Spynie

Category

Library Item

Item no

24842

Title

Spynie

Description

This image shows Spynie Palace in Moray.

Artist / maker

De Cardonnel, Adam

Date

1788

Size

7.0 x 9.0 cm

Type

Etching

Location

Edinburgh and Scottish Collection

The British 19th century engraver and archaeologist Adam de Cardonnel was an educated man who practiced for a short while as a surgeon however his family's wealth gave him the leisure to indulge his interest in antiquities and numismatics. At the end of 1780 he was elected a fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland where he also served as curator from 1782 to 1784. Cardonnel later went on to produce work titled as 'Numismata Scotiae' which was published in Edinburgh in 1786 and 'Picturesque Antiquities of Scotland' which was published in London in 1788. Soon after this Adam De Cardonnel took over his cousin - Hilton Lawson's - estates in Chirton and Cramlington in Northumberland where he then served as sheriff for the county in 1796 and became knows as 'Adam De Cardonnel-Lawson'. Cardonnel spent his last days in Bath and after dying at age 73 he was buried at Cramlington in June 1820.

For five centuries, Spynie Palace was the fortified residence of the Bishops of Moray, standing two miles north of Elgin on the edge of Spynie Loch, a sea loch providing direct access and a safe anchorage. It was also the centre of a thriving settlement. Today the ruins of the Palace remain, but the loch is only a shadow of its former self and the medieval town has disappeared.

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Related subjects

Architecture > Architectural features > Walls

Architecture > Architectural features > Windows

Homes > Derelict buildings and excavation sites > Ruins

Homes > Residential buildings > Castles and palaces

Places > Scotland > Moray

Places > United Kingdom > Scotland

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