Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

BIRKHALL WITH SUMMER HOUSE, WENDY HOUSE, GARDEN GATE AND TERRACESLB9304

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Group Category Details
100000019
Date Added
16/04/1971
Local Authority
Aberdeenshire
Planning Authority
Aberdeenshire
Parish
Glenmuick, Tullich And Glengairn
National Park
Cairngorms
NGR
NO 34901 93600
Coordinates
334901, 793600

Description

1715, 2-storey, attic and basement, 5-bay laird's house with later single storey, attic and basement addition, by James Henderson of Kildrummy, 1850, 3-bay, 2-storey and attic wing at right angles to rear, re-orienting entrance; early 20th century, single storey addition to SW, and substantial additions, A Graham Henderson, circa 1950, of 2-storey, attic and basement wing at right angles adjoined to and adapting earlier single storey wing at SW.

Harled. Some exposed granite dressings. Chamfered arrises to later additions.

1715 house:

SE elevation: 5-bay. Roll-moulded surround to door at centre, approached by flight of granite steps with decorative iron railings; lintel carved with date and initials 'CG' and 'RG'; 2-leaf, part-glazed door; square armorial panel above in heavy, moulded surround. Windows to outer bays of basement, to bays flanking door at ground and to each bay at 1st floor. 3 piend-roofed, slate-hung dormers, later 19th century.

NW elevation: later wing to left with contemporary round stair tower in re-entrant angle; small windows and conical roof. Window at ground and 1st floor to left and later lean-to porch across raised basement. NE elevation: 2-bay gable end with chimneybreast advanced (circa 1850) at centre, flanked at ground and 1st floor by windows.

1850 wing:

NE elevation: 3-bay. Door in bay to left (centre of elevation) with timber porte cochère; stop-chamfered door surround, part-glazed door with etched glass fanlight; 4 tree trunk columns to gabled porte cochère, with segmental arched stays and boarded soffit; infilled by house with fixed windows as wind breaks and with cantilevered corner benches cradling corner seats. Window above and to each floor in bays to right. 3 gabled, slate-hung dormers, later 19th century.

NW elevation: blank gable end, masked to right at ground by single storey and basement late 19th century (?) service addition.

Circa 1950 additions:

Single storey early 20th century addition abacked by 2-storey and raised basement addition to NW with irregular openings, with roof swept down to SE to single storey eaves and with 2-stage round stair tower breaking eaves, and single bay adjoined to S; narrow door and small window, conical roof to tower. 2-storey, asymmetrical wing running NW-SE adjoined at right angles; bowed 3-bay SE elevation with window to ground and 1st floor and conical roof, 3-bay regularly fenestrated return to NE with panel over larger centre window and small piend-roofed dormer. SW elevation with taller ridge to left, and 3-bay bowed projection to outer left; regular fenestration in 3 bays flanking to right and stair windows in penultimate bay to right; outer right bay gabled and blank.

12-pane glazing pattern in sash and case windows. Graded grey slates. Stone ridges and coped skews. Coped gablehead stacks.

Summer house: octagonal, lathed timber summer house, sited to SW of house, circa 1935 (?), with gabled entrance and thatched roof; interior lined with boarded timber and benches.

Wendy house: circa 1935. Thatched, rectangular-plan, gabled timber wendy house to E of house; bark-covered board cladding, in chevron patterns below 2-leaf, diamond lead-paned casement windows and to door at centre, breaking eaves in gablehead. Turf ridge and timber stack. Further door to rear.

Garden gate: decorative wrought- and cast-iron pedestrian gate to E of house, circa 1935 (?), with vine and thistle motifs and flanked by iron cage piers with decorative thistle finials.

Terraces: formal garden to SE with topiary, below terraced ground by house, circa 1935. Granite steps leading down to coped granite terrace wall, buttressed and with door into bank to toolhouse/ice house; timber steps leading down from terrace wallhead to lower ground.

Statement of Special Interest

A Group with Birkhall Drive Bridge, Larders, Rope Bridge and Stables.

The original house was built by Captain Charles Gordon. It was purchased by Prince Albert in 1849 from Michael Francis Gordon, 15th of Abergeldie, for the Prince of Wales, transferring to the Queen on the former's death. Florence Nightingale visited between September and October 1856, as the guest of Her Majesty to recuperate after her efforts in the Crimean War. A new fireplace and panelling were installed in the dining room in 1926-7. The Duke and Duchess of York redecorated and planted the gardens in the 1930s. Cast-iron fruit poles survive. Birkhall Stables, larders, rope bridge and drive bridge are listed separately, and grouped with the house forming a significant estate. The house has rich associations and evidences sympathetic evolution.

References

Bibliography

The Royal Encyclopedia (1991), p39, p50. Henry Fisk, painting of Birkhall. George Washington Wilson photograph, circa 1895 and photograph from Ian G Lindsay Collection, circa 1930, held at NMRS. Fenton Wyness Royal Valley: the Aberdeenshire Dee (1968), p240. The Royal Archives PP/Balmoral/45, 51; PP/Balmoral New Series/250.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 27/04/2024 01:12