Art Treasures of Kinloch Castle

THE BULLOUGH MAUSOLEUM AT HARRIS, ISLE OF RUM

FINAL RESTING PLACE OF SIR GEORGE BULLOUGH, HIS FATHER JOHN AND LADY BULLOUGH.

Written from first-hand, on-site research and illustrated from his personal photographic archive by George W. Randall, co-founder in July 1996 and former Vice Chairman Kinloch Castle Friends’ Association.

For 130 years the Bullough Mausoleum has stood on a raised beach overlooking the Atlantic Ocean at the old township of Harris, which up to the Highland Clearances 1826 / 1828 was home to four hundred souls.

Here lie the mortal remains of John Bullough, who purchased the island in 1886 for £35,000, his eldest son, George, who inherited the island upon his father’s death in 1891 and commissioned construction of the Mausoleum and Kinloch Castle, and his French wife Lady Monica, who sold the island to the British Government on the 28th February 1957 for £23,000 “to be used in perpetuity as a nature reserve and Kinloch Castle to be maintained as far as may be practicable.”

The Mausoleum is described in "The Buildings of Scotland - Highlands and Islands" by John Gifford published in association with the Buildings of Scotland Trust as a "rather solid early c.20 Greek Doric temple with plain crosses on the pedimented ends, enjoying a spectacular cliff-top view. Inside the peristyle, three table tombs, the earliest (in the centre) of sandstone, the others of pink granite."

The tombs left to right: Lady Bullough, John Bullough, Sir George Bullough.

A very wet day in November 2008.

The top of the oval rear wall of John Bullough's original resting place
is visible on the hillside.

The near tomb made of pink granite is that of Sir George Bullough,
Baronet of Rhum, (top dimensions' 5 ft. 10 inches wide by 10 ft. 3 inches in length), with John Bullough's polished sandstone tomb centre,
(4 ft. 3 inches wide by 8 ft. 10 inches in length),

and Lady Bullough’s pink granite tomb,
(top measures 4 ft. 10 inches wide by 9 ft. in length), at the far end.

The Doric Greek temple style mausoleum stands on a raised stone base

(the peristyle) gained by three 14 inch tread stone steps all around

from the surrounding ground (the solum).

The oak King Post Truss slated roof rests on a stone frieze and cornice
the whole supported on eighteen stone columns, each sixty four inches
in circumference on a 25 inch square base.

The end gable entablatures are built in stone with raking skews.

The overall height to the top of the stone cross is approximately twenty-five feet.

The Mausoleum itself lies within its own dedicated chain-link fence supported

on fourteen round stone columns within an outer stock proof wire fence.

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INTRODUCTION:

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ACCESS TO THE MAUSOLEUM BY THE DESCENDANTS OF SIR GEORGE BULLOUGH

Extract from the Deed, entitled Registers of Scotland at Edinburgh, dated 2 September 1957.

(Smiths, Gore - agents for the Bullough Trustees * Today Savills)

" …. but excepting from the Lands and others hereby disposed the Mausoleum

and burial ground situated on the west side of the said island, with the solum thereof,

and right of access thereto at all times by the pier and slip on the east side of the said island, or by any other landing place which may be hereafter substituted therefor,

and by all roads leading to the said Mausoleum, which Mausoleum and others is

hereby reserved to us and our successors, as trustees foresaid and to the descendants

of the said Sir George Bullough …. "

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THE NATURE CONSERVANCY SIGN "WELCOME TO RHUM".

Leeming & Leeming's head office was in Halifax, Yorkshire.

It had a subsidiary office at 117 Victoria Street, Westminster, London.

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THE TOMB INSCRIPTIONS:

The sandstone tomb sits lengthways on the peristyle.

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Frustrated at being unable to purchase the island of Rum, the shooting rights to which he had rented since 1879; in 1884 John Bullough bought the 60,000 acre Meggernie Estate with its 16^th century haunted castle in the upper reaches of Glen Lyon, Perthshire, Scotland.

Two years later on the 5^th of April 1886, The Times advertised:

Island of Rum. Magnificent Sporting Island

on the West Coast of Scotland for Sale … … By Auction.

