Tuesday April 21st 2026
Mavisbank house in Midlothian is considered Scotland's most 'at risk' building
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
A bid to create a new access to allow restoration work to begin on a Scottish mansion has been backed by national conservation bosses.
The Landmark Trust is ready to start work on Mavisbank House, Loanhead, after receiving permission to begin repairs, however it still needs the go ahead to create a new access route which involves removing more than 80 trees.
Now Historic Environment Scotland have backed the proposed new driveway saying the loss of the trees from what was described as the community’s ‘only conservation area’ is outweighed by the important work to save the building.
Midlothian councillors delayed a decision on granting approval for the access route at a meeting earlier this year amid concern about its impact on the surrounding countryside.
They deferred a decision on approving the route to allow for more information about alternative options to be brought to them.
However the Landmark Trust, which has received a £5.3million grant to help begin the work on the house, says it has spent years looking into the best access route for the house whose original driveways have been sold off to private landowners.
And it said pushing forward with its two phase project to rescue and restore the house relied on the drive getting approval.
Councillors will take a fresh look at the access route at a planning committee meeting next week when they will hear Historic Environment Scotland has not objected to the plans despite advising it will have ‘significant physical and visual impacts on the Mavisbank Inventory site’.
Instead a report by officers recommending approval of the driveway said that Historic Environment Scotland had noted that the work planned would enhance the settings of Mavisbank House itself.
They said: “Overall, Historic Environment Scotland weighed up the negative impacts on the inventory site against the positive conservation benefits to both the house and its designed landscape.
“They concluded that the proposed development is only acceptable because it is a crucial first step to allow the conservation and restoration of these internationally important heritage assets. Without that conservation benefit, the impacts would be unacceptable.”
Category A listed Mavisbank House was built in the early 18th century by celebrated Scottish architect William Adam as a summer residence for John Clerk of Penicuik, a leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, and signatory of the Act of Union (1707).
It is described as the first Palladian house in Scotland and pioneered a design which would be used by others to develop Edinburgh’s New Town a generation later.
In the 19th century Mavisbank became a ground-breaking mental hospital where reforming Doctor John Batty Tuke developed compassionate approaches to mental illness, including through exercise and gardening.
After the closure of the asylum, Mavisbank was sold and, following a major fire, demolition on safety grounds was ordered by the local authority in the mid-1980s. An emergency round-the-clock vigil was maintained by local volunteers until the decision could be halted.
Attempts to raise funds to repair the house were unsuccessful until the National Heritage Memorial Find agreed the £5.3million grant.
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