Rossie Priory is a category B listed country house and estate to the north of Inchture, near the hamlets of Baledgarno and

Knapp Knapp may refer to: People * Knapp (surname) Places * Knapp, Dunn County, Wisconsin * Knapp, Jackson County, Wisconsin * Knapp, Hampshire, England, a village in the parish of Ampfield * Knapp, Perthshire, Scotland * Knapp Creek (West Virgi ...

, Perthshire, Scotland. It lies by road west of the city centre of Dundee. The large estate is roughly 2000 acres.

Rossie Priory house

Rossie Priory was designed by the architect William Atkinson in Regency Gothic Style. It was designed as a house (1807) for

Charles Kinnaird, 8th Lord Kinnaird Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...

as the seat of the Kinnaird family and replaced Drimmie House, which was subsequently demolished. The house was added to between 1839-40 and the chapel completed in 1865-66. A large portion of the house was demolished in 1948, as the vast building was deemed too impractical to maintain in the twentieth century, and alterations were carried out in 1949 by architect Sir

Basil Spence Sir Basil Urwin Spence, (13 August 1907 – 19 November 1976) was a Scottish architect, most notably associated with Coventry Cathedral in England and the Beehive in New Zealand, but also responsible for numerous other buildings in the Moderni ...

. Plans of the demolished buildings in the Spence Archive show the significant reduction and that the foundations were to be covered with a terraced garden.

Designed landscape

The designed landscape and gardens of Rossie Priory are considered to be "of outstanding value as a Work of Art" by

Historic Environment Scotland Historic Environment Scotland (HES) ( gd, Àrainneachd Eachdraidheil Alba) is an executive non-departmental public body responsible for investigating, caring for and promoting Scotland's historic environment. HES was formed in 2015 from the mer ...

. The designed landscape dates from around 1800-33 and was further developed between 1887 and the end of the twentieth century. The landscape includes parklands, woodlands and walled gardens. An arboretum was established in the 1860s and there are three main ornamental gardens: the Terrace, the

Topiary Topiary is the horticultural practice of training perennial plants by clipping the foliage and twigs of trees, shrubs and subshrubs to develop and maintain clearly defined shapes, whether geometric or fanciful. The term also refers to plants w ...

and the Water gardens. Prior to 1800, there was a scheme of planting surrounding Drimmie House which can be seen on the Roy Military Survey map (1747-52).

Notable monuments

Moncur Castle was the original fortified house on the Rossie estate and dates from the sixteenth century; its remains are a

scheduled ancient monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

. Rossie Priory Stone, a cross slab with

Pictish symbols A Pictish stone is a type of monumental stele, generally carved or incised with symbols or designs. A few have ogham inscriptions. Located in Scotland, mostly north of the Clyde-Forth line and on the Eastern side of the country, these stones ar ...

, is in Kinnaird Mausoleum (formerly Rossie Church) and also a scheduled monument of national importance. The market cross of the old village of Rossie dates from 1746 and is listed category A. It takes the form of a Corinthian column surmounted by two lions and two unicorns.

Sporting and artistic connections

Rossie Priory Cricket Club is based on the estate and was founded in 1828 by

George Kinnaird, 9th Lord Kinnaird George William Fox Kinnaird, 9th Lord Kinnaird, KT, PC (14 April 1807 – 7 January 1878) was a Scottish Whig politician. He served as Master of the Buckhounds under Lord Melbourne from 1839 to 1841. Background Kinnaird was the eldest son of ...

; it is the second oldest Scottish cricket club still in existence after Kelso. George Kinnaird also established an early calotype photographic studio with the assistance of

Thomas Rodger Thomas Rodger (18 April 1832 – 6 January 1883) was an early Scottish photographer. He studied at the University of St Andrews and was a protégé of Dr. John Adamson (physician), John Adamson who also persuaded him to become a photographer. At ...

in around 1850. The Rossie Priory Glass Plate Negative Collection is held by the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

Arthur Kinnaird, 11th Lord Kinnaird Arthur Fitzgerald Kinnaird, 11th Lord Kinnaird (16 February 1847 – 30 January 1923) was a British principal of The Football Association and a leading footballer, considered by some journalists as the first football star. He played in nine F ...

was a leading football player, who played for Scotland, and served as the president of the Football Association.

Sale of the estate

Rossie Priory House and 240 acres of the estate were put up for sale in August 2021. The estate has been the Kinnaird family seat since the twelfth century and the house has not been sold before.

References

Country houses in Perth and Kinross Houses completed in 1817 Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes {{Scotland-struct-stub