The house at Lund, Unst, Shetland, 2006
Lund: the name
has a rich, haunting depth, resonating with a lingering mystery that is only
enriched by references and recollections. I once worked with an architect with
the surname ‘Lund’. He was a skilled, caring, enthusiastic and gentle man with
a dedication and love for people and things Australian and Japanese. Memories
of this time are all positive. This man was kind even to arrogant and critical
students. He was forgiving. His love was for people and architecture, an excellent
but very rare mix. Today both of these interests suffer from neglect as
self-interest in self-expression takes over. Architectural ‘selfies’ might be
the best way to describe some design outcomes today when everyone is seeking to
take the centre stage in social media to declare ‘my opinion’ and ‘my
thoughts,’ no matter how irrelevant or inconsequential these might be. Consider
one Prime Minister of Australia placing an image of himself on-line with an
accidental razor cut covered with a small tissue (Rudd); and another, (Abbott),
who put an image of himself on-line obviously posing while apparently talking
to another ‘important, international’ Prime Minister on some very 'serious' matter that might be seen to enhance his self-importance. One hopes that neither man will ever suffer from piles.
'Mr. Lund' as we
called him, (one thinks of how Frank Lloyd Wright was always addressed as ‘Mr.
Wright’), once sent a gift with a note of thanks to his Japanese ‘family’ as he
described them. It read:
Here’s to
thee and thy folk,
From me and
my folk.
Never have
folk loved folk,
More than me
and my folk,
Love thee and
thy folk.
It is a
beautiful old Welsh blessing that Neville Lund, (we called him ‘Nev’ behind his
back), wrote for his Japanese family friends. It says more about him and his
sensitivity than anything else. His enthusiasm for life and ideas spilled out
into others, and was as infectious as his broad smile and bright eyes. How many
architects might write such a note of thanks today and mean it, let alone
understand such a sentiment and live its feelings? Neville Lund brought all of
his love, care and enthusiasm to his skills as an educator too. The one sad
story that remains unforgettable is that the first Gothic cathedral Neville
Lund ever saw was when he, as a young man, was the navigator in one of the WW2
bombers that flattened Nuremberg. It was after the war that he, like others,
returned to Queensland, Australia to study architecture.
Neville Lund house at Mt. Nebo, Queensland, Australia
One has to
mention Neville Lund’s important thesis on the work of Queensland architect,
Robin Dods who built some of the most intelligently beautiful buildings in Brisbane and its
regions. This study still remains a primary reference for Dod’s life and work.
Neville Lund was also part of the team that published one of the first
comprehensive studies on Queensland Architecture. He played an important role
in Queensland, but his modesty has reverberated through time to minimize the
historical record. Those that scream make the history. Sadly, the first item
that comes up under his name in a Google search is some real estate blurb that
is trying to sell one of his homes. Architects need to do much better with
their past than this. It will mean that they will have to think of
someone other than himself or herself.
There is a
‘Lund’ in Sweden, a city located at the southern tip of the country close to
Denmark. The town has over 80,000 inhabitants and was founded around 990 when
the region belonged to Denmark. At the centre of town stands the towering Lund
Cathedral built ca 1090 – 1145: see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ It is not known if Neville Lund ever visited
Sweden or saw Lund. He never visited the Shetland Islands that were, like this portion of Sweden, also once a part of Denmark.
Lund Cathedral
Lund University
Ancestry.com
tells about the Nordic roots of this place name used as a surname and gives
‘Lund’ a broader reference and context:
Lund Name Meaning
Scandinavian,
German, and English: topographic name for someone who lived by a grove, Old
Norse lundr; the word was adopted into northern dialects of Middle English and
also into Anglo-Norman French. There are a number of places in England named
with this word, as for example Lund in Lancashire, East Yorkshire, and North
Yorkshire, Lunt in Merseyside, and Lound in Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, and
Suffolk, and the surname may derive from any of these. The Swedish surname is
probably more usually ornamental. When surnames became obligatory in Sweden in
the 19th century, this was one of the most popular among the many terms
denoting features of the natural landscape which were adopted as surnames,
usually compounded with some other such term.
