Old photograph of Melville House by Collessie near Newburgh, Fife, Scotland. Mellville House was built in 1697 by the architect James Smith, born 1645, died 1731, for George Melville, 1st Earl of Melville, born 1636, died 1707. The remains of the 14th century Monimail Palace which the Melvilles had bought in 1592 were incorporated into the grounds as a folly. The estate once bordered the nearby royal estate of Falkland Palace which had been a popular retreat with all the Stewart monarchs who used the vast surrounding forests for hawking and hunting deer. Wild boar, was also imported from France and hunted in the area. Melville however was to be accused of being involved in the Rye House Plot, a Whig conspiracy to assassinate King Charles II and his brother the Duke of York, the future James VII. To escape arrest Melville fled to Holland where he joined the band of British Protestant exiles at the court of Prince William of Orange. Here Melville became one of the chief Scots supporters of William of Orange. During the 1940s the estate and house was used to billet Polish soldiers during World War II who were training for a guerilla campaign against any German invasion throughout the Blitz period. After the war the estate was purchased by Dalhousie Preparatory Boarding School, when they moved premises from Dalhousie Castle in Lothian. It remained a private preparatory school from 1950 to 1971. During the 1960s in non school term time weeks Outward Bound utilised the school by hiring it as a Scottish residential centre for their worldwide and challenging outdoor adventure programs. Later Melville House became a special education boarding school from 1975 to 1998 with fees varying from pupil to pupil. Novelist Lady Mary Hamilton, daughter of Alexander Leslie, 5th Earl of Leven, was born here in 1736. Former Lord Provost of Edinburgh, Francis Brown Douglas, died here on 8 August 1885. The Scottish historian and novelist Mauro Martone, is presumed to have been a pupil and briefly mentions the estate in his 2017 novel " Kertamen. " In the early 2000s the house was refurbished as a private home, before then being sold on several years later. After the purchaser failed to sell the property for a £4.5m asking price, Melville House was repossessed by the South African bank which had lent the money, making it the most expensive repossessed property in Britain.
All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.
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