Hill of Tarvit

The Hill of Tarvit is a 20th-century mansion house and gardens in Fife, Scotland. They were designed by Sir Robert Lorimer and are today owned by the National Trust for Scotland.

Description

The house is situated on a hillside a mile and a half south of Cupar, Fife. It is set in 40 acres of garden and 279 acres of open estate.cite web|url=http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/cupar/hilloftarvit/index.html|title=Hill of Tarvit|work=Undiscovered Scotland|accessdate=2008-09-21] This includes woodland, parkland, farmland and open heath, with extensive views.Hill of Tarvit Mansionhouse & Gardens, National Trust for Scotland website (accessed 18-09-08) [http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/1/] ] Between 1905 and 1906, the house and gardens were remodelled, for the Sharp family, by the renowned Scottish architect Sir Robert Lorimer incorporating French and Chippendale-style furniture, porcelain and paintings collected by F B Sharp.

The house today and wider estates are owned and operated by the National Trust for Scotland. They display Lorimer's original design and furnishings, and they are open to the public incorporating a tearoom and shop. Visitors are able to see the both the Sharp family's state of the art accommodation, as well as glimpse life "below-stairs" for the servants.

History

The site dates back to at least the Iron Age. The remains of a homestead were excavated in 1946-7 at the top of Tarvit Hill. During the excavation, an elaborate circular wooden house of about 17m in diameter was found, it was within an oval bank which enclosed an area of 33x27m. The house is thought to have been occupied between 200 BC and AD 200, and rebuilt at least twice in that period.

cotstarvit tower

In 1500, Scotstarvit Tower was built a mile southwest from Hill of Tarvit. This was constructed by the Inglis family of Tarvit as the centre of their estate. The tower was then sold in 1611 to Sir John Scott of Scotstarvit. Sir John rebuilt much of the tower in the 1620s - seen by the date 1627 on a piece of the Tower's chimneypiece that now forms part of the fireplace in the Hill of Tarvit's smoking room.

Wemyss Hall

The estate, then known as Unthank was remodelled but John Wemyss of Unthank after 1696. Wemyss, neglected the defensive tower as redundant, and built a new mansion house on the site of the current Hill of Tarvit house, naming it "Wemyss House". The architect used here was possibly Sir William Bruce. This house was expanded in the following centuries, with a service wings added to the rear or north side, one during the 1840s.

Hill of Tarvit

Frederick Bower Sharp purchased Wemyss Hall and its then 1,223 acre estate in 1904. Sharp's family had made their fortune in Dundee's jute industry as mill owners (and had sold cloth for sandbags to both sides during the American Civil Warcite web|url=http://www.rampantscotland.com/visit/blvisit_tarvit.htm|title=Places to Visit in Scotland - Hill of Tarvit Mansionhouse and Scotstarvit Tower, Cupar, Fife|work=Rampantscotland.com|accessdate=2008-09-21] ), and Sharp had added venture capital and rail transport to his business interests (he was chairman of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway). His intention was to construct a new family home with ready access to Dundee and to his golfing interests at St Andrews' Royal and Ancient Golf Club. He also wanted somewhere to house his already extensive collection of paintings, tapestries, furniture and porcelain. Although the location of Wemyss Hall met his requirements, the accommodation did not, and so he engaged the architect Sir Robert Lorimer. Lorimer had recently transformed Kellie Castle, just ten miles away. Over the next two years, the new mansion house (named Hill of Tarvit) replaced the main block of the earlier house, although the rear service wings were retained. The new house was fitted with all modern conveniences, including electricity, an internal phone system and central heating. Sharp added a 9-hole golf course in 1924 to the south of the house.

Hugh Sharp (born 1897), Frederick's only son, inherited the house on his father's death in 1932. Hugh, who had served with distinction during the 1914-18 war, added to the house's collection, his particular interests being rare books, and botanical specimens (many of which can still be seen in the gardens). In 1937, Hugh was travelling by rail to meet his fiancée Mabel Hogarth in Glasgow. Tragically, he was one of 35 people killed when the Glasgow-Edinburgh express collided with a stationary train at Castlecary. (See Castlecary rail accidents.) His mother Beatrice continued to live at Hill of Tarvit until her death in 1946. Two years later, on the death of his sister Elizabeth, the house and the family's collection was left to the National Trust for Scotland, with a sizable endowment for upkeep. Hugh's book collection was presented to the National Library of Scotland.

Until 1977, only the ground floor of the house was open to the public, and then only by appointment, the upper floors being used by the Marie Curie Foundation as a convalescent home.

References

External links

* [http://www.nts.org.uk/Property/1/ National trust for Scotland description]
* [http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/cupar/hilloftarvit/index.html Hill of Tarvit on Undiscovered Scotland]
* [http://www.rampantscotland.com/visit/blvisit_tarvit.htm Profile on Rampantscotland.com]