The History of Woodhall House
It was encouraging to see that throughout the JG300 history talks' series there were good numbers of people attending to hear the story of our past. Thursday 26th April was no exception when the audience arrived to hear the story of Woodhall House.
The speaker was Fay Cumming who had been commissioned some years ago by the present owners of the house to write the history of Woodhall.
The estate was first mentioned in a list of Charters of David II in 1329 when it was leased to Alexander Menzies. In 1374 Woodhall was settled on Sir William Cunningham of Kilmaurs and the house and lands stayed in the Cunningham family until near the end of the seventeenth century.
Sir John Foulis of Ravelston acquired Woodhall in 1700. Sir John comes down through history thanks to his account books in which he kept careful records of his income and expenditure. His story can be found elsewhere on this website. Woodhall House stayed in the Foulis family until 1931 though the family did not live there from the middle of the nineteenth century choosing to let out the property to a series of tenants.
In 1931 George Glendining, a farmer, bought the house but sold it on in 1938 to Sir Stanley Davidson. Stannley Davidson was a very distinguished doctor and In 1921 he became a member of the royal College of Surgeons and gained a Gold Medal for his work in 1926. He retired in 1957 and Woodhall House was sold again in 1959.
Sir Stanley Davidson, President of the Royal College of Physicians in Edinburgh from 1953 to 1957, sold Woodhall House in 1959
The Society of Jesus bought Woodhall House in 1959. It was intended to establish a Scottish vice province to extend works in Scotland and to entrust a specific foreign missionary enterprise to Scottish Jesuits particularly in British Guiana.
Ann & William Forsyth are the current owners of Woodhall House. William Forsyth, an Edinburgh businessman, moved in with his wife and five children in 1976.
The college in the grounds was converted into 17 flats in 1982.
Woodhall is a fine blend of the past and the present possessing some of the features of the old house but all the luxury of modern living.
A famous yew tree and the arched window of the old chapel/potting shed remain features of the conversion. The gardens retain a rural atmosphere lost to other parts of Juniper Green in these modern times.
The story of Woodhall House is, in part, the story of Juniper Green even though the former existed for four centuries before the latter grew up. Woodhall House was the big house to the village and its owners down the years have played a significant role in the development of the village.
The audience in rapt attention listening to the story of the owners of Woodhall House over almost seven centuries of history
The large audience retained their interest to the end of this fascinating talk.