Dover House

Coordinates: 51°30′15″N 0°7′37″W / 51.50417°N 0.12694°W / 51.50417; -0.12694

Entrance to the Scotland Office.

Plans of basement and ground floor as initially built for Sir Matthew Featherstonehaugh, Bart.

Dover House is a Grade I-listed mansion in Whitehall, and the London headquarters of the Scotland Office. It is on the western side of the street immediately south of Admiralty House. The rear facade faces Horse Guards Parade.

History

Dover House was designed by James Paine for Sir Matthew Fetherstonhaugh, Bart., MP, in the 1750s and remodeled by Henry Flitcroft, as "Montagu House", for George Montagu, created 1st Duke of Montagu, who had removed from Bloomsbury. It was refurbished once again, by Henry Holland for HRH The Prince Frederick, Duke of York, from 1788 to 1792. The building belonged to the Melbourne family from 1793 to 1830.

It has also been home to a French ambassador and the romantic poet Lord Byron. Its most notable feature is an entrance hall in the form of a rotunda inserted into the former forecourt by Holland, which is a unique entrance to a London mansion. The last private owners were the family of the Whig politician George James Welbore Agar-Ellis, created (1831) Baron Dover, whose title it has retained.

Government use

The Agar-Ellis heirs owned Dover House from 1830 to 1885, when it became the Scottish Office, the UK government department responsible for Scottish affairs.

When Scotland acquired a devolved parliament, the responsibilities of the Scottish Office were reduced and, in 1999, was renamed the Scotland Office with Dover House remaining as its chief London building. The Scotland Office also has a Scottish headquarters, on Melville Crescent in Edinburgh's New Town.

External links

• Dover House page from the Survey of London
• Information about Dover House on the Scotland Office's website