John Kinross, the Third Marquess of Bute, architectural restoration, innovation and design

Abstract

Over a decade at the end of the nineteenth century, the learned architect John Kinross RSA worked with that passionate antiquary, the third marquess of Bute, on sizeable and significant restoration projects across Scotland. The projects were Falkland Palace and Chapel, Fife; the Augustinian Priory at St Andrews; Greyfriars' Church and Convent, Elgin; and Pluscarden Abbey, Morayshire. This paper considers how their work played out against the restoration debate which was at its peak during these years. It tests the levels of innovation and design in the pair's key commissions, and considers what influence they may have had in informing both architectural practice and emerging philosophies in twentieth- and twenty-first-century Scotland.