As it is with
most names, ‘Lund’ has a history that is rooted in a simple idea or description
- ‘lundr’ identifies one ‘who lived by a grove.’ It comes from a time when
geography and location were used to identify individuals. This reference is
still used in the Shetland Islands where individuals are referred to by their Christian name and their location. My father was known as ‘Willie o’ Gue.’ ‘Gue’ is a
location in Baliasta on the slopes of Crussafield, north of the old kirk.
Surprisingly, the site http://www.internetslang.com/LUND-meaning-definition.asp
notes that ‘lund’ means ‘penis’ in Hindi. Such are the enigmatic joys of
language that so easily encompasses such diversity.
View north from the house at Lund, Unst
But was there a
grove on the island of Unst in the Shetland Islands? Today the islands are
treeless, with their bare hills exposed to the blasts of gales and storms, and
occasionally to the caresses of the most glorious of sunny, cloudless skies.
There is a location named Lund on Unst, in the southwest portion of this small
island. The Nordic link rings true as there is an archaeological Viking site nearby;
but how did this place get named? It is an old name that is recorded on an 1874
map of Shetland when only a few other places are identified so precisely. What
was the importance in this name that identifies a location high on a hill and a
building generally referred to as ‘the house at Lund'? Indeed there is a house,
one that has stood as a mysterious ruin for years, dark against a dull sky. The
haunting quality of this structure is reinforced by the tale that tells of the
imprint of the devil's footprint on the stone threshold of this mansion. One
could once see some markings in the tread if one was so inclined. It was a
large house on a high part of the island looking north along the west coast of
Unst and into the crashing and thrashing of the Atlantic Ocean. The building
could be seen from the distance as a dominant mass that loomed large and gloomy
as if it were a spooky location in a Gothic novel.
The standing stone at Lund, Unst (looking north)
Standing stone at Lund looking east
Standing stone at Lund looking west
The mystery of
this area is further enhanced by another reference that rolls off the tongue as
easily as the reference to the house: ‘the standing stone at Lund’. Unst has
several ancient standing stone sites, but only a few have significant stones that stand starkly tall and mark place rather
than remain as skimpy, rubbly archaeological relics or map references that have to be
sought out and studied to be comprehended. The stone at Lund is huge, but not
elegantly high. It is a thick, tear-shaped mass with a blade-like profile that
appears to allocate meaning to direction, seemingly marking an axis down a
valley that opens to the western ocean: but what is it there for? Have the stresses of time made it lean or was this the original intention? No one knows.
This stone has
what one might hope could be a twin at nearby Uyeasound that is more elegant, more spindly and thinner, looking like a pole rather than the chunky, massive piece of rock at Lund. Ponies use the Uyeasound stone as a scratching
post. Its age is manifested in its covering of moss and lichen that add a
‘Middle Earth’ character to the object. The rock - no, these landmarks are
called ‘stones’ even though they are nothing like pebbles or boulders - at Lund
is less approachable. It stands in a small recess that pools with water, giving
an intriguing sense of depth with the reflection of the stone disappearing deep
into the sky-bright ground surround.
Standing stone, Uyeasound, Unst
Why are these
stones there in these exact locations? Uyeasound stands tall and exposed; Lund
squats proudly, distinctively in the folds of the landscape. Why? No one knows.
Some guess that they are navigational aids, but this might be the rational mind
taking control over mystery. Whether these stones have been carefully surveyed
to assess their position in relation to geography and natural features as
Professor Thom has done with Europe’s grand stone circles and lines, is not
known. This needs to be done if alignments and relationships are to be better understood than
mere assumptions and lazy guesses. No one knows if there is any relationship with geographical
features here, or if there is any connection between these ‘stoned’ locations
or any others in the vicinity.
