Balbithan House ( ) is a three-storey
L-plan
An L-plan castle is a castle or tower house in the shape of an L, typically built from the 13th to the 17th century. This design is found quite frequently in Scotland, but is also seen in England, Ireland, Romania, Sardinia, and other location ...
keep
A keep (from the Middle English ''kype'') is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in c ...
dating from the 16th century.
[Lindsay, Maurice (1986) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Constable. p.61] Alternative names are ''Old Place of Balbithan'', ''Old Balbthan'' and ''Balbythan House''.
[ It is located 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, south-east of Inverurie
Inverurie (Scottish Gaelic: ''Inbhir Uraidh'' or ''Inbhir Uaraidh'', 'mouth of the River Ury') is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at the confluence of the rivers Ury and Don, about north-west of Aberdeen.
Geography
Inverurie is in the vall ...
.
History
The grounds once belonged to the Abbey of Lindores,[ but by 1490 the Chalmers family had acquired them.][ An earlier House of Balbithan, of which there is now no trace, also stood above the River Don, opposite Kintore.][
The Chalmers built the new house, probably as an oblong with one round tower, in about 1560.][ A second wing, added in about 1600, entailed the removal of the tower, which had been to the north-west.][
]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, sometimes ...
are supposed to have used the tower in 1746, after Culloden.[ The Chalmers sold the property to James Balfour, an Edinburgh merchant, in 1696.][ After a brief period – from 1699 to 1707 – in the ownership of the Hays, it came to be owned by a branch of the Gordons until 1859.][
In the century to 1860 internal alterations were made. The top floor was removed early in the 19th century, and the second-floor ceilings were raised.][
It was bought in 1960 by the botanical artist ]Mary McMurtrie
Mary McMurtrie DA SBASociety of Botanical Artists (26 June 1902 – 1 November 2003) was a Scottish botanical artist and horticulturalist. She wrote and illustrated several books of wild flowers and became internationally recognised for her b ...
,[
]
Structure
Balbithan House is an L-plan tower, unusual in that the new wing, dating from 1630, and the original are of equal length.[ There is an unvaulted kitchen on the ground floor, with the long hall, a long gallery or withdrawing room, and bedrooms successively above. A small addition on the north side, which housed a service stair, has been removed.][ Attached to the south turret of the west wing is a metal sundial; it is dated 1679 and carries the initials of James Chalmers.][ It is a ]category A listed building
Category, plural categories, may refer to:
Philosophy and general uses
*Categorization, categories in cognitive science, information science and generally
*Category of being
*Categories (Aristotle), ''Categories'' (Aristotle)
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...
.[ and very fine.][
]
References
External links
Balbithan House websitePhoto of Balbithan House
*
{{Authority control
Houses in Aberdeenshire
Category A listed buildings in Aberdeenshire
Castles in Aberdeenshire
Inverurie