Pitmedden House

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Pitmedden House

Pitmedden House is a two story manor house in the Scottish village of Pitmedden in the Council Area of Aberdeenshire . In 1971 the structure was included in the Scottish Monument Lists in Monument Category B. In 2006 the building was classified in Category C. The associated Pitmedden Great Garden , however, is classified as a monument of the highest category A. The entire property is on the Scottish Landscaping Register . The highest rating “outstanding” was awarded in two out of seven categories.

history

In 1430 at the latest, there was a building on the site. In 1603 James Seton bought the property. It was Alexander Seton, 1st Baronet , who began laying out the gardens in 1675. In 1807 or 1818 a fire ravaged the manor house. Around 1860, William Coote Seton had the ruins of Pitmedden House removed and the present mansion built. A drawing of the ruin from 1838 shows that at that time it was already a U-shaped building. With the new building, however, the orientation of the Us was reversed. The last owner gave the property to the National Trust for Scotland in 1952 , which has looked after it ever since. In 1980 a farm museum was opened in the former stables.

Pitmedden Great Garden

View over part of Pitmedden Great Garden

The mansion stands in the middle of a spacious estate on the northeastern edge of Pitmedden. The Pitmedden Great Garden occupies an area of ​​175 m × 145 m on the east side of the property. The southern terrace was destroyed in the 18th century and only partially rebuilt. The gardens are divided into the upper part near the manor house and the lower part in the east.

A high quarry stone wall surrounds the lower gardens. Two-story pavilions with curved hoods rise from the two west-facing corners. They are vaulted on the ground floor . A fountain in the upper garden was rebuilt in 1956 after the fountain originally located on the south terrace. He is carrying a cube with four mask-covered faces from the 17th century. Simple, rusticated pillars with sculptured pineapples at the end flank the access to the stairs between the upper and lower gardens. The central fountain in the lower gardens was rebuilt from fragments in 1956. It consists of an octagonal basin and a central, richly ornamented baluster that ends in a bowl. Originally positioned northwest of Pitmedden House, the sundial was moved to the gardens in 1958. It stands on an octagonal, three-tiered plinth and rises 2.7 m in height. An octagonal head with dials sits on its simple shaft.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  2. ↑ a b c Listed Building - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  3. ↑ a b Garden and Designed Landscape - Entry . In: Historic Scotland .
  4. ↑ Entry on Pitmedden House  in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)

Web links

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

Coordinates: 57 ° 20 ′ 33.9 "  N , 2 ° 11 ′ 37.4"  W.