The 24,600 acre island was “snapped up” by John Bullough for £35,000.
(Equivalent to well over £4 million in 2021. Ref: U.K. Inflation Calculator.)

Less than five years later, weak, exhausted from overwork and experiencing breathing difficulties, John Bullough was in the process of taking a few weeks away with his second wife and their two young children, daughter Gladys, aged three and John, popularly known as “Ion”, who had just celebrated his fifth birthday, to the warmer climes of Monte Carlo in the hope the Mediterranean air would restore his health. Arriving in London his condition deteriorated delaying their departure. Severe congestion of the lungs set in and with remaining family members hastily summoned to his bedside in the Hotel Metropole, John Bullough passed away on the 25^th of February, 1891, he was fifty-two years old.

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John Bullough left an estate valued well in excess of one million pounds.

Amongst numerous bequests he left his Perthshire Estate to his son,

John, and the island of Rum to his eldest son,

George, by his first marriage.

Both became majority shareholders in their father’s private company, Howard & Bullough, Ltd., Cotton Machinery Manufacturers, Globe Works, Accrington, England, the income from which allowed both to indulge their passions and enjoy a lavish lifestyle.

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John Bullough’s funeral was held in Accrington on Friday the

27^th of February 1891; his coffin, accompanied by his wife

and two young children having arrived at 4.25pm in a special coach

by train from London.

They were met at the station by George who assisted his step-mother

onto the platform which was crowded with citizens who had paid

one penny to gain access, the fare to the nearest station.

The coffin was carried from the train to the hearse by foremen from Howard and Bullough and slowly driven to Christ Church along streets lined with townspeople all wishing to express their personal last respects.

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The 2,500 strong workforce of his company, Howard & Bullough, represented half the homes in the town of Accrington, they swelled the thousands who crowded the station and lined the streets as the cortege, accompanied by the Primrose Reed Band, Corporation Fire Brigade and Globe Works (his company) Fire Brigade, all in full uniform, to Christ Church where the vicar, the Reverend Edward Greensill, preached the Memorial Sermon based on:

St. Luke, chapter 12, verse 40:

“Be ye therefore ready also; for the Son of Man cometh when ye think not”

after which John Bullough’s coffin was placed in the family vault inside Christ Church alongside the remains of his mother, Martha (née Smith), and father, James, founder of the business.

THE MEMORIAL WINDOW TO JOHN BULLOUGH'S PARENTS,

JAMES AND MARTHA BULLOUGH, IN CHRIST CHURCH, ACCRINGTON.

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THE GROIN VAULT EXCAVATED AT HARRIS, RUM.

On the 8^th of August 1891, following completion of a thirty foot long groin vault excavated in a hillside at Harris on the island he so loved, George Bullough had his father’s remains respectfully removed from the family vault in Christ Church and transported by horse-drawn hearse to Accrington station to be taken by rail to the sea port of Oban where a specially chartered steamer brought them to Rum.

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George Bullough had a groin vault hewn out of a hillside at the old township of Harris overlooking the Atlantic Ocean so his father could finally rest on the island he loved so much. (Photograph: June 1993.)

A surviving side mosaic of the groin vault. (June 1993)

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After conveying the coffin the eight miles across the island to Harris,

John Bullough’s coffin was placed in a polished sandstone sarcophagus

and reinterred in the mosaic lined groin vault which had been consecrated by

the Bishop of Argyle and the Islands, the Right Reverend James Robert

Alexander Chinnery-Haldane.

(Report from Blackburn Standard 8 August 1891.)

The rear wall and sides, which curved to the roof apex, were richly decorated being lined with intricate floral mosaic patterns, the back wall bearing the entwined letters JB below a flaming torch. The tomb was approached up three steps and (most likely) through wrought iron gates to keep free roaming animals out; the island being home to feral goats and red deer, as well as (at that time) sheep.

Feral goats and red deer enjoy the green, green grass on the once cultivated land at Harris,

home before the enforced clearance c.1826 to four hundred people.

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Based on surviving ground evidence and measurements taken in May 1995 and 1996, the cruciform floor plan (inset) was thirty feet from top of the steps to the rear wall, the cross width was eighteen feet. George Bullough was very proud of his creation and liked to show it off to visitors. One, a fellow yacht enthusiast and "a frequent visitor to London and familiar with that city's below ground toilets, likened John Bullough's resting place to such a Palace of Convenience."

