles Wedderburn Dickson, and finally passed to a Post Office staff organisation as a convalescent and holiday home in memory of Post Office men and women who died in the two world wars.
Step inside
9 places to explore in 1909.
The record describes 9 distinct spots at Friars Carse, including 4 interiors: panelled entrance hall, main hall with lead-light windows, elegant staircase and more. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more rooms, more angles, and more of the place to stand in.
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Clans who held Friars Carse.
The families that held Friars Carse for a decade or more across its history, follow a name to its clan.
Kirkpatrick
Granted at the Reformation to the Laird of Elliesland, a cadet of the Kirkpatricks of Closeburn; held by Thomas Kirkpatrick in 1565.
Riddell
The Riddells held Glenriddell from soon after the Reformation; Walter Riddell of Newhouse inherited through his wife Anne, and the estate was sold out of the family after Robert Riddell's death.
Crichton
Bought in 1809 by Provost John Crichton of Sanquhar; sold on by his widow, Elizabeth Grierson of Lag.
