Kilgraston School closes and has been marketed for sale

Mary Grant's plaster copies of the pulpit panels at St John's Episcopal Church in Perth

Following the closure of the school for the last time in August I visited Kilgraston a few weeks ago to uplift one sculpture which has been on loan for many years. Other paintings and sculptures had been previously returned.

On a previous visit to meet the headmistress a number of years ago there had been a happy and vibrant energy to the house and grounds as the staff and the students went about their school day. The lawns were manicured, there were ponies in the fields and the classrooms were full.  This time, however, it was very different. On a fine, bright, late autumn day I had to navigate a locked barrier at the main gate, pass concrete blocks and close circuit TV cameras, all of which had been put in place to secure the 55 acre property. The grass on the lawns in front of the pink house had not been cut and, instead of a squad of groundsmen keeping the beautiful policies and functional buildings looking their best, there were security officers and one part time employee on duty.

The front door was locked and was opened for me. Inside the hall two marble busts looked forlornly towards the elegant staircase: Mary Grant, who was born and learned to model clay at Kilgraston and  Robert Dundas Chriostopher Nisbet Hamilton, the husband of Mary’s aunt, Lady Mary. These were all that remained from the school’s lovely sculpture corridor which at one time displayed other busts, including of the Countess of Elgin and Lady Augusta Stanley, both by Mary Grant.

The house was eerily silent with all the paraphernalia that surrounds a successful school still in place as if waiting for the school day to commence: classrooms with desks; bank of computers; a library of books; and art work on the walls. Of course, the Grant coat of arms is still there above the marble fireplace in the upper hall but, walking up to the first and second floors by way of the main staircase, I remembered the time when paintings by Sir Peter Lely and Lemuel Abbott hung high on the walls.

In the 19th century, before the auction of the Kilgraston Collection in Edinburgh which included works by Breughel, Velasquez, Gainsborough, Da Vinci, Guercino and, of course, Sir Francis Grant, the walls of the public rooms, hallways and stairs would have been full of paintings gathered from the United Kingdom and abroad. Indeed, Sir Francis, the only Scottish president of the Royal Academy of Arts, and his talented brother, John, would have spent many hours in the Art Room which was situated on the north side of the house.

I was on the upper floors to see the plaster copies of Mary Grant’s lovely panels for the pulpit of St John’s Episcopal Church in Perth. Fixed to the wall of a corridor since the 1870s, they are still in reasonable condition but would benefit, perhaps, from a protective cover. No doubt, over the last nearly 100 years countless girls at the school have walked past this wonderful work of art without realising that Mary was one of the first female professional sculptors.

Kilgraston has had a history of financial difficulties. In 1785, John Grant, Chief Justice of Jamaica, purchased the estate without having sight of it following the bankruptcy of the previous owner, a member of the well-known Craigie family. By the time of the devastating fire in 1872 the Grants’ finances were in a perilous state and both Charles and then Patrick Grant elected to let out the house while Drummonie became the family home until the decision was taken to gift Kilgraston House to the nation for use as a military hospital in World War 1. A few years later the rest of the estate was broken up and sold.

What will happen next to Kilgraston? Time will tell. It is very much an institution, developed over the years as a thriving, modern school but at its heart remains the old, pink house, a happy home to the Grants during the 19th century and a happy school to thousands of children since the 1930s. For those who are interested, the property is being marketed by Savills, Edinburgh and their brochure includes some interesting photographs (although I do hope that the east facing lion, one of a pair, is safe and sound, as only the west facing lion is visible on the roof!).