Penicuik House walk

It was a glorious sunny day (although cold!) and I wanted to go and walk in the grounds of Penicuik House as someone had told me the scaffolding is finally down after many years. The house is still a shell but it is now a restored and stabilized one and the house looks impressive and beautiful without all the cranes etc. around it as there were during our previous visits. You can see the pictures from those visits here and here.

The Penicuik House Project have done a marvellous job with the house and also the grounds as many of the paths leading to the North Esk River are now gravelled and far easier to navigate. The grounds are blessed with a variety of gorgeous gates which were quite inspirational with their patterns.

I loved the fact that you can now walk up to the house and peer through what were once the windows and see what is left inside. We spotted several fire places, some very high up the walls.

And the sunshine made for lovely shadow play on the old walls.

Two impressive statues frame the front entrance and this one was my favourite. Apparently they represent druids who were the heraldic supporters of the Clerk family and appear on the coat of arms of this family who owned the estate over the centuries. They were carved in 1776.

You can walk around the house and get in just as close to the back of it as seen below.

After a full investigation we moved on and walked further into the estate to the river and an old bridge which is in the process of being restored. Sadly the fencing didn't provide wide enough openings to poke my lens through so pictures of that will have to wait till next time!

In the distance (and this is taken with my lens fully extended) is the Ramsay Monument. There doesn't seem to be any way of getting to it although I will try and give it another go one of these days. It seems to involve going through multiple fields so it will have to wait till summer and sturdy footwear is a must. This Ramsay is Allan Ramsay, the poet, also commemorated in the name of the local pub in nearby Carlops, which is much easier to visit!

These are the intricate Chinese Gates erected in 1758 and as you can see beautifully restored.

Going through those gates on the way back you get this lovely side view of the house in the low autumn sunshine.

 

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