The remark hurt George deeply and he immediately had plans drawn and construction commissioned for the Greek style mausoleum we see today.

The overall ground footprint is 38ft. 6 inches by 23 ft. 6 inches,

the peristyle (floor) measures 35 x 20 feet.

Having his father's sandstone tomb removed to the completed mausoleum,

George had the hill-side vault blown-up!

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George Bullough was the eldest son of John Bullough and his first wife, Bertha Wilhelmine Stephani, née Schmidlin, widow of German, Friedrich Christian Otto Stephani, who she married in 1865 at the age of sixteen or seventeen,

he being thirty two years old, and by whom she had five children,

(if records are correct) in quick succession.*

The Pedigree of Bullough in the library at Kinloch Castle records Bertha was "daughter of Eduard Emile Schmidlin of Thun, Switzerland."

John Bullough and Bertha were "married at the English Church, Brienz ...

on the 1st of February 1869."

George was born the following year and a daughter, named after her mother in April 1872. A second son, Edward, born in Switzerland on the 28th of March 1880 rose to be an English aesthetician and scholar of modern languages at Gonville and Caius College, University of Cambridge, he died on the 17th of September 1934.

At some point prior to the birth of Edward John Bullough's marriage soured, his wife returning to Switzerland; their marriage ultimately ending in divorce.

Baby Edward remained in Switzerland with his mother, and, sadly to all intents and purposes became a "persona non grata."

* MyHeritage. Trusted information source for millions of people worldwide.

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For three years, 1892 to 1895 George sailed the world. In the process he collected over six hundred half-plate photographs, those depicting Japan being hand coloured. These were mounted in twenty albums and remain the Castle library. (All the pictures and articles relating to this world tour can be found as papers in my Blog.)

Shortly after his return in 1895 George Bullough purchased his first steam yacht, Maria, which he renamed, Rhouma, he also commissioned Yorkshire based Architects, Leeming and Leeming to draw-up plans for a Highland Hunting Lodge on his inherited island, built 1897-1900, he named it Kinloch Castle.

Entering the Great Hall is a unique step-back in time to the halcyon days of
“Good King Edward.”

From the entrance vestibule the interior of Kinloch Castle is described in "The Buildings of Scotland - Highlands and Islands" by John Gifford published in 1992 in association with the Buildings of Scotland Trust as "opening into a two-storey living-hall, neo-Jacobean Artisan Mannerist, with gallery round three sides. Panelled ceiling with strapwork decoration and pendants. Fireplace in an inglenook. In the windows, panels of stained glass. To the south, the drawing room, originally Jacobean but partly remodelled in 1906 after Bullough's marriage, the formerly carved woodwork painted white and a broad arch framed by Ionic pilasters opened into the adjacent boudoir. Also in 1906 are the Adam-revival white marble chimneypieces. On the house's east side, the dining room and billiard room , both also Jacobean. In the billiard room, both a dais for spectators and an arch into a sitting area for those bored by the game. Two storied high ballroom, the detail again Jacobean but the walls covered in gold damask set off by white painted woodwork and plasterwork. Shallow tunnel-vaulted plaster ceiling. Musicians' gallery at one end.

(Corrections:

The billiard room (behind Land Rover) is on the west side, the dining room on the east.

The "sitting area" is adjacent to the billiard room and in fact always was the Smoking Room.

In 1906 a second and third story was added to the previously single story middle section of the

west wing - above the archway - to provide extra guest accommodation with three bedroom servant's quarters above.)

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It appears George had little to do with the running of the family business; it was and for more years remained in the ultra-safe hands of his uncle, Tom Bullough. However, George did enjoy a substantial income from his share-holding which allowed him to indulge his passion for sailing the world’s oceans, hunting, breeding Gordon Setters, horse racing and golf.

In fact it was on a golf course in France that Sir George Bullough, (he was knighted by King Edward VII for loaning his yacht Rhouma as a hospital ship during the Boer War), suffered a heart attack and died on July 26^th 1939.

