Gosford House

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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G

osford, the seat of the Ear; of Wemyss, in Aberlady parish, Haddingtonshire, 3 furlongs E of a small bay of its own name, 2 miles NNE of Longniddry station, and 5¾ NW of Haddington. The estate was purchased, and the mansion built, in the latter half of last century by the sixth Ear;, whose great-great-grandson, Francis Wemyss-Charteris Douglas, ninth Earl of Wemyss since 1633, and sixth of March since 1697 (b. 1818; suc. 1883), as Lord Elcho, may be said to have created the volunteer movement in 1859, and holds 57,158 acres, valued at £50,080, 10s. per annum, viz., 10,136 in Haddingtonshire (£22,524, 11s.), 41,247 in Peeblesshire (£14,315, 16s-), 1504 in Edinburghshire (£5570), 1261 in Berwickshire (£747), and 3010 in Perthshire (£7666, 3s.). Standing amid extensive and finely planted grounds, Gosfordlifts its top into charming vista view, as seen from the North British railway; is approached on the W side of the grounds by a fino lodge, designed by Mr Billings; and contains a large collection of pictures, many of them by the old masters. A hospital in connection with Dunglass collegiate church anciently stood at Gosford Spital, but has entirely disappeared. See Wemyss, Amisfield, Neidpath, Elcho, and Barns.—Ord. Sur-, sh. 33, 1863.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer.