Ury House
May2006.jpg)
Ury House is the ruin of a large manor house built in 1885 by Alexander Baird in the Elizabethan style. It is located approximately 1.5 km north of Stonehaven , a town in Aberdeenshire (historic Kincardineshire ) on the north east coast of Scotland . In earlier times the estate was known as Urie . Due to the changing ownership, Ury House was rebuilt several times.
history
Early Middle Ages
Originally the land belonged to the Frasers , a distinguished family of early Scottish history whose leader was Thane of Cowie. When Margaret Fraser married Sir William Keith, it became the property of the Marischal family.
Late Middle Ages to the end of the 17th century
The barony of Urie, to which the lands of Elsick and Muchalls now belonged, was sold to William de Hay, Lord of Errol, along with other possessions in 1413. The lands of Urie remained in the possession of the Hay family until 1640 when the 7th Earl Marischal William Keith bought them . In 1647 Urie was sold to Colonel David Barclay , the third son of the Barclay of Mathers (the representative of the former De Berkeleys). After the earl's imprisonment and the associated pledging of his property (which also included Urie), Barclay successfully applied to Parliament as the temporary administrator of the confiscated lands until he was imprisoned due to his close ties to the Earl family himself. After six years in prison, and meanwhile converted to Quakerism , he received a charter from the king that proclaimed him Baron of Ury. He eventually built Ury House on his land, which will serve as the headquarters of the Quakers in northeast Scotland for 100 years.
18th and 19th centuries
1777 married Robert Barclay (1751-1797) Sarah Ann Allardice, a descendant of King Robert II of Scotland and the Counts of Airth, Menteith and Strathearn. He redeveloped the property and provided estates and funds, thanks to which the new town of Stonehaven experienced a boom. His son, Captain Robert Barclay-Allardice (1779-1854) was a gifted farmer who, however, would go down in history as an avid pedestrian when he "walked 1000 miles in 1000 hours". He significantly increased the quality of the land, so that around 2000 acres (809 hectares) of arable land and around 1500 acres (607 hectares) of forest could be cultivated.
Expansion and remodeling of the property
After Barclay's death, Alexander Baird Sr., Esq. , an iron manufacturer from Gartsherrie, bought the property. After purchasing the adjoining Rickarton Estate in 1875, Baird's estate extended to approximately 10,000 acres, generating rental income of approximately £ 7,500. Ury House finally got its current appearance in 1885 when the existing property was completely rebuilt by Baird in the Elizabethan style. With the addition of a grand piano, which cost around £ 10,000, Ury House was the county's largest property.
After the Second World War , the roof of the property was removed and Ury House was turned into a ruin in order to save taxes that had to be paid on all buildings with roofs at the time.
Todays situation
Today the house is only a ruin, a shadow of its former splendor. Decades of decay and oblivion attacked the fabric of the building, so that any stay in the house involves extreme risks. In March 2007, the current owner indicated to FM Developments that they wanted to build a golf and leisure complex on the estate after other plans were rejected in October 2006. There have been previous proposals for restoration work, but these were rejected by the local community council.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ General information on Ury House , accessed on November 27, 2012.
- ↑ Gordon Smith: The Barclays of Stonehaven ( Memento of the original from September 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed November 27, 2012.
- ↑ Historical data on the land and house , accessed on November 27, 2012.
- ^ Frank Urquhart: Golf and leisure complex plans to go before council , accessed November 27, 2012.
- ↑ M. Haddock: Appendix A: Application for Outline Planning Permission for Residential Development, Land At Ury Estate, Stonehaven for Fm Property and Leisure Limited ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (.rtf), accessed October 30, 2006.
Coordinates: 56 ° 58 '49.4 " N , 2 ° 13' 58.1" W.