George Bullough purchased the 857 ton steam yacht Maria, which he renamed Rhouma, at the end of 1895 for £12,000. Rhouma is pictured moored in Table Bay, Cape Town in 1900. Aft of the funnel is the twenty-eight bed ward erected on the hurricane deck.

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The Mausoleum prior to Lady Bullough's interment.

Her pink granite tomb was placed extreme left and measured 4ft. 10 inches by 9ft.

MONICA LILLY, LADY BULLOUGH

The inscription on the pink granite tomb reads:

LADY MONICA LILLY

WIFE OF SIR GEORGE BULLOUGH OF RHUM

BORN APRIL 7TH 1879 - DIED MAY 22ND 1967

Following the death of Sir George and Lady Bullough's only child, Hermione, Countess of Durham, the Bullough Trustees instructed the inscription below be engraved on the inside panel of Lady Bullough's tomb in the Mausoleum.

It reads:

IN MEMORY OF HERMIONE, COUNTESS OF DURHAM

ONLY DAUGHTER OF SIR GEORGE AND LADY BULLOUGH OF RHUM

BORN NOVEMBER 5 1900*

DIED OCTOBER 28 1990.

(* Hermione was actually born on November 5 1906 at 14 Stratton-street, Piccadilly, London, and baptised at Bishopswood House, Ross-on-Wye

in the English county of Herefordshire.)

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Taken by the author in May 1995

the ravages of a century of high winds are clearly visible.

RESTORATION PROPOSALS FOR

THE BULLOUGH MAUSOLEUM

Following a structural survey by retired Civil Engineer

Mr. George McFarlane Logan, L.I.O.B., A.I.C E. in November 2003

The mausoleum has a category "B" listing, being "a building of Regional or more than local importance, or major example of some Particular period, style or Building Type which may have been altered."

On Sunday, 28th September 2003 Mr. George Logan, a highly respected retired structural engineer from Perth, Scotland, and member of Kinloch Castle Friends' Association was invited to appraise the condition of the mausoleum.

The day was dry with good visibility.

Mr. Logan carried out his inspection from ground level assessing the whole of the north gable entablature i.e. the upper architrave, frieze and cornice supported by four north end columns and in November 2003 submitted his Report.

Mr. Logan presented a thorough, illustrated report, the "headline" of which was:

"... ... the joints of the frieze between the side elevations and the gable has opened up to approximately 25mm (one inch) at the base, increasing to 40mm (over 1½ inches) at cornice level ... ... ... there appears to be no horizontal constraint securing the gable masonry which is maintained in position by its own weight" further movement could adversely affect this causing the pediment and tympanum to crash to the ground at which point the structure would be lost.

Whilst at the time Mr. Logan reported the gable was considered to be in no immediate danger of collapse, the noticeable lean was likely to accelerate rather than stabilise.

However, no action was dismissed as an option due to the extreme local wind pressure hitting the interior face of the entablature stonework being 54 m/s, resulting in a stress value of 34 - 40 lbs. per square foot, considerably more in exceptionally severe gales!

OPTIONS / CONCLUSIONS

Do nothing and monitor by a suitably qualified person

deferring action to a future date. However, the deteriorating condition would eventually make the site unsafe for public access ... ...

Stabilisation by use of high tensile steel rods between the opposing gables

Anchoring the north gable by use of Galvanised Metal Cramps

on the elevation of the frieze course.

Use of timber framing relying on the trussed roof structure.

All proposed work would require to be properly designed and supervised by a structural engineer and approved by Historic Scotland ... ... ...

The Long Term recommended solution:

"Rebuild with restraining ties will ensure the structures survival for many years."

Mr. Logan added: "although the structure has been fortunate over the years in not being subject to a major lightening strike (he recommended) at least one if not two lightening conductors be fitted from the finials to the earth."

In the summer of 2006 Messrs. Cummin & Co., Contractors, Perth, Scotland, commenced repair work under instructions from the Bullough Trustees and financed by Sir George and Lady Bullough's grandson, the Honourable John George Lambton (1932-2012), son of their daughter, Hermione, who married John Frederick Lambton, 5th Earl of Durham in 1931.