The Dunecht Estate is one of the largest private estates in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

at . It is owned by The Hon Charles Anthony Pearson, the younger son of the 3rd

Viscount Cowdray Viscount Cowdray, of Cowdray in the County of Sussex, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1917 for the industrialist Weetman Pearson, 1st Baron Cowdray, head of the Pearson conglomerate. He had already been create ...

. Dunecht’s business interests include farming (in hand and let farms), forestry, field sports, minerals, let houses, commercial lets and tourism. The main part of the estate lies between

Banchory Banchory (, sco, Banchry, gd, Beannchar) is a burgh or town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is about west of Aberdeen, near where the Feugh River meets the River Dee. Prehistory and archaeology In 2009, a farmer discovered a short cist ...

and Westhill, encompassing the village of

Dunecht Dunecht ( gd, Dùn Eicht) is a slightly linear village on the A944 road in north-east Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It is not to be confused with Echt. Dunecht is located 12 miles (19.5 km) west of the city of Aberdeen and is situated by ...

, the Loch of Skene and the stately home of

Dunecht House Dunecht House is a stately home on the Dunecht estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The house is protected as a category A listed building, and the grounds are included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national ...

. The estate grounds include a

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". Th ...

and extensive areas of

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. Th ...

and

farming Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

. The estate also includes separate areas of land at

Birse Birse ( gd, Braois/Breis) is a parish in the Lower Deeside area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, which includes the communities of Finzean and Ballogie. However the name Birse is often used to refer only to the northwestern part of the parish which l ...

and Durris on

Royal Deeside The River Dee ( gd, Uisge Dhè) is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through southern Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen. The area it passes through is known as Deeside, or Royal Deeside in ...

, Edinglassie in

Strathdon Strathdon (; Gaelic: ''Srath Dheathain'') is an area in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is situated in the strath of the River Don, 45 miles west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. The main village in the strath is also called Strathdon, although it was o ...

and

Dunnottar Castle Dunnottar Castle ( gd, Dùn Fhoithear, "fort on the shelving slope") is a ruined medieval fortress located upon a rocky headland on the north-eastern coast of Scotland, about south of Stonehaven. The surviving buildings are largely of the 1 ...

near

Stonehaven Stonehaven ( , ) is a town in Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 11,602 at the 2011 Census. After the demise of the town of Kincardine, which was gradually abandoned after the destruction of its royal cast ...

Dunecht House

Built in 1820 as the family home of the Earl of Crawford and Balcarres, the house has a grand ballroom, chapel and observatory and is surrounded by extensive gardens. It also has an

observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial, marine, or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geophysical, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed. His ...

, built by

James Ludovic Lindsay James Ludovic Lindsay, 26th Earl of Crawford and 9th Earl of Balcarres, FRS, FRAS, KT (28 July 184731 January 1913) was a British astronomer, politician, ornithologist, bibliophile and philatelist. A member of the Royal Society, Crawford was ...

, the 26th

Earl of Crawford Earl of Crawford is one of the most ancient extant titles in Great Britain, having been created in the Peerage of Scotland for Sir David Lindsay in 1398. It is the premier earldom recorded on the Union Roll. Early history Sir David Lindsay, who ...

. The house was sold by Charles Anthony Pearson, brother of the 4th

to the Scottish business entrepreneur Jamie Oag in 2012.

Dunnottar Castle

, a dramatic cliff top ruined fortress, is managed as a visitor attraction. The Castle is open to the public all year round. Dunnottar draws around 100,000 visitors each year since 2017.

Forestry

The Estates’

business extends to of commercial woodland. Predominant tree species are

scots pine ''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US) or Baltic pine, is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-green leaves and orang ...

sitka spruce ''Picea sitchensis'', the Sitka spruce, is a large, coniferous, evergreen tree growing to almost tall, with a trunk diameter at breast height that can exceed 5 m (16 ft). It is by far the largest species of spruce and the fifth-larg ...

Norway spruce ''Picea abies'', the Norway spruce or European spruce, is a species of spruce native to Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. It has branchlets that typically hang downwards, and the largest cones of any spruce, 9–17 cm long. It is very close ...

, hybrid larch and

Douglas fir The Douglas fir (''Pseudotsuga menziesii'') is an evergreen conifer species in the pine family, Pinaceae. It is native to western North America and is also known as Douglas-fir, Douglas spruce, Oregon pine, and Columbian pine. There are three va ...

. There are also substantial areas of native, semi-natural and plantation woodland where the primary management objective is conservation.

Field sports

Field sports interests include grouse moors at Edinglassie,

Forest of Birse The Forest of Birse is a remote upland area in the upper catchment of the Water of Feugh, which forms the south-western portion of the Parish of Birse, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It also forms the western part of the community of Finzean, but has ...

and the Hill of Fare on Dunecht. An in-hand pheasant and partridge shoot is run at Dunecht while other Estates have low ground shooting tenants. The Estates’ have two salmon fishing beats on the River Dee, Lower Crathes/West Durris and Birse. The fishings at the former are let to Lax-a while the Birse lettings are managed direct. Other fishing interests include pike fishing on the Loch of Skene at Dunecht. Roe deer stalking is let by the week at Dunecht and Raemoir and Campfield.

References

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External links

Dunecht Estates homepageDunnottar Castle homepage
Buildings and structures in Aberdeenshire Highland Estates Geography of Aberdeenshire