mound (wound?) inbetween. 17 September 1992.

this notice should be complied with as a

matter of urgency”. Demolition resumes.

Two-thirds of courtyard wall to east wing

demolished and digger attacked the core,

shunting rubble against the south elevation

and south-west corner.

2 September 1992: Lord Minto’s surveyor

quoted in The Herald: “It is difficult to say

at this stage where the demolition will stop.

If you knock down one unsafe wall an

adjoining wall may well then become

unsafe”. Remainder of core demolished, also

south elevation and south west corner.

Second Dangerous Building Notice served

on site at 12 noon. The first breach of the

courtyard wall had destabilised other parts

of the east wing. Works progress. Third

Notice served on site at 5pm. The whole of

the east wing must be demolished.

3 September 1992: The Building Control

Officer, quoted in The Herald: “As you can

see, we have taken down a fair bit. The

thing is, where do we stop?”. Demolition of

east wing completed. Just the west wing

(one-third of the main house) and the

Lorimer service wing remain, together with

the garden terraces, and a large mound of

category A listed stonework. Listed building

consent application advertised.

7 September 1992: The Building Control

Officer, in discussion, advised the following

additional matters: first, that a crane was

introduced, standing in the courtyard, to

finish off the east wing (if used earlier,

instead of the digger, a crane could have

reached over the courtyard wall); secondly,

“no one is seeking to deny” what happened

in relation to the initial breach, namely

progressive destabilisation and rapid

destruction of the east wing (lack of

understanding of the pack of cards effect?);

thirdly, the works still to be completed

comprised the bricking up of the openings

to the west and the Lorimer wings, the

erection of a fence across the diagonal of the

courtyard, and of fences to the garden side

to prevent access through the now-

demolished south elevation and corner.

Around 24 September 1992: Forceful

representations lodged by SAVE and

numerous other corporate and individual

conservation interests against the new

application to demolish. These included

objections to its retrospective element, and

strong concern that it will be put before the

self-same planning authority that has been

so instrumental in the post-listing

demolition and whose political leader is the

house’s owner. Application due to be tabled

at the November Planning Committee

meeting. Outcome awaited.

9th October 1992: Colin Bell, a Radio

Scotland reporter, described Lord Minto’s

actions as a “textbook example” of what an

owner should do when he objects to his

building being listed.

SOME COMMENTS

Minto House stands on a secluded estate in

one of the most sparsely populated areas of

the United Kingdom. The interests of

public safety, without which there is no

context to issue a Dangerous Building

Notice, may be served by:

•

excluding the public,

•

making the building safe;

•

demolition.

Only after two-thirds of the main house was

demolished were the first two options

pursued. A variant of the manner proposed

for these options, of bricking up openings

and erecting fences, could have been

adopted without the need for any

demolition works, to serve as a containment

of the house whilst a new use (and

presumably owner) were found. The recent

precedent of Mavisbank, Midlothian, is

most helpful here: the terms of a Notice to

demolish (totally) were overturned by

interdict (injunction) in the Scottish courts

and satisfied by the alternative of

constructing a secure enclosure.

The Dangerous Building Notice

procedures are problem enough to

conservationists without such a case as this

to encourage their use where the collective

will to demolish exceeds the will to conserve.

Dennis Rodwell acquired and restored the derelict category A

listed Me/rose Station, Roxburghshire, in 1985-86. from where

he now conducts his architectural practice.

Minto House from the north, showing the west wing (right), the Lorimer wing (left) and the category A listed