Forglen House

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Forglen House

Forglen House is a country house northwest of Turriff in Scotland Aberdeenshire . Even before the year 1211, King William the Lion gave the land on which the house stands today to Arbroath Abbey . The castle, originally built in 1346, was replaced by a typical house plastered with Harl , which was later expanded. The main development of the property began after Lord Banff's family acquired it: they had it landscaped and trees planted. Forglen became their main family seat in the 18th century. After the death of William Ogilvy, 8th Lord Banff , the property fell by marriage to the Baronets Abercromby , who expanded it and continued to use it as a family seat. Sir Robert Abercromby, 5th Baronet , commissioned John Smith of Aberdeen to design the present house in 1839, which was completed in 1842.

Forglen House sold the Abercrombys in 1974, but it remained in private hands. It is not open to the public, even if the property can be entered and some farms around the country house, as well as one of the lodges, are rented out as holiday homes.

Historic Scotland has listed the country house as a Category A Historic Building. Some other buildings on the site, such as the stables and a Gothic mausoleum, are listed as Category B historic buildings. The gardens are mentioned in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscaptes in Scotland as they are notable in most areas.

history

The Forglen estate ( Scottish Gaelic : Foithir Gleann , English: "Cave of the Valley") was one of the pieces of land that King William the Lion added to the lands of Arbroath Abbey in 1211. It is documented that the Monymusk reliquary was probably kept in Forglen. As sub- vassals of the abbot , the respective tenants of the estate owed military successes under the banner of the abbey. After the abbey was dissolved as part of the Reformation , in 1608 James Hamilton, 2nd Marquess of Hamilton, took over the lands of the abbey, which now formed a feudal barony, and thus also acquired feudal sovereignty over Forglen. In 1641 William Murray , 1st Earl of Dysart , and in 1642 Patrick Maule of Panmure , later 1st Earl of Panmure , acquired feudal sovereignty over the barony.

The first recorded tenants of Forglen were Sir Thomas of Monymusk and his son Malcolm in 1315 . Malcolm presumably succeeded his son, John , who died in 1387. The following generations had no male heirs and so the daughters inherited the lands. In 1414 the inheritance fell to Alexander Irvine of Drum . The Irvine family owned the land until 1624, when they sold it to the Urquhart of Craigfintray family . George Ogilvy , later raised to Lord Banff , acquired the Forglen estate in 1637.

The Ogilvys were royalists and their estates including Forglen were attacked in 1640 by forces of the Covenanters led by General Robert Munro . The main family seat of the Ogilvys at that time was Inchdrewer Castle and it seems to have stayed that way until 1713 when George Ogilvy, 3rd Lord Banff , died there in a fire. Sir Alexander Ogilvy, 1st Baronet , was the second son of George Ogilvy, 2nd Lord Banff , and is referred to in a document ratified in 1702 with the signature of Queen Anne as "Alexander Ogilvy of Forglen". After being appointed Senator of the College of Justice in 1706, he assumed the title of Lord Forglen .

In the 18th century, Forglen became the headquarters of the Ogilvy family. This was the beginning of a remarkable development for the property. Alexander Ogilvy, 7th Lord Banff , who inherited the property from his grandfather in 1727, started planting trees and other plants. He died in Forglen on December 1, 1771. Since Alexander's eldest son, also Alexander , had died before his father, his second son, William , inherited and became 8th Lord Banff. William, a former captain in the British Army who had served under the Duke of York and Albany , continued the development of Forglen until his death on June 4, 1803. Then William's sister, Lady Jane Abercromby , who had married Sir George Abercromby of Birkenbog, inherited the lands and the title of Lord Banff became extinct.

The Baronets Abercromby owned a large number of properties in Ireland , having bought most of the town of Fermoy from Scottish businessman John Anderson in the early 19th century . From 1814, Forglen served as the main home of the Abercrombys. In 1877 she also bought Dunlugas House across the River Deveron . Lady Jane Abercromby's son, Sir Robert Abercromby, 5th Baronet , continued to develop the Forglen estate by commissioning the construction of a new mansion and various other buildings.

