Building record MAB11706 - RANNAS HOUSE

Remains of house and estate, built in the mid to late 18th century.

Remains of house and estate, built in the mid to late 18th century. It is depicted on the 1st edition OS map of 1867 with walled garden, offices, mill buildings and a mill dam, lade and sluice. Only the flanking East and West wing blocks and the walled garden remain along with parts of the office and mill buildings, in the form of a barn and implement shed (NJ46SE0088). The wings, now in residential use, are a pair of formerly mirrored 2-storey, 5 bay blocks, with a centre projecting stairwell flanked by doorways, fronting each other and flanking the front court of the mansion, demolished some time before 1822. They are constructed of pinned rubble with tooled ashlar dressings. The East block was converted as a dwelling in late 19th century. The ground-floor canted window projects at the South-West. Two gabled dormers break the wallhead in the outer front bays, and three at the rear. There are 19th century gabled end stacks, and a single rear wallhead stack. The 19th century gabled slate roof has projecting eaves. The West block has a symmetrical 5-bay East front, with entrances that flank the centre stair projection. There is regular 3-window fenestration in the West elevation, and all windows are margined. There are coped end stacks and a piended local slate roof with stone ridge. The interior is in poor condition. There are remains of the former kitchen on the ground floor, and a large combed ceiling room in first floor. A cantilevered staircase survives in the stairwell. The L-plan walled garden lies to East and North of the complex, enclosing the site of the former mansion. The walls are constructed from rubble, with tooled coping. There is a large round-headed entrance arch at the West. Rannas was the ancestral home of the Hays of Rannas. George, the first Hay of Rannas, became Rector of Rathen and later Superintendent of Glasgow and Aberdeen. Andrew Hay, the last of the line, declared for Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745 and fought at Culloden, making his escape but thus becoming an outlaw until pardoned in 1788: he died in 1789. The property was then bought by the Earl of Seafield. The house was 'consumed by fire' in 1759 and it has been suggested from the content of contemporary letters that the new house was built on a different site. Some of the material from the demolished mansion was re-used in Cullen Town Hall (NJ56NW0027), 1822-3, and some slates were re-used on Cullen House (NJ56NW0003) in circa 1985. In 1999, a watching brief was carried out by MAS over the excavation of foundations trenches for a structure linking the two wing blocks at their southern end. No finds or features were observed, and it was evident hat drainage work and agricultural activity had removed any traces of the earlier house which had been demolished in 1789. The current owner has restored the remaining buildings on the site. See also NJ46NW0001 for the Rannas Aisle in St Peter's Church, Rathven.

Period Notes
Mid-18th century construction. Two wings demolished before 1822. The East wing was converted in the late-19th century. Bought by present owner in 1998. Designated on 25/04/1989.

Author unknown, 1799, OLD STATISTICAL ACCOUNT, 395 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1845.

MURRAY, J.C., 1999, RANNAS HOUSE : WATCHING BRIEF FOR HOUSE EXTENSION., watching brief (Bibliographic reference). SAB2826.

WATCHING BRIEF

SDD, n.d., BLDS OF ARCH & HIST INTEREST, RATHVEN,No26 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1827.

Record last edited

Nov 5 2021 11:57AM