Building record MAB21952 - PITMEDDEN HOUSE AND GARDEN

House and gardens.

House and gardens. The house was a fortified house but is now so much altered that there is no external evidence of a castellated structure. The present Pitmedden House incorporates fragments of earlier structures, particularly to the north, and the uppermost garden terrace adjacent to the east side of the present house was probably the site of an earlier mansion that itself likely incorporated predecessor structures. The early complex was found in contemporary accounts to have been burnt in 1807 (not 1818 as secondary sources have it). A drawing of the ruins in 1838 suggests a U-shaped courtyard open to the west. This arrangement is now reversed. Pitmedden is renowned for its early garden, complete with dated inscription 'Fundat 2 May 1675' with the initials of Sir Alexander Seton and Dame Margaret Lauder his wife. It is a large rectangular area 173 m x 146 m (190 by 160 yards) comprising a west upper garden with house at west boundary and east lower garden with raised terraces to the north and south. Now owned by the National Trust of Scotland (NTS), restoration of the garden was carried out from 1952. The fountain in the upper garden was recreated in 1956 but included 17th century cubical stone and ball finial. A gateway and stair lead from the upper to the lower garden. There are bee-boles in north and south walls, twin pavilions, fountain and sundials. The pavilions are two-storeyed garden shelters with ogee roofs. A drystone walled well was uncovered to the west of the old farm buildings. It is about 60 cm in diameter and about 6 m deep. Trial excavations were carried out in 1993 by Robin Turner in advance of the establishment of two new parterre gardens on the upper garden within the walled garden. Three trenches were excavated. A depth of 0.6 m of garden soil was encountered, overlying natural subsoil. It was concluded that this was predominantly imported soil deposited in the later 17th century when the terraced gardens were formed. Occasional medieval finds, principally pottery shards, may have related to the old Pitmedden House but given the likely importation of soil the association cannot be secure. A comprehensive landscape survey and analysis was undertaken between January and December 2005 of the surviving core of the Pitmedden Estate, extending to selected areas sold to surrounding farms by the NTS in the 1950s. The principal discovery was that the well-known formal walled garden of circa 1675 at the core of the historic estate did not exist in isolation. An excavation was carried out in March 2007 prior to the erection of a new conservatory. The foundations of the 19th century conservatory, formerly attached to the wall of the house and documented in photographs, were exposed and recorded. Excavation was carried out by MAS 28-9 March 2007 on the site of the Victorian conservatory ahead of construction of a new conservatory. The excavation appeared to indicate that the lowest circa 500 mm of the garden wall in the area of the conservatory appeared from the outside to be of a different construction to the upper part. The inner side could not be viewed as it was obscured by a climbing plant. Watching brief carried out by MAS in March 2009 over the excavation of the footprint of this new conservatory. Overall, the levels were reduced by 300 mm, with the actual wall line on the south and east sides reduced to the base of the Victorian wall – circa 500 mm. When the garden wall had been cleared of vegetation it was clear on both faces that the lower circa 500 mm of the wall was of a different construction. During the demolition this was further confirmed as the upper part of the wall was cement bonded, whereas the lower section was lime mortared. It can be fairly confidently confirmed therefore that the lower circa 500 mm of the wall was part of the original 1675 garden wall that had been utilised by the Victorian conservatory. This is being preserved and is being used as the base for the west wall of the new conservatory. It was also noted during the watching brief that the east entrance was circa 710 mm wide and at some point appears to have been provided with a concrete surface between brick edging. The cross wall recorded in 2007 was one of 4 pygmy walls which ran north - south across the full width of the conservatory. These were 200-250 mm wide and had stone foundation circa 250 mm deep cut into compact midden ground. The upper stones of these pygmy walls were mortared and levelled with some slate. Traces and outlines of bricks show these had originally had at least one course of brick on top of the surviving level. The pygmy walls were spaced circa 1.4 m apart. The pygmy walls can be interpreted as having held a slatted wooden floor shown in photographs dated to circa 1910. It is probable that hot water pipes may have been laid under the floor but no pipe-work was observed. A watching brief in 2011 during construction of 4 new interpretation panels recorded a Bronze Age flint thumbnail scraper from the base of a pit seen within a trench facing the Cottage on the site of the 17th century Court of Offices. A watching brief was carried out by MAS in November 2012 during replacement of a drainage pipe across the east side of the courtyard between the two extant wings of the house and along the line that has been used for other services. No evidence for any foundations of the 17th century building were observed. A short section of small flat paving stones at the N end of the trench appear to have been an earlier path or yard probably post dating the mid 19th century. In 2015, a building survey was carried out by MAS during the demolition of a 1950s carpenter's workshop built against the outer face of the north east corner of the 17th century garden wall at Pitmedden House. The demolition revealed partial foundations of an earlier building on the site. The 1st and 2nd OS maps suggest that an apparently timber building of 1867 may have been rebuilt by 1899. However the irregularity and projection of some of the basal stones of the garden wall where it would have been hidden by a building, perhaps suggest that there may have been a building here, of stone or with stone foundations, from the time the garden wall was built in the 17th century. The structure appears to have been a mill with a diversion of the burn forming a lade outside the north gable, as shown on the 1867 and 1899 OS maps. Geophysical survey was carried out in the walled garden by RGC in January 2016 as part of a wider archaeological evaluation of the site, aimed at mapping the original principal range of the house, other related structures and earlier garden features. Although prior to its remodelling in the 1950s, parts of the garden had been used as a market garden anomalies suggesting earlier paths or other garden features were recorded. No evidence for the house was seen. A watching brief was carried out by MAS in March 2016 during remedial works on the Southwest corner of the walled garden. This recorded a section of cobbled path whose construction appears to be contemporary with that of the wall, and which suggests that at least the foundations of the wall is a 17th century structure. A watching brief was carried out by MAS in January 2017 during excavation of a cable trench across the courtyard between the smiddy/garage and the farmhouse. No archaeological features were recorded. Monitoring during raising of floorboards in some first floor rooms and corridors for fire alarm cabling revealed a wooden stair in the cupboard at the north end of the corridor but not other features of significance.

