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 Hon. Charles Pearson (born 5 March 1956) is the younger son of the 3rd Viscount Cowdray and owner of Dunecht estate in Aberdeenshire. Early life and education Charles Pearson is the younger son of the Third Viscount Cowdray and his wif ...

, the younger son of the 3rd Viscount Cowdray. 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 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 Loch of Skene is a large lowland, freshwater loch in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It lies approximately to the west of the village of Kirkton of Skene and west of Aberdeen. The loch is partially man-made, being dammed at its outflow on the southe ...

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 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.

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. The house was sold by

, brother of the 4th Viscount Cowdray to the Scottish business entrepreneur

Jamie Oag James George Oag is a Scottish business entrepreneur. Education Oag was born in West Lothian in March 1966. He attended Armadale Academy then served an apprenticeship as a mechanic before attending Inverness College to study mechanical engineer ...

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,

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