During World War II , Forglen was an area patrolled by an auxiliary unit . Auxiliary units were top secret resistance organizations formed all over the east coast of the UK. If Germany had started an invasion, the patrol would have hidden in a base of operations. If the invasion had been over for a week or two and things had settled, this patrol would have come out at night and carried out guerrilla attacks. Members of the patrols were trained as explosives experts and were well armed compared to the normal soldiers of the British Army. Investigations by the Coleshill Auxiliary Research Team revealed the names of the patrolmen, as well as the approximate location of their base of operations on the property.

Sir Robert Alexander Abercromby, 9th Baronet , died on October 19, 1972 and the property was put up for sale in 1974. In 2007 it belonged to Tristan Russell and his family, who bought it sometime before 1994.

Country house

A detail on the four-story tower is a triple coat of arms from 1578.

The original home in Forglen on the left bank of the Deveron was built around 1346. The first building was probably a castle, but was replaced by a local house plastered with Harl, which had an extension with a tower, which was built at the end of the 18th century. In 1839, when Sir Robert Abercromby commissioned Aberdeen architect John Smith to build what is now the country house, the old house was demolished, but some building materials were preserved and used for the new house. The country house was built over the foundations of the previous building. Heraldic shields and inscriptions of the former castle were preserved and placed in an octagonal tower.

The cost of building the new country house was £ 16,000, which in 2012 was around £ 1.4 million. The architectural historian Charles McKean compared the central tower and the gatehouse with the style of Robert Smythson and described the construction of the country house as "Elizabethan-Gothic clothing" which "combined all the romantic aspects of the early 19th century". As of February 22, 1972, Historic Scotland listed Forglen House as a Category A Historic Building.

Exterior

The Hausa built around an inner courtyard and made of dark quarry stone plastered with Harl is from the outside a combination of Elizabethan and Jacobean styles (or Gothic styles ), similar to Smith's work on New Slains Castle . Another courtyard in the middle is surrounded by three-story buildings. In the back of the courtyard, round towers enclose the stairs for the servants. A large Elizabethan-style tower houses the main staircase and is also located in the courtyard, but more in the front part, behind the parade rooms. Further details on the outside of the house are angular or rectangular, protruding yokes , a number of proud towers with a round, square or octagonal floor plan, many different gables and numerous diagonally placed stone chimneys . The southeast facade is not symmetrical; its main entrance in Tudor style is not in the center and extends out over the facade. A plaque reminiscent of the construction period 1839–1842 and a central coat of arms are placed above the entrance. There is also an octagonal tower on the front corner of the house. A separate entrance leads to the outside kitchen courtyard in the rear part of the north-west facade. This side of the country house is designed more simply, more restrained and built into a slope. An elongated, one-story extension contains the electricity and water connections and the toilets for the servants and provides additional support for the house. The northeast facade is also more reserved than the front facade from an architectural point of view.

Interior

The interior features a classic style, such as the screen with Corinthian columns in the dining room. The entrance hall extends over two floors; the stairs are on the left. The kitchen, service facilities and servants' facilities are on the ground floor, as well as the room for firearms, storage rooms and beer and wine cellars. On the first floor there is a large gallery that extends over the entire width of the courtyard. Another screen with Corinthian columns is in the stairwell protruding from the gallery. There are different trompe l' oeil panels and edges and the plastered walls look like they are clad in wood. The sleeping quarters were located on the 1st and 2nd floors. The sleeping quarters behind the north-west facade on the third floor are simple and were intended for use by the servants when there was not enough space on the first floor. Polished red granite was used for the mantelpiece.

Equipment from the end of the 19th century

A description of the furnishings of the country house in a newspaper from 1895 mentioned that various hunting trophies were exhibited in the entrance hall. The antlers from the skeleton of an elk excavated from the family-owned Fermoy estate were hung in the entrance hall; the distance between the end tips should be more than 2.4 meters. The dimensions of the Great Gallery were given as 38 meters long, 4.56 meters high and 3 meters wide. It was dark brown and steel engravings, drawings and old prints adorned the walls. It was furnished with old furniture and an organ was the main part of it. Some of the rooms on the first floor accessible through the gallery were a ballroom and salon. Three arches divided the two rooms and mirrors were attached to the sides of the arches. Light blue silk damask adorned the walls of the ballroom, while the parlor had walls clad in light green satin . Among the paintings on display in the dining room were family portraits of Henry Raeburn and a painting by John Hoppner hung in the library.

Gardens and park

The Gothic mausoleum

The gardens and park were included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland in 2011 because it is a "round and extraordinary landscape garden". As “exceptional” in six of seven categories (artistic design, history, garden culture, architecture, drama and archeology) this garden is listed as very important in the list of nature conservation.

To the northwest of the country house is a 15 x 15 meter enclosed garden. Enclosed in a 3 meter high wall are greenhouses and outside there are several cultivation stores, plant sheds and a one-story gardener's house. On February 15, 1982, this ensemble, also designed by Smith in the 19th century, was listed as a Category C historic building.

Several other structures on the property are considered historic structures. These include the Gothic Mausoleum, which was completed in 1865 at a cost of £ 2,500 which was around £ 266,000 in 2012. The cross-shaped building has a round stained glass window in the front gable and shows many gargoyles and other stone decorations. The dead were buried in an outside cemetery, but Carrara marble memorial stones are placed inside the mausoleum. The consoles of the oak ceiling paneling are decorated with figures of angels.

The other historical buildings of category B include the stables and the coach house south of the country house. This group of buildings is believed to have been built around 1840, according to Historic Scotland, but Miller says they were from the time of the previous house. The pigeon house in brick construction from the early 19th century and the eastern and northern Lodge of about 1,865 are also historic buildings of category B.

In 1906, Scottish archaeologist J. Graham Callander carried out excavation work on a circular barrow on the property, just over half a mile south of the country house. The mound in a wooded area called `` Meadowheads Wood '' is 2.1 meters high and about 19.5 meters wide. A number of relics and urns have been discovered, for example three drinking cup-like urns, some of which are "of the highest quality".

Recent history

The country house and property will remain in private hands even in the 21st century. The Russell family has the country house restored and refurbished bit by bit, inside and out. The roof was re-covered with shingles, and replacement and repair work, plastering and plumbing work were also carried out on the masonry. A large number of rooms are no longer used, especially on the ground floor and the 2nd floor.

The country house is not open to the public, but you can walk around the property. Some of the farmhouses are rented out as holiday homes, including one of the lodges.

Gallery images

  • Detail on the Abercrombie Monument

  • Stone verge on the country house

  • The main entrance to the country house is a Tudor-style porch

  • The Deveron flows through the property

  • Forglen House from afar

  • Abercrombie coat of arms above the entrance

  • The Abercrombie coat of arms is also used above the entrance to the lodge.

  • Front facade of the country house

  • Plaque with an inscription under the coat of arms in one of the towers

  • The northeast facade of the country house is kept in a simpler architecture.

References and comments

  1. ^ A b John Burke: A visitation of the seats and arms of the noblemen and gentlemen . P. 187. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  2. ^ A b Francis C. Eeles: The Monymusk Reliquary . In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland . 436. 1933. Archived from the original on January 17, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  3. ↑ The relic is now in the Museum of Scotland .
  4. ↑ David H. Caldwell: The Monymusk Reliquary: the Breccbennach of St Columba? . In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland . P. 272. 2001. Archived from the original on January 17, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  5. ↑ Arbroath Abbey . Angus Council. Archived from the original on January 17, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g Garden and Designed Landscape - entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  7. ↑ David H. Caldwell: The Monymusk Reliquary: the Breccbennach of St Columba? . In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland . S. 271. 2001. Archived from the original on January 17, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  8. ↑ James Balfour Paul: The Scots Peerage . D. Douglas. S. 15. 1905. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  9. ↑ W. Cramond: Annals of Banff, Volume I . P. 41, 1891. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  10. ^ Charles McKean: Banff & Buchan . Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. P. 50. 1990. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  11. ^ Ratification in favor of Sir Alexander Ogilvie of Forglen, 1706/6/146 . Records of the Parliaments of Scotland. Archived from the original on January 24, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  12. ↑ TF Henderson: Sir Alexander Ogilvy . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  13. ↑ James Balfour Paul: The Scots Peerage . D. Douglas. P. 25, 1905. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  14. ^ Estate: Abercromby . National University of Ireland, Galway. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  15. ↑ Family: Abercromby . National University of Ireland, Galway. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  16. ^ Sir John Sinclair, General Report of the Agricultural State: And Political Circumstances, of Scotland . A. Constable & Company. P. 44, 1814. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  17. ^ David G. Miller: Tudor Johnny: City Architect of Aberdeen: The Life and Works of John Smith 1781-1852 . Librario. S. 263. 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  18. ^ The Second World War; Part 2 - The Home Guard & Auxiliary Units . Aberchirder and District Community Association. Archived from the original on June 13, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  19. ↑ Abercromby . In: The Times . October 20, 1972. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  20. ↑ Forglen House . Royal Commission for the Ancient and Historical Monuments in Scotland. Archived from the original on January 29, 2014. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  21. ^ A b c David G. Miller: Tudor Johnny: City Architect of Aberdeen: The Life and Works of John Smith 1781-1852 . Librario. P. 305. 2007. Accessed September 18, 2017.
  22. ^ Samuel Lewis: Topographical dictionary of Scotland . Lewis. P. 160, 1851. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  23. ^ A b c David G. Miller: Tudor Johnny: City Architect of Aberdeen: The Life and Works of John Smith 1781-1852 . Librario. S. 299. 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  24. ↑ a b c Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  25. ↑ NJ65SE0030 - Forglen House . Aberdeenshire Council. Archived from the original on February 10, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  26. ^ A b c Charles McKean: Banff & Buchan . Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. S. 58. 1990. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  27. ↑ a b c d e Forglen House and policies . In: Aberdeen Weekly Journal (Aberdeen, Scotland) . British Newspaper Archive. June 28, 1889. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  28. ↑ a b Calculated using the Bank of England price index.
  29. ↑ a b Inflation Calculator . Bank of England. Archived from the original on November 16, 2017. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved September 19, 2017. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.bankofengland.co.uk
  30. ^ Obituary: Prof Charles McKean, architectural historian . In: The Scotsman . October 1, 2013. Archived from the original on October 13, 2013. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  31. ^ A b David G. Miller: Tudor Johnny: City Architect of Aberdeen: The Life and Works of John Smith 1781-1852 . Librario. P. 306. 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  32. ^ Charles McKean: Banff & Buchan . Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. P. 59. 1990. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  33. ^ David G. Miller: Tudor Johnny: City Architect of Aberdeen: The Life and Works of John Smith 1781-1852 . Librario. Pp. 300-303. 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  34. ^ David G. Miller: Tudor Johnny: City Architect of Aberdeen: The Life and Works of John Smith 1781-1852 . Librario. S. 300. 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  35. ^ David G. Miller: Tudor Johnny: City Architect of Aberdeen: The Life and Works of John Smith 1781-1852 . Librario. S. 304. 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  36. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  37. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  38. ^ David G. Miller: Tudor Johnny: City Architect of Aberdeen: The Life and Works of John Smith 1781-1852 . Librario. Pp. 306-307. 2007. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  39. ↑ Abercrombie Mausoleum . Scottish Church Heritage Research. Archived from the original on February 17, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  40. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  41. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  42. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  43. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  44. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  45. ^ Noted Scottish Archaeologist . In: Dundee Courier . British Newspaper Archive. March 19, 1938. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  46. ↑ Record view MS 1082 . University of Aberdeen. Archived from the original on August 4, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  47. ^ Iain C. Walker: The Counties of Nairnshire, Moray and Banffshire in the Bronze Age . In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland . Pp. 88-89. 1998. Archived from the original on February 17, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  48. ^ J. Graham Callander: Three Urns of the Drinking-cup type and other relics . In: Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland . Pp. 279-190. 1906. Archived from the original on February 17, 2014. Retrieved September 19, 2017.
  49. ↑ Forglen Lodge . Retrieved September 19, 2017.

Web links

Commons : Forglen House  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 57 ° 33 ′ 20 "  N , 2 ° 30 ′ 17"  W.