Period Notes
House built 17thC; sundial and garden dated 1675; panelling dated 1686; fire damage 1818; remodelled c.1853; duck house and stables 1861; proposed reconstruction - not executed 1885-6; repairs to garden for NTS and alterations to house 1954-5; fountain reconstructed from fragments 1956.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 02/07/84 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 16/11/84 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 19/07/82 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 25/08/83 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 29/06/84 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

Author unknown, , PRESS & JOURNAL, 30/06/83 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1416.

TRANTER, N, 1970, FORTIFIED HOUSE IN SCOT VOL 4, No4, 172 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1918.

NTS, 1993, DES : PITMEDDEN GREAT GARDEN, 36 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1300.

EVALUATION

TURNER, R., 1993, PITMEDDEN HOUSE, UDNY: EXCAVATIONS (Bibliographic reference). SAB1977.

EXCAVATION

SHEPHERD, I, 1996, ABERDEEN AND NORTH-EAST SCOTLAND (2ND ED), p. 94 (Bibliographic reference). SAB4829.

ADDYMAN, T, 2006, DES VOL6, 2005, p.19 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2217.

landscape survey

PETER McGOWAN ASSOCIATES, 2007, Pitmedden Historic Landscape Survey Vol 1 & 2 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1470.

LANDSCAPE SURVEY

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2008, DISCOVERY & EXCAVATION SCOTLAND, p.30 (Murray&Murray) (Bibliographic reference). SAB4029.

MURRAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES, 2009, PITMEDDEN HOUSE WATCHING BRIEF, WB report (Bibliographic reference). SAB4635.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2010, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND: VOL 10, 2009, P.30 (Bibliographic reference). SAB3514.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2010, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND: VOL 10, 2009, P.30 (Bibliographic reference). SAB3514.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2012, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND. NEW SERIES, VOLUME 12, 2011, p.28 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5536.

MURRAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES, 2012, SEWER PIPE REPLACEMENT, PITMEDDEN HOUSE, ABERDEENSHIRE: ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF, WB report (Bibliographic reference). SAB5041.

MURRAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES, 2014, GARDEN WALL, PITMEDDEN HOUSE, ABERDEENSHIRE: STRUCTURAL RECORDING, Structural recording (Bibliographic reference). SAB5164.

MURRAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES, 2016, GARDEN WALL, PITMEDDEN HOUSE, ABERDEENSHIRE: TEST PITS AND WATCHING BRIEF, WB report (Bibliographic reference). SAB5203.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2017, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 17, 2016, p. 23 (Bibliographic reference). SAB6497.

MURRAY ARCHAEOLOGICAL SERVICES, 2017, FIRE ALARM UPGRADE, PITMEDDEN HOUSE, ABERDEENSHIRE: ARCHAEOLOGICAL WATCHING BRIEF, WB report (Bibliographic reference). SAB7429.

Aug 18 1998 , AAS/98/11/CT, AAS/98/11/CT (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB17040.

Aug 18 1998 , AAS/98/11/G15/1-7, AAS/98/11/G15/1-7 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB17037.

Aug 20 2005 , AAS-GR-14-05-012 to 057, AAS-GR-14-05-012 to 057 (Ground Photograph). SAB19002.

Aug 29 1984 , CS 1-6, CS 1-6 (Ground Photograph). SAB33304.

Jan 1 1992 , AAS/GR/92/CT84-87, AAS/GR/92/CT84-87 (Ground Photograph). SAB32858.

Jul 18 2006 , AAS/06/2/CT40-47, AAS/06/2/CT40-47 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB19278.

Jul 18 2006 , AAS/06/2/DG177-83, AAS/06/2/DG177-83 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB18632.

May 6 1984 , CY 22, CY 22 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB33307.

SDD, n.d., BLDS OF ARCH & HIST INTEREST, UDNY 13,14 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1827.

PRENTICE, RJ, n.d., PITMEDDEN & ITS GREAT GARDEN (Bibliographic reference). SAB1412.

Sep 6 1984 , AAS/84/14/S9/1-20/10-6, AAS/84/14/S9/1-20/10-6 (Air-oblique Photograph). SAB14566.

Record last edited

Jun 3 2024 1:59PM