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23-610: Melville House is a 1697 house that lies to the south side of the Palace of Monimail near Collessie in Fife , Scotland. It has been a school and a training base for Polish soldiers who had arrived in Scotland after the 51st Highland Division had been forced to surrender at Saint-Valery-en-Caux in 1940. The building was the most expensive building in Britain ever reclaimed by a bank. Mellville House

46-523: A chief seat of the Melville family . Lord Monimail is one of the subsidiary titles of the Leslie-Melville Earls of Leven . It was abandoned in the late 17th century and subsequently most of the palace was demolished. One tower remains standing in the grounds of Melville House near the village of Monimail, 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) north of Ladybank . Monimail Palace was situated at the junction of

69-622: A limited number of permanent classrooms in science, mathematics and computers. Finally, in 1977, the board developed the former stables building into a history classroom whilst additionally creating, in the upper section, accommodation for a senior house master and his family to occupy. Novelist Lady Mary Hamilton , daughter of Alexander Leslie, 5th Earl of Leven , was born here in 1736. Former Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Francis Brown Douglas , died here on 8 August 1885. Journalist and former editor of The Scotsman newspaper (1985-1988), Chris Baur , whose BBC2 television programme Power of Scotland won

92-563: A private preparatory school from 1950 to 1971. During the 1960s in non-school termtime weeks Outward Bound utilised the school by hiring it as a Scottish residential centre for their worldwide and challenging outdoor adventure programs. Later Melville House became a special education boarding school from 1975 to 1998 with fees varying from pupil to pupil. In general, the education department would consider referrals of unique boys who displayed both academic potential and/or difficulty developing within mainstream education, and in several cases funded

115-656: Is a listing of gardens and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in Scotland . The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a continually evolving list. From 1991 it was maintained by Historic Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage , and is now updated by a dedicated team within Historic Environment Scotland . As of 2016 the Inventory includes over 300 sites across Scotland. Unlike listed building status, there

138-545: Is no statutory basis for the Inventory, and inclusion of a site on the Inventory does not offer any legal protection. However, under the Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2013, planning authorities are required to consult Historic Environment Scotland on "development which may affect a historic garden or designed landscape". This is confirmed in Scottish Planning Policy, and

161-705: The Balmoral Castle estate in Deeside, and Ian Hamilton Finlay 's garden at Little Sparta in Lanarkshire. Sites are selected and graded based on seven value-based criteria. These are: Each site is assessed, on a scale of none—little—some—high—outstanding , for each criterion, using guidance set out in the Historic Environment Policy Statement. Separate registers of parks, gardens and designed landscapes are maintained in

184-623: The Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 1949 where it is described as "the most spectacular single exhibit in the Victoria and Albert Museum's British Galleries". Palace of Monimail The Palace of Monimail , also known as Monimail Tower , was a Renaissance palace in Fife , Scotland. A residence of the Archbishops of St Andrews from the 13th century, in the early 17th century Monimail became

207-884: The 1570s, while those at Falkland were executed in the 1530s and the oaken Stirling Heads are from around 1540. A restoration of the tower, to a high standard of authenticity using historically correct materials, was overseen by the Monimail Tower Preservation Trust in the 1990s-2000s. The gardens around the Tower are home to a small intentional community . The tower is a category A listed building in recognition of its national importance. 56°18′50″N 3°08′09″W  /  56.3140°N 3.1358°W  / 56.3140; -3.1358 Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland The Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland

230-515: The Italian physician Jerome Cardan . Mary, Queen of Scots visited the castle for dinner on 23 March 1563 but stayed at Baillinbreich . In 1564 Archbishop Hamilton sold Monimail to Sir James Balfour of Pittendriech . By this time the majority of the palace, with the exception of the tower, was said to be derelict. Balfour and his son undertook restoration of the tower, before selling on the estate in 1592 to Sir Robert Melville of Murdocairnie . In

253-466: The Royal Television Society's Journalism Award for the best current affairs documentary of 1978, was a pupil. The Scottish historian and novelist Mauro Martone , is presumed to have been a pupil and mentions the estate in his 2017 novel "Kertamen", In the early 2000s, the house was refurbished as a private home, before then being sold on several years later. After the purchaser failed to sell

