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

BRAEMAR CASTLE, INCLUDING ANCILLARY STRUCTURESLB36

Status: Designated

Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Category
A
Date Added
24/11/1972
Supplementary Information Updated
07/04/2021
Local Authority
Aberdeenshire
Planning Authority
Aberdeenshire
Parish
Crathie And Braemar
National Park
Cairngorms
NGR
NO 15604 92374
Coordinates
315604, 792374

Description

1628 with 1748 additions and mid-19th century internal modifications (see Notes.) L-plan tower house with 5-storey round tower in re-entrant angle, crenellated angle turrets and surrounded by star-shaped crenellated military curtain wall. Prominently situated on raised mound on south side of River Dee. Harled granite.

Variety of fenestration. Some windows retain 17th century iron grilles. Mixture of timber sash and case, and casement windows, some with 12 panes and some with 4-pane below and 12 pane above. Broad stacks rising from gables.

Interior: maintains largely extant floor plan of 18th century garrison on lower floors and nineteenth century home on the upper floors with many original features. Yett gate at main door. Stone turnpike stair with timber panelling. Well-detailed, decorative cornicing; classical chimneypieces in larger public rooms. Timber 3-panel doors. Simple tiled chimneypieces in upper rooms. Vaulted rooms in basement, one with grill entrance to pit prison below.

Ancillary structures: round rustic timber summerhouse with conical thatched roof to west of castle. To north, single storey timber cottages with predominantly timber sash and case windows.

Statement of Special Interest

The castle holds a prominent position on Deeside, both visually and historically. Although changed since its inception, it retains original elements from all the periods when it was extended or reconstructed. Built for the 7th Earl of Mar as a hunting lodge, it was attacked by the John Farquharson of Inverey in 1689 when it was extensively damaged by fire. From 1748-97 it became a government barracks, when John Adam, in his post as Master Mason to the Board of Ordnance in Scotland, helped with the reconstruction. At this time, the original conical roofed turrets were heightened and given crenellations, and the curtain wall was established. It was then restored in the mid nineteenth century to become a family home for the Farquharsons. Recently a museum (until 2005) Curtain wall de-scheduled in 1996.

The summerhouse is among a relatively small number buildings with a thatched roof found across Scotland. A Survey of Thatched Buildings in Scotland, published in 2016 by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), found there were only around 200 buildings with thatched roofs.

Listed building record revised in 2021 as part of the Thatched Buildings Listing Review.

References

Bibliography

Canmore https://canmore.org.uk/ Canmore ID 29748.

Maps

Ordnance Survey (1866) 1st Edition map.

Printed Sources

Braemar Castle guidebook (undated).

Geddes, J. (2001) Deeside and the Mearns; An Illustrated Architectural Guide (2001), p.152.

Groome's Gazetteer (1892), p185.

MacGibbon and Ross, (1887-1892) Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland Vol II pp.139-142 (ill and plan).

Old Statistical Account of Scotland.

New Statistical Account.

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings Scotland (2016) A Survey of Thatched Buildings in Scotland. London: SPAB. pp.13-14.

Online Sources

Historic Environment Scotland (2018) Scotland's Thatched Buildings: Introductory Designations Report at https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/publications/publication/?publicationId=8b3d1317-5a56-4416-905b-a8e800bf4c3c

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: 28/03/2024 13:47