3D digital reconstruction, models and textures by Ewan Forsyth
Source Engine by Valve Corporation
Permission to use engine granted under the Steam Subscriber Agreement “Section 2 Sub-Section c” on a non-commercial basis.

Whilst this reconstruction represents the Gowrie House as it was believed to have looked, it is not an accurate reconstruction due to a lack of architectural details about it. It required a large amount of speculative and guess-work to bring it to completion and its purpose is to provide a general idea of what the location of the Gowrie Conspiracy was like.

Setting the Scene

The year is 1520. In the city of St Johns Ton (Modern day Perth) along the bank of the river Tay, a house is constructed. The name given to it was Gowrie Castle, although it was commonly referred to as Gowrie House. The person who is believed to have commissioned the creation of the house was the Countess Of Huntly. Some time in the 16th century, the house was sold to the Ruthven family, a noble family who held much influence, both in the region and throughout Scotland. With the scenic view across the river Tay and the large garden, the townhouse was the perfect place for an upper-class noble man or woman to reside and enjoy the living in luxury. The building took the form of an L-shaped house that shares the courtyard with another townhouse of similar design. It could be found between Speygate and Watergate, at the end of South Street.

To the south east of the house, was the “Monks Tower”. Located within the ground of the house, very little is actually known about the tower but it was a significant site to see along the bank of the river.

The Ruthven family were involved in many major events in Scottish history such as the forced abdication of Mary Queen of Scots and the “Ruthven Raid”, in which the 1st Earl of Gowrie, William Ruthven captured King James VI and started the Gowrie regime, an attempt to run the country free of any Catholic policy that may have arisen because of some of the people who knew King James. One of the locations in which the King was held captive was Gowrie House. 10 months after the Ruthven Raid, the regime had failed and the King was released. Not long after, William Ruthven was eventually beheaded for his crimes but a large majority of his land and property was passed to his family. This included Ruthven Castle and the Gowrie House. 18 Years after the Ruthven Raid, another historical event happened involving the Ruthven’s. The location of this event, was Gowrie House.

Mystery and Conspiracy

Throughout history, there are events that have occurred that may have more to them than can be initially observed. It is possible some events were not documented well. It is also possible for the people involved in the event to recount things differently or even outright lie about what occurred. The events that happened at the Gowrie House in August of 1600 fall into the this category. Here is a brief retelling of the events of the Gowrie Conspiracy in video format. In the video, you will see the Gowrie House 3D Digital Reconstruction that was created for this exhibit.

Music in the video:
Introducing Gowrie: Ewan Forsyth 2021 ©

Video Transcript

The Gowrie House. A townhouse located in Perth Scotland, or St Johns Ton, as it was previously known. It was constructed in the early 1520s, and is considered to have been commissioned and built by the Countess of Huntly. Located on the bank of the River Tay, it was predominantly owned by the Ruthven family, a powerful noble family that held much political and social influence in the region.

The Ruthven family were part part of many controversial events such as assisting in the forced abdication of Mary Queen of Scots and her following imprisonment, as well as the Ruthven Raid, which involved William Ruthven, the 1st Earl of Gowrie abducting fifteen year old King James VI and holding him captive for about ten months in an attempt to suppress any catholic policy that may have occurred due to the king’s acquaintances. There was another event that occurred between the Ruthven’s and King James VI. An event that took place at the Gowrie House and that would bring to an end the Ruthven influence. This is the story of the Gowrie Conspiracy.

On the morning of the 5th of August 1600, King James VI of Scotland was said to have been hunting in Falkland and was greeted by Alexander Ruthven who was the brother of the 3rd Earl of Gowrie, John Ruthven. Alexander Ruthven had told the king of a suspicious man who had been imprisoned in Gowrie House by the Ruthven brothers, who was said to have been foreign and carrying a lot of money, implying the man may have been part of a plot against the king. Alexander requested that the king should ride to Gowrie House and question the man himself to find out his motives. The king accepted and made his way with some of his retainers to Perth.

When the King arrived, he was greeted by the Earl of Gowrie, John Ruthven, although; something seemed strange about the encounter. John Ruthven was supposed to know about the king coming to question the prisoner, yet was surprised at his arrival. After eating, the king, alone with Alexander Ruthven, went to the room that the prisoner was supposedly in. The king’s retainers and guards did not go with the king but remained downstairs. Not long passed before a window was opened on the western turret and the king was shouting. “Help!” and “Treason!” out of it.

The kings entourage ran up the stairs to find Alexander Ruthven attempting to murder the king. Alexander Ruthven was killed by one of the king’s guards, as was the Earl of Gowrie, who had run up the stairs behind them to see what was happening. King James VI had been saved from a deadly assassination attempt carried out by the two devious Ruthven brothers in their own house, and because of this, gained all of the Ruthven’s wealth and property, as they were both tried in the court of law for treason.

