Architecture

In the Isle of Man as elsewhere in the nineteenth century the decorative aspects of the dwellings of the affluent were cultural expressions of the way in which their occupants saw themselves in the social order. In the same manner, civic, ecclesiastical and institutional buildings conveyed their position. The senatorial concept of the Georgian upper classes was symbolised by the Greco-Roman style, to which came to be added a Gothic element which evoked English ancestry and authority. By 1830 there were two stately homes in the Isle of Man with such architectural elements: Castle Mona and the Nunnery.

As the Duke of Atholl's official residence from 1804, Castle Mona demonstrated both his power over the Manx people and his aristocratic superiority in British society. It was the work of George Steuart, who was the first architect of distinction known to practise in the Island, and who also built two courthouses and the Tuscan Tower, beloved of generations of Manx artists, on Douglas pier. In 1823 the Nunnery mansion was built to the designs of John Pinch of Bath for the Taubmans, a family of great social and political influence and whose estates were exceeded only by the Duke's. Their family portraits by Romney are one indication that they displayed the same appurtenances of their position as similar families elsewhere.

Throughout the first half of the nineteenth century an influx of newcomers was added to that stratum of Manx society which had long adopted the culture of the British gentry, and numerous substantial dwellings in fashionable styles were built for both newcomers and natives. Contemporary newspaper advertisements give ample evidence that cosmopolitan goods and services were imported for their interiors, while the assimilation of building craft skills as practised elsewhere is illustrated in a number of cases. Menzie McKenzie was brought in to face Castle Mona with Arran stone. He married a Manx woman and founded a family building business, which also operated extensively in Liverpool. Charles Swinnerton came from Staffordshire to work as a mason on King William's College, married a Manx woman, set up in business as a stone carver and subsequently built to his own designs. John Robinson was the son of an in-coming craftsman who had married a Manx woman and set up as a builder.