Keir House is a large country house near

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a city in central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town, surrounded by rich farmland, grew up connecting the royal citadel, the medieval old town with its me ...

in central Scotland. It is located in the parish of

Lecropt Lecropt (''Leac Croit'' in Gaelic) is a rural parish lying to the west of Bridge of Allan, Scotland. The population of the parish of Lecropt is estimated to be around 75, consisting entirely of isolated farms and houses, as well as the Keir Estat ...

, north-west of

Bridge of Allan Bridge of Allan ( sco, Brig Allan, gd, Drochaid Ailein), also known colloquially as ''Bofa'', is a town in the Stirling council area in Scotland, just north of the city of Stirling. Overlooked by the National Wallace Monument, it lies on the ...

, in the former county of

Perthshire Perthshire (locally: ; gd, Siorrachd Pheairt), officially the County of Perth, is a historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore in the east, to the Pass of Drumochter in the north, ...

. The estate was home to the Stirling family from the 15th to the 20th century. Keir House is protected as a category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, and the grounds are included on the

Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland The ''Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland'' is a listing of gardens and designed landscapes of national artistic and/or historical significance, in Scotland. The Inventory was originally compiled in 1987, although it is a cont ...

, the national listing of significant gardens.

History

The Keir estate was acquired by the Stirling family in 1448, and a house was built on it in the 16th century. The Stirlings supported the

Jacobites Jacobite means follower of Jacob or James. Jacobite may refer to: Religion * Jacobites, followers of Saint Jacob Baradaeus (died 578). Churches in the Jacobite tradition and sometimes called Jacobite include: ** Syriac Orthodox Church, sometime ...

during the 18th-century rebellions, and the estate was forfeited. However, they continued to live at Keir, and built the present house in around 1760. Income from those enslaved on the family's estates in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

funded agricultural improvements and landscaping of the grounds. The gardens were created in the 19th century as a miniature version of the Great Garden of

Alloa Alloa (Received Pronunciation ; educated Scottish pronunciation /ˈaloʊa/; gd, Alamhagh, possibly meaning "rock plain") is a town in Clackmannanshire in the Central Lowlands of Scotland. It is on the north bank of the Forth at the spot where ...

20km to the south-east. Additions were made to the house, including the south-west wing to designs by David Hamilton, completed in 1831. In 1847 Sir William Stirling Maxwell inherited the estate, and began a remodelling of the house and grounds. Architects Alfred Jenoure and William Stirling II worked on the house, while formal gardens were laid out by James Niven. A chapel was added in 1912, designed by Rowand Anderson and Paul, and with interior mosaic decoration by Boris Anrep. Sir William's grandson

David Stirling Sir Archibald David Stirling (15 November 1915 – 4 November 1990) was a Scottish officer in the British army, a mountaineer, and the founder and creator of the Special Air Service (SAS). He saw active service during the Second World War. ...

, founder of the

Special Air Service The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling and in 1950, it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terro ...

, was born at Keir in 1915. In 1975 the house, together with , was sold by the Stirling family for £2 million to

Mahdi Al Tajir Mohammed Mahdi Al Tajir ( ar, محمد مهدي التاجر) (born 26 December 1931) is a Bahraini- Emirati businessman based in the United Kingdom. He was the first United Arab Emirates ambassador to the United Kingdom and non resident ambassa ...

, a businessman from the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (The Middle East). It is located at th ...

The estate

The estate is entered from the north-east via the New Lodge. Built in 1820 to Greek Revival designs by David Hamilton, this was originally the South Lodge, but was moved to its present location in 1969 when the M9 motorway was built through the eastern edge of the grounds. The Home Farm was built in 1832 and designed by

David Bryce David Bryce FRSE FRIBA RSA (3 April 1803 – 7 May 1876) was a Scottish architect. Life Bryce was born at 5 South College Street in Edinburgh, the son of David Bryce (1763–1816) a grocer with a successful side interest in buildi ...

, but was elaborated by Sir William Stirling-Maxwell around 1858. The large steading includes a clock tower and a dairy with pictorial tiles.

References

{{reflist

External links

The Stirlings of Keir - Chapter III - The Lofty Brow of Ancient Keir
Clan Stirling online Country houses in Stirling (council area) Category A listed buildings in Stirling (council area) Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes Lecropt