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276-711: The chief Scots supporters of William of Orange. During the 1940s, the estate and house was used to billet Polish soldiers during World War II who were training for a guerilla campaign against any German invasion throughout the Blitz period. Scotland was seen as a prime target for an invasion by the Nazis via their bases in Norway, throughout 1940–1942 After the war the estate was purchased by Dalhousie Preparatory Boarding School , when they moved premises from Dalhousie Castle in Lothian. It remained

299-566: The elite and their entourages." Church records show that it was the favourite residence of James and David Beaton after St Andrews itself. James Beaton went to the expense of importing fruit trees from France to plant in the gardens. After David Beaton's murder in 1546 the palace continued to be used by his successors until the time of the Reformation . Archbishop John Hamilton (1512–1571), spent several weeks at Monimail in 1552 receiving medical treatments, for an unspecified condition, overseen by

322-489: The episcopal palace, though the upper parts date from later 16th-century restoration. An investigation in 1993 discovered the buried remnant of a corner tower to the north-west of Monimail Tower, and an adjoining section of curtain wall. The architectural detail, notably the Renaissance-style portrait roundels on the parapet, is comparable to that at the nearby Falkland Palace . The roundels at Monimail probably date from

345-423: The fees. However, in other cases, some guardians were required to contribute toward said fees after completion of a financial assessment. In 1976, a new standardised modular design system building was erected at considerable expense upon the old walled fruit garden. This was a one level permanent core building containing an indoor football area and gymnasium, an administration area, showers, locker rooms, library and

368-530: The inclusion of a site on the Inventory is a material consideration in planning terms. The majority of the Inventory sites are estate or park landscapes associated with country houses. However, a wide variety of other types of site are included, including cemeteries, urban parks, and small gardens, where these are of historical significance. Examples include Benmore Botanic Garden in Argyll, Duthie Park in Aberdeen,

391-469: The late 1690s Sir Robert's descendant, George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville (1636–1707), who had recently been appointed President of the Privy Council , decided to build himself a mansion in the fashionable Classical style on his Monimail estate, to be called Melville House . For many years, the remains of Monimail Palace were maintained as a picturesque folly in the park of the new house. The tower of

414-501: The main roads between St. Andrews , Perth and Stirling , overlooking the Howe of Fife . This would have made Monimail an attractive property for the Bishops of St Andrews and from the time of its earliest documentation (1206), Monimail was an estate belonging to the bishop. Around 1319 William Lamberton (Bishop of St. Andrews 1298–1328) constructed a manor house of some quality at Monimail "in

437-456: The palace was described as being in "pretty good preservation" as late as 1791. In the 1820s the Melvilles built walled gardens, changing the ground levels around the site of the palace and resulting in most of the remains being buried. The surviving tower comprises three storeys over a basement, which was later altered to form an ice house . The lower parts of the tower are likely to be part of

460-484: The period of stability that followed Bannockburn ". According to legend the Palace was built by its most famous inhabitant: Cardinal David Beaton (c.1494–1546). However, recent research suggests that the building is in fact the work of his uncle, and predecessor as Archbishop of St Andrews, James Beaton (1473–1539). Monimail is described in this era as "a comfortable, if quiet, country residence, capable of accommodating

483-563: The property for a £4.5m asking price, Melville House was repossessed by the South African bank which had lent the money, making it the most expensive repossessed property in Britain. Melville House is a category A listed building , and the grounds are included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland . The Melville State Bed, made in 1700 for the Earl of Melville, was given to

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506-506: Was also imported from France and hunted in the area. Melville however was to be accused of being involved in the Rye House Plot — a Whig conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II and his brother the Duke of York (the future James VII). To escape arrest Melville fled to Holland where he joined the band of British Protestant exiles at the court of Prince William of Orange. Here Melville became one of

529-516: Was built in 1697 by the architect James Smith (c. 1645–1731) for George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville (1636–1707). The remains of the 14th-century Monimail Palace which the Melvilles had bought in 1592 were incorporated into the grounds as a folly . The estate once bordered the nearby royal estate of Falkland Palace which had been a popular retreat with all the Stuart monarchs who used the vast surrounding forests for hawking and hunting deer. Wild boar,

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