Description

16th century, reconstructed later 17th century (see Notes). Fine, 2-storey and attic, L-plan, Scots Renaissance mansion house with 3 corbelled-out circular turrets at S-facing angles and fine interior plasterwork. Rubble with raised ashlar margins. N ELEVATION: Door 2nd bay from left with later window insertions to four-bays above; 3 pedimented wall-head dormers break eaves. Further dormers to S and W facing elevations of re-entrant angle. Forestair and railing to central doorway at E elevation; irregular fenestration, returning to turret at NE corner with small window; turrets with small single windows and ball-and-spike finialled conical roofs.

INTERIOR: stone stair to centre of building rising through all floors. 2 rooms on first floor with elaborate Jacobethan plaster ceilings. Some rooms with roll-moulded fireplaces.

Grey, graded Scottish slate, Tall and broad end stacks. Variety of clay cans. Cast iron rainwater goods.

BOUNDARY WALLS AND GATES: rubble built, flanking E elevation at right-angles, higher to the left with doorway leading to walled courtyard to S of house. Fine strapwork carving above gate opposite the E elevation, bearing inscription 'Croft-an-righ Cottage' on lintel. Sections of boundary wall adjoining SW angle to palace wall with round-arched opening (now blocked). Wall to S and W part of the boundary of the Palace of Holyroodhouse (see separate listing). Flight of steps rising steeply from S courtyard into palace grounds.

Statement of Interest

The ground beneath the Palace of Holyroodhouse and nearby structures (including Croft-an-Righ House, the buildings on the N side of Abbey Strand and the buildings around Mews Court) is scheduled under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979 for its archaeological importance. The upstanding remains of Holyrood Abbey and Queen Mary's Bath are also scheduled monuments. Significant upstanding and below-ground archaeological remains may survive as part of and in addition to the structures and features described above.

Croft An Righ is an outstanding example and rare survival of a traditional 17th century mansion house containing earlier 16th century fabric. Its clasping angle turrets flanking the broad chimneystack of the gable of the SE jamb add interest and character, as does the forestair descending from first floor to street. Situated in a secluded location towards to NW corner of the gardens of the Palace of Holyroodhouse, the building retains much of its original context and setting adding significantly to its streetscape value. The building is also notable for its particularly fine plasterwork ceiling featuring cornucopia motifs which the ceiling of the throne room in the Palace of Holyroodhouse was based. One motif is also used extensively on the elaborate plaster ceiling at Moray House on Edinburgh's Canongate (see separate listings).

Croft an Righ (or 'King's Field') House is considered to have once belonged to Lord Elphinstone and later to William Graham, Earl of Airth. An earlier house on the site belonged to the Regent Moray and some of this structure may also exist within the fabric of the building. Gordon of Rothiemay's map of 1647 shows the house in T-plan form. It was rebuilt in its current L-plan footprint during the late 17th century following a fire around 1680 and further alterations were made during the 1870s when the turrets were extended and capped and a 2-storey outshot to the S with forestair was removed. The house was reconditioned by H M Office of Works in the 1950s and subdivided to house gardeners at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. The building is currently (2007) used as offices by Historic Scotland.

Part of A-group comprising: Palace of Holyroodhouse; 28 and 30 Croft-An-Righ (Croft-An-Righ House); Abbey Strand Eastern Building; Abbey Strand Western Building; Queen Mary's Bath House; North Garden Sundial; Palace Forecourt Fountain; Abbey Court House; Gatehouse and Former Guard Rooms; Palace Coach House; Stables; Queen's Gallery (see separate listings).

List description revised as part of the Edinburgh Holyrood Ward resurvey (2007/08). List description updated 2013.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17571050

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)