But everything is not as it seems. The events previously described are the Kings own account of what happened. To this day, it is still the only account available and even then, there are a number of versions of it, some involving Alexander Ruthven’s servant, Henderson, helping the king to call for help even though he should have been acting as a guard to keep the king captive in the turret. All of the events described may have occurred, but then again, it is also possible that the king paid a surprise visit to Gowrie House with the intent to murder the Ruthven’s and take their land, then made up the story as a justification for their murder.

He was after all in debt and owed thousands of pounds to the Ruthven’s. He also may have been motivated to take revenge on the family due to their past actions with Mary Queen of Scots as well as the Ruthven raid. Despite the actual events of the 5th of August 1600 being unknown, the day was marked as a celebration in Scotland for the deliverance of King James VI and throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, Gowrie House was a popular tourist attraction. 5 years after the incident at Gowrie House, when the king was now the king of England and Ireland as well as Scotland, the 1605 Guy Fawkes gunpowder plot occurred and the 5th of November became the day of celebration and over time, the 5th of August was forgotten about.

Along with that, Gowrie House was demolished at the start of the 1800s to make room for the new sheriff court. The only thing that acknowledges the existence of it tangibly is a bronze panel with the outline of the house and the coat of arms of the Earl of Gowrie on the side of the sheriff court. Gowrie House and the Gowrie conspiracy are a valuable part of the history and heritage of Perth and Scotland, as, no matter what the real story was, the events caused significant changes around the region and may have changed the world if they had played out in a different manner.

Stepping into the Present

The Gowrie House falls into the category of lost heritage. Lost heritage is used to describe a building or artefact of value that has been destroy or has been quite literally lost. The Gowrie House was destroyed in 1807 so that Perth Sherriff Court to be built eventually in 1819. Whilst the Sherriff Court in it’s own right is a fascinating and important building, a lot of the heritage and history around the Ruthven’s and Gowrie house has been forgotten and is not being taught around the region. Even within the city of Perth, the story seems like it is unknown due to the lack of acknowledgement about it.

On the 2nd of April 2021, a field trip was carried out to the place were the Gowrie House once stood to look for the memorial plaque and any other remnants of it.

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Stepping into the Past (Again)

To keep the legacy of Gowrie House alive and to bring the exciting tale of the events of the Gowrie Conspiracy into the 2020s, a 3D digital reconstruction of Gowrie House has been created. This will enable people to experience what the house would have been like throughout the 17th to the start of the 19th Century. Floor plans and paintings were extensively studied to enable the project to be as authentic as possible. Currently, the reconstruction is in prototype form with interim textures but it can really provide the feeling of the old Perth townhouse were the King murdered the Ruthven brothers.

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There were a number of paintings that were observed when building the reconstruction. Many of them were painted in the late 18th century or even in the mid 19th century, after the house had been demolished. This proved to be somewhat of a problem as each one of them seemed to contradict each other and the floor plans available. The floor plans that are available helped with creating the general shape of the buildings but could not be used for the building detail or colour.

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The courtyard image was the painting that was the inspiration for this project. By looking at the painting and the date it was created, Gowrie House had become military barracks by that point so the painting was made in that context. Whilst the Monks Tower, which was located in the grounds of the house was not a part of the story or the events of the Gowrie Conspiracy, it was also added to the reconstruction. The reference image to that was also created when the house and the grounds were used as military barracks.

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The digital reconstruction began on the 17th of April 2021 and finished on the 5th of May 2021. It was created using Valves Source Engine. Whilst the reconstruction has been created to match the general feeling of the house, the contradiction of the paintings and the lack of available official documentation meant that a number of liberties had to be taken to fill in the gaps. In the monks tower image, a building has been placed in it to match the painting. It is speculated that this building was only constructed when the house and the ground became military barracks which would place this reconstruction to be somewhere in the late 1700s and not around the time of the Gowrie Conspiracy. The textures and models like the trees were added in as superficial detail to make it more visually appealing but do not represent the Gowrie House accurately.

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If you wish to see the process that the digital reconstruction went through in its creation and what it looked like at each stage of development, a time-lapse video has been created to show you different parts of the reconstruction changing as the time passed.

Music in the video:
Century Leap Year: Ewan Forsyth 2021 ©

Stepping into the Future

In it’s current form, the digital reconstruction provides the groundwork for helping to learn about the events of the Gowrie Conspiracy and the history of Perth. There are many additions and adjustments that can be made to truly enhance the experience and the exhibit. To change the current reconstruction into the final exhibit, the following activates will be carried out:

• The interior of the house will be implemented based on available plans to show what the inside would look like
• More surrounding detail will be added to the reconstruction to give the authentic feel of the surroundings of the house in the 16th century
• High definition textures will be created based on the style of bricks use to build the house
• The video telling the story of the Gowrie Conspiracy and showcasing the reconstruction will be updated so that the events being told are being shown on the screen
• The reconstruction will be available in virtual reality so that people can walk around it and control where they go and what they see
• There will be an attempted discovery of more research and reference material that will help to make the exhibit more accurate