The birth of the pagoda roof

Alex Kraaijeveld

This article is dedicated to the memory of Graham Nown. Graham re-discovered Doig’s original plans and was eager to give Charles Cree Doig his rightful place in whisky history. Because of his pioneering work, Graham should be regarded as the spiritual author of this article.

Scotland’s most famous distillery architect was born on the 21^st of August, 1855, at Pitewan farm near Linrathen, Angus. Charles Cree Doig was the son of James Doig, agricultural labourer, and his wife Amelia. Charles was educated at the Braes of Coul village school. Aged 14, he received a prize for “Arithmetic, etc.” and a year later for “General Scholarship”. After having left school (probably in 1870), he started working with Mr. John Carver in Meigle. Carver was a well-known architect in the area.

Charles Doig married Margaret Isabella Dick in Meigle. Although his exact wedding date, probably in 1880, has not survived, his wedding photo fortunately has! Charles and Isabella had three sons: William Howie (born in 1881), Charles James Dick (whose year of birth is unknown) and Alexander Lawson (born in 1890).

In 1882, Charles and his young family moved to Elgin, where he became assistant to Mr. H. M. S. Mackay, a land surveyor. After becoming a partner, Charles took over the business, and developed himself into an architect and civil engineer. In or around 1908, the business became C.C. Doig and Sons.

On the 25^th of September 1918, Charles was out shooting on the Dallas moors together with his youngest son Alexander. He became unwell and was taken to the village inn at Dallas. Although everything was done to try and save him, he died that same day. In his obituary in the Northern Scot and Moray & Nairn Express it was written: “Additions and reconstructions were extensively undertaken by many distillers of Highland malt whisky, and in all this work the services of Mr Doig as an architect were very much in demand. All over Scotland and in the north of Ireland his work was well-known, and in the course of his professional career he formed many warm friendships among the distillers. In matters of arbitration and valuation he was much in request, his keen business ability, combined with fairness of judgement, being readily recognised.”

After Charles’ death, William and Charles Jnr. continued the business and the Doig archive at the Elgin Library contains 1237 plans, dated between 1859 and 1965, from C.C. Doig and Sons. Just over 500 of these plans have a date prior to Doig’s death and among those are designs for farms, hotels, rifle ranges, schools, breweries, drill halls, country houses, cemeteries, inns, a golf course, copper works, railways, a harbour, churches, rope works, water supplies, a hospital, and the list goes on.

And distilleries of course, almost 100 of them. According to the Doig archive inventory list, the first distillery that Doig was involved with was Glenburgie, in 1881. But the distillery that will always be most linked to his name is Dailuaine. Doig was involved with Dailuaine from 1882 onwards, and the most significant moment came on the 3^rd of May, 1889. Mackenzie & Co., the owners of Dailuaine, commissioned Doig to make alterations to their maltings, with the specific aim of improving the efficiency of the chimneys at drawing off the peat smoke. Thanks to Alfred Barnard, an image of the pre-Doig chimney of Dailuaine distillery has survived.

The plans in the Doig archive show the evolution of a new type of chimney roof (please note that the numbering, and therefore the interpretation of their order is mine; the designs are not numbered on the original plans).

Dailuaine’s original Victorian ventilator with slatted sides (1) is firmly crossed out. In its place comes a pyramid-shaped roof (2). Obviously, Doig was not happy with the shape and pencilled in curved lines, first on the inside of the pyramid (3), subsequently on the outside (4). As if to finalise the design, a much higher pyramid with curved sides is first superimposed on the original slatted ventilator (5), then worked out fully (6). Look again at designs (2) and (3) and let your eye go from one to the other: you’re actually seeing the birth (or maybe rather conception) of the pagoda roof …..

Dailuaine got its pagoda roof and it attracted wide acclaim. The prestigious Wine Trade Review marveled at the design which not only provided the desired stronger draw but was also strikingly attractive. Sadly, in 1917 a fire broke out at Dailuaine and, despite desperate efforts by the villagers, the first pagoda roof came down in roaring flames. Fortunately, a photo of Dailuaine with its pagoda roof has survived.

This photo is important for two reasons. First, it is the only known remaining photo of the first pagoda roof, but there is something much more striking about it. Look at the height of the pagoda and compare it to the different stages in the design ..… in terms of height:width ratio it is design (2) which is on top of the malting chimney and not the expected design (6). So did Doig change his mind and did he decide to go back to a more shallow shape? And if so, what happened to the ‘higher’ design? Taking a big jump now, could it be that this is the solution to the following wee pagoda-enigma?

A small handful of whisky sources states that the twin pagodas of Strathisla are the second Doig-pagodas erected in Scotland. However, the inventory list of the Doig archive in Elgin does not list any plans for Strathisla. Of course, it could be that Doig did work on Strathisla and the plans were simply lost. Or could it be that there never were any separate Strathisla plans and Doig used the ‘higher’ version of the Dailuaine pagodas for Strathisla? Intriguingly, the height:width ratio of the Strathisla pagodas is a virtual match with design (6). That in itself does not necessarily mean much, but Strathisla’s twin pagodas have by far the highest height:width ratio of all pagodas in Scotland and height:width ratios of pagodas on other Doig plans are lower than that of design (6). (Incidentally, I didn’t climb up on distillery roofs to measure the height and width of each of Scotland’s existing pagodas, but devised a method to calculate height:width ratios from photos, correcting for the angle under which a photo is taken).

It all seemed to fit snugly, until reality got in the way. The explanation for why there are no Doig plans for the Strathisla pagodas is very simple: he didn’t design them. Strathisla’s twin pagodas were designed by another distillery architect, John Alcock An invitation for estimates to be submitted was placed in the local newspaper in May 1898. Alcock got the commission and work began in June 1898; his design plans for the Strathisla pagodas are kept at the Elgin Library. A different architect for the Strathisla pagodas probably explains their unusual height:width ratio. Of course this is not to say that Doig had nothing to do with the Strathisla pagodas. Doig and Alcock could very well have met; Alcock was born in 1861, so was only a few years younger than Doig. They may have discussed distillery designs and possibly even pagodas together. At the very least, Alcock was inspired by Doig!

I want to express my sincere thanks to Sylvana Nown, who trusted me with Graham’s entire file on Charles Doig. I hope I have not misplaced her trust in me to take up Graham’s baton. Thanks also to Graeme Wilson (Elgin Library), Yvonne Thackeray (Chivas) and Iain Russell for additional information and material, and finally to Zeno Geisseler for the photo of Strathisla's twin pagodas.

© 2002 Alex Kraaijeveld