An award-winning conservation plan for Dalkeith Palace, an early eighteenth-century A-listed mansion house. It provided guidance on the conservation of one of Scotland’s most important early eighteenth-century domestic structures, and is a key work in the career of James Smith.

The development of the conservation plan included considerable archival research, with consultation of the Buccleuch archives held the National Records of Scotland and family papers elsewhere. This informed the detailed chronological account tracing the architectural changes to the fabric. This work was supported by historic building recording carried out by Addyman Archaeology.

The conservation plan assessed the cultural-heritage significance of the building. This included assessing its physical aspects such as its fabric and its less tangible aspects such as its historical associations.

This informed a set of conservation policies. These include recommendations for the future management and conservation of Dalkeith Palace. They also establish parameters for appropriate and sensitive change at the site as it seeks a new, sustainable use.

Completed in 2023, the quality of the research for this document was recognised in the 2024 Heritage Research Award from The Society of Architectural Historians of Great Britain and the Institute for Historic Buildings Conservation.