House, Lund, Unst, 2006
Lund has a
secrecy and profundity in its iconic presence. The road up to the house passes
the standing stone at the burn. At the house, one can indeed see something
fuzzy that could be called a cleft marking in the threshold, but there is no
cold shiver echoing through the body as one enters the place. The recognition
remains only an intellectual observation. Lund may be merely low walls now, but one
could once walk through the place, feel its space and see the details, those of
occupancy as well as the details of the making of the structure and its
finishing. Seeing behind things is one joy that becomes available with the
devastation of time when the markings of the making are laid bare. The house at
Lund is a ruin. One could once see how grand this home used to be: how it had
been extended; how it must have been beautifully finished internally; how grand
it must have been in the landscape; how comfortable it must have been as a
home. One could once read the forms, see the openings, pass through the
doorways and understand what it might have been to experience the habitation:
but this was only ‘once upon a time’ that was really not that long ago.
One used to be
able to see this building almost complete as walls. There was always some sense
of risk when entering the place, but the experience was worthwhile. The
walls were getting a more and more dangerous lean with time that seemed to ease them
dangerously sideways. Winds, storms, gales, snow, rain and lightning eventually
fatigue most things on Shetland, such is their severity in this exposed
landscape.
House, Lund, Unst, 2011
So the solution
came, not to prop the walls to maintain the dignity of the wholeness of this
place but, very sadly, to knock the walls down to a 'safe' height. Workplace
health and safety, and budget savings seem to have won yet again. Why do
councils and other authorities choose to demolish rather than to protect? The
unanswered question latent in this decision is: what happened to all of the
stones that were removed? There is no great pile nearby. Does one assume that
these historic rocks might have been used as fill in the development of the new
pier at Uyeasound? Dare one even entertain the thought? Dare one even consider
the possibility that the need for solid fill might have been a part of the
decision to knock the walls down to their current 1800 mm height? Shetland has
a history of demolition of old buildings for stones. Nearly all of the huge brochs have gone.
One only has to look at the broch at Mousa: see - http://voussoirs.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/mousa-broch.html to understand the quantity of material that
has been removed, relocated and encapsulated into modest croft houses and the
dykes that crisscross the landscape. It seems that Mousa broch has survived
just because of the difficulty in transporting the material from its island
location.
So Lund stands
castrated, neutered by those who were not prepared to make a real commitment to
keep the historic house as a whole. Now one can never experience that raw sense
of enclosure and occupation without some ad hoc guessing. There was always some
conjecture involved in reading the walls, but this was better informed with
space and place being more complete. It was always an interesting experience to
ask: how did one live here; what did one enjoy? The views have not changed, nor
has the building’s placement in the landscape or its more intimate relationship
with the dyke enclosures nearby. The Internet site http://canmore.rcahms.gov.uk/en/site/216963/details/unst+lund/?date=asc tells of a ‘FARMSTEAD’ with a ‘WALLED
GARDEN’ at Lund that now appears to have gone. As one strolls through the
remnant walls, one ponders: is this the living room; the sitting room; bedrooms
above; stair here; kitchen there; service door and courtyard? Oh, there are the
barns; the byre and store just over there! The place could be realized as fact in
experience - or so one thought.
June Owers' documentation of the house at Lund
It was some
years later after the first visit to Lund that the records were discovered in
the Unst Heritage Museum at Haroldswick in a collection of
beautifully documented drawings. A survey of the deserted settlements on Unst had been carried out by June Owers. This local lady had sketched the ruins of
Unst; measured them; photographed them; drawn their plans; recorded their place
in the landscape; and most marvelously of all, with the use of census
statistics, scheduled the people who had occupied these dwellings, both
majestic and humble, as if nothing in life could be insignificant. From the
most modest cottage to the grandest of homes like that at Lund, these ruins
were documented with equal care and attention. Even the small parts were
illustrated in precise and specific detail when interesting. These records in
the Heritage Museum at Haroldswick need to be published. They are a wonderful
study in habitation: Thames and Hudson, please! In amongst this set of
intriguing documents, naive but rich like the dwellings and the people who
occupied them, there was found the sheet that recorded the house at Lund - the
sketch of the whole complete with the plans and the people who once lived
there, their names, their occupations and the years.
