Tuesday February 3rd 2026
Mavisbank House, Loanhead
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Marie Sharp
Campaigners who have battled for decades to save a Scottish mansion which fell into ruins have been given the go ahead to start work despite currently having no way to access it.
Midlothian Council has granted planning permission for work to begin at Mavisbank House, Loanhead, however a separate application to create a driveway to allow it to be carried out has been delayed.
Councillors last month raised concerns about the route of the new drive, which would involve the removal of 86 trees from what was described as the community’s ‘only conservation area’.
They deferred a decision on approving the route to allow for more information about alternative options to be brought to them.
However the Landmark Trust, which has received a £5.3million grant to help begin the work, says it has spent years looking into the best access route for the house whose original driveways have been sold off to private landowners.
And it said pushing forward with its two phase project to rescue and restore the house relied on the drive getting approval.
A trust spokesperson said: “Both phases are dependent on the separate planning application for the drive being approved as soon as possible, to create a new access route to the house; the historic drives were sold off or abandoned in the mid-20th century, leaving the house without legal right of vehicular access and making any restoration impossible.
“The new drive follows as much as possible the historic east drive which hugs the side of the Esk Valley and allows glimpses of Mavisbank on the
approach to the house.
“The route of the proposed access drive, which was put forward by the local community as their preferred option during a public consultation event in 2024, is the only viable option and has been an issue that has been considered in great depth many times over several decades.
“Currently there is no established legal right of vehicular access to the house and this is one of the main reasons why its restoration has never previously been achieved.”
Category A listed Mavisbank House was built in the early 18th century by celebrated Scottish architect William Adam as a summer residence for John Clerk of Penicuik, a leading figure of the Scottish Enlightenment, and signatory of the Act of Union (1707).
It is described as the first Palladian house in Scotland and pioneered a design which would be used by others to develop Edinburgh’s New Town a generation later.
In the 19th century Mavisbank became a ground-breaking mental hospital where reforming Doctor John Batty Tuke developed compassionate approaches to mental illness, including through exercise and gardening.
After the closure of the asylum, Mavisbank was sold and, following a major fire, demolition on safety grounds was ordered by the local authority in the mid-1980s. An emergency round-the-clock vigil was maintained by local volunteers until the decision could be halted.
Attempts to raise funds to repair the house were unsuccessful until the National heritage Memorial Find agreed the £5.3million grant.
Dr Anna Keay OBE, Director of the Landmark Trust, welcomed the council’s decision to approve the planning application for the work at the house and Listed Building Consent.
She said: “We are absolutely thrilled to have secured planning permission for the works essential to the rescue of Mavisbank, but this is only possible with a driveway.
“For half a century the lack of access to the site and the perilous condition in which it stands have been two of the great obstacles to its salvation. These two consents represent a real leap forward in the journey to save this jewel of a building.”
The driveway application is due to be brought back to the council’s planning committee at its next meeting on March 9.
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