Dover House

DOVER HOUSE, the London Headquarters of The Scotland Office, (previously The Scottish Office) was originally a private residence and to this day retains many of the original features. It was built on Crown land between 1755 and 1758 for the then MP for Portsmouth, Sir Matthew Featherstonehaugh, Bart, by James Paine (1725-90), a leading architect of the time who designed Kew, Chertsey and Walton bridges and was appointed architect to the King. It remained a private house under successive owners until the Crown resumed possession in 1885 when it was allocated to the newly-formed Scottish Office.

The ornate frieze above the main entrance

Sir Matthew died on 25 March 1774 and the French Ambassador, the Marquis de Noailles, was the next tenant of the house. War in France broke out in 1778 and the Annual Register reports... "This morning (20 March 1778) at six o 'clock, His Excellency the French Ambassador set out from his house in Whitehall, with all his retinue, on his return home, pursuant to orders from his court".

From 1779 to 1787 the house was occupied by Lord Amherst who was then officiating Commander in Chief of the Army. He was born in 1717 and in 1758 was given command of the British Expedition which conquered Canada.

A Minister of State's office

In 1787 the house was sold to HRH Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany, second son of George III, who named the building York House and who is immortalised in the traditional song as the Grand Old Duke of York who marched his 10,000 men up to the top of the hill and marched them down again.

Sketch of Whitehall 1810, showing the pillared portico to Melbourne House - later Dove House (Courtesy of the Guildhall Library)

The next occupants of the building were Peniston Lamb, the first Viscount Melbourne - who acquired the house in 1792 from the Duke of York and Albany in exchange for the former Melbourne House in Piccadilly on the site of the present Albany - and his son, the Hon William Lamb, later to become the second Viscount Melbourne, Prime Minister in the early years of Queen Victoria's reign. Peniston's wife was one of the foremost hostesses of the day. William's wife, Lady Caroline Lamb, was a brilliant but eccentric woman, was well known as an authoress and for her romantic relationship with Lord Byron. She died in the house in 1828. During the Melbourne occupancy the building was known as Melbourne House, but in 1830 it was sold to a Mr Agar Ellis who became Baron Dover shortly afterwards. Since 1831, it has been called Dover House, and the arms of Lord Dover can be seen in two of the principal rooms on the first floor.

The main entrance hall to Dover House

As originally built, Dover House was E-shaped with the principal rooms facing the Horse Guards Parade, and the main entrance and the courtyard between the limbs of the 'E' facing Whitehall. In 1787, the Duke of York and Albany engaged another well-known architect, Henry Holland, to enlarge and alter the building. Holland added the portico, with the four Ionic columns which are now a Whitehall landmark, and erected in what was the courtyard the distinctive domed and pillared rotunda which now forms the main entrance hall. This is one of Holland's best known works. He also redecorated the three principal ground floor rooms facing the Horse Guards Parade, into a private suite for the Duke. The elaborate wall panels of the middle room, now occupied by the Advocate General for Scotland, were restored in 1955 and 1990.

Other items of particular interest include the frieze by Holland above the inside entrance doorway; a remarkable plaster ceiling in the Minister of State's office (on right at top of main stairs) and the ceiling in the Upper Waiting Hall.

Dover House was occupied by The Scottish Office from 1885 until early in the 1939-45 War, when minor bomb-damage necessitated staff being moved to Fielden House in Westminster. The Scotland Office, the successor to The Scottish Office came into existence in July 1999.

After the war, bomb-damage, structural weaknesses and the ravages of dry rot made a thorough overhaul of the whole building necessary, and heavy steel work had to be inserted to carry floors and roofs. Both outside and inside were completely renovated, and the opportunity was taken by the Ministry of Works to restore the original eighteenth century appearance as far as possible. The Scottish Office returned to Dover House in 1955 and continued to refurbish as necessary. In February 1991 Dover House again suffered minor damage during the course of a mortar attack on Downing Street.

Dover House is the headquarters of the Secretary of State for Scotland, his Minister of State and the Advocate General for Scotland, along with their respective Private Secretaries and support staff. Dover House also accommodates staff of the Parliamentary and Constitutional Division as well as providing a London base for staff of the Scottish Government. There are usually about forty permanent civil servants in the building.

Dover House
Whitehall
London SW1A 2AU
Tel: 020 7270 6754

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