The guesses were
wrong. The plan was more condensed than anticipated, more compact; but why
should things not be economical here, on Unst where materials are scarce? The stair was in an unexpected location,
but the whole made eminent and practical sense. The layout was as efficient as
that of the sheet itself. It reminded one of the drawings of Neville Lund’s
partner, Peter Newell. The firm was originally known as Chambers and Ford; then
Ford Hutton Newell; then Lund Hutton & Newell; then Lund Hutton Newell
Black & Paulsen; then Lund Hutton Newell & Paulsen; then Lund Hutton
Ryan Morton before eventually closing down. It was a firm with a great history.
Peter Newell, a flamboyant and gregarious man, was able to get everything
needed for a working drawing for a house onto one A1 sheet of tracing paper,
all delineated in his beautifully bold, firm hand that loved soft pencil
markings to sit dense as information, like a palimpsest. His earlier designs
were all beautifully illustrated with the same audacious hand in a classic
black and white Art Deco style. Peter Newell wrote various 'Sketchbooks' on the historical architecture of various regions in Australia. These were illustrated by Unk White and published by Rigby.
Cover of Brisbane Sketchbook showing Brisbane City Hall
After perusing
the Owers’ drawings of Lund, one could return to meander through the castrated
place to envisage things with more complete information. One hoped that June
Owers was correct in her interpretations. Lund, so it seems, is destined to
linger in time only as rocks and memory. Little things help us in this
endeavour, such is their importance. Neville Lund is now only recollections,
and a name in the front of his book award, an item discovered in a secondhand
bookshop some years ago. Such is life; and awards too.
The house at
Lund remains a relic, more so than ever; but it is a tidy relic, carefully made
safe by bureaucratic minds. Sadly, only the lower plan is left to display the
considered intent with everything clipped like a fresh ‘short back and sides’
haircut that always needs more than the cliché two weeks to settle down. This
house at Lund has itself been settled down, but not its memories that still
embody more than the hacker of the stones ever dreamed of. The entry is still
substantially there; and one can remain entranced in the make-believe of what
the framed views might have meant to an occupant. Mystery still lingers there
if one gives it sufficient time to be manifest.
But things did
not have to be like this. If the walls had been braced, Lund would have been
able to stand tall and more complete so that one could still enjoy the scale,
the detail; the elevations; and the silhouette. The sense of grandeur would
have remained, for it was a high home on a wonderful, open site. We really need
to care much more about our old things, large and small. They are just too easy
to destroy, to discard. We lose so much that we love through the blindly dumb
acts of rationalism. Those involved should have read Neville Lund’s Welsh
blessing and dreamed with an intensity and care that could have allowed things
to be otherwise. The sentiments are good, worthy. Sadly today they are seen as mere emotional ‘claptrap’ while our heritage is demolished, literally before our
very eyes.
Then there is
our World Heritage to consider and care for too – see: http://springbrooklocale.blogspot.com.au/
HOUSE AT LUND 2006
The images have been posted here in the order that they were taken.
The Lund region, Unst
The surprising south elevation opens to the sunlight with several large 'modern' openings.
This is the rubble from just one end wall. Imagine the mass of rock that must have been removed from this site.
The astonishing southern elevation with its large 'modern' glazed opening spaced so closely
Old byres at Lund
The detail of the extension to the original house
Lathes on battens over stone wall with fallen plaster
Rendered stone wall
Barn at Lund adjacent to house
HOUSE AT LUND 2011
The images have been posted here in the order that they were taken.
Scratch coat below finished render
Rendered wall
Lathe batten on stone wall
View north
View north on leaving the house at Lund
The old byre: on roof fretting see - http://voussoirs.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/corrugated-iron-chapel.html
17 JANUARY 2015
This is an image of the house at Lund form the Shetland Museum and Archives collection of photographs:
NOTE:
24 December 2016
For the impact of
the removal of the roof and walls on interior spaces, see:
