Dalkeith Palace
Image by Harry McGregor
Dalkeith Castle was located to the north east of Dalkeith, and was originally in the hands of the Clan Graham in the 12th century and given to the Douglas family in the early 14th century. James Douglas of Dalkeith became the Earl of Morton in the mid 15th century. The castle was strategically located in an easily defensible position above a bend in the River North Esk. Nearer the centre of Dalkeith, James Douglas, 1st Lord Dalkeith, endowed the collegiate church in 1406, where Douglas earls lords and knights were buried.
In 1642, Dalkeith Castle was sold by the Douglas family to Francis Scott, 2nd Earl of Buccleuch.
The 5th Duke of Buccleuch considered extensive rebuilding in 1831 and William Burn produced unexecuted designs in Jacobean style. More minor alterations were carried out, together with improvements to the surrounding estate including a new house and offices for the Duke’s Chamberlain, and the construction, for the 5th Duke, of St Mary’s Church as a private chapel by William Burn and David Bryce. The church contains one of only two water-powered organs in Scotland.
Several well-known figures from English and Scottish history have been guests at the Palace in the intervening centuries. Bonnie Prince Charlie stayed two nights at Dalkeith in 1745, King George IV slept here during his visit to Edinburgh in 1822, in preference to Holyroodhouse Palace which was in a poor state, as did Queen Victoria in 1842. During World War II, Polish troops of the 3rd Flanders Rifle Brigade, part of the 1st Polish Armoured Division, were quartered on the third floor of Dalkeith Palace from 1942 onwards. Graffiti drawn by these troops is still visible on the third floor wallpaper of the Palace as of 2008.
Dalkeith Palace has not been lived in by the Buccleuch family since 1914. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Dalkeith Palace was used as a research and development office by the computer firm International Computers Ltd. (ICL), who leased the Palace until 1983. Since 1985 it has been leased to the University of Wisconsin system for a study abroad programme. Approximately 60-80 students a semester live in the palace, where they also take classes from U.S. and UK faculty members.
