Building record MAB7909 - BELLABEG HOUSE

Mansion house.

Mansion house. Bellabeg House, which overlooks the Lonach field, just beside the little hamlet of Bellabeg, was built for the Forbes family in circa 1690-1730 (or earlier), with alterations in 1765, and is an outstanding example of an early laird's house. It is a fine two storey and attic with evidence of a cellar, five-bay, T-plan house built in red granite ashlar with dark granite cherry-cocking, and some harl to the sides and rear. It is the least altered of the principal houses in the glen. The central bay is crowned by agreeable semi-circular wallhead. The house incorporates an early single storey kitchen wing with a monumental semi-circular fireplace arch, semi-circular nepus gable and fine original interior detail. There are 12-pane timber sash and case windows, except a bipartite with 8-pane glazing, and the roof is covered by graded grey slates. The interior features a fine decorative scheme incorporating 6-panelled architraved doors, timber shutters, dado rails and a dog-leg staircase with timber balusters. The rooms at Bellabeg are smaller than may be expected, which is thought to be due to a lack of good quality large timbers at the time of building. Bellabeg, along with Auchernach (NJ31NW0006), Invererenan (NJ31SW0010), Skellater (NJ31SW0005), Candacraig (NJ31SW0006) and Castle Newe (NJ31SE0013) were all at some time properties of the Forbes clan. Inverernan House (NJ31SW0010) was reworked as a near copy of Bellabeg in 1935. Except for a brief period during WWI when Bellabeg served as a hospital for Belgian soldiers, it has always been used as a home. The chevron patterned timber fences facing the main road at the northern boundary are believed to have been erected by the Belgian soldiers staying at the hospital. John Forbes, born here in 1707, married Christian Shepherd in 1737, and the armorial panel over the front door bears their initials and the motto 'NON TEMERE' (Be Not Afraid). Their son (also John) established a mercantile house in Bombay and restored the family fortune, buying back ancestral estates including Newe from James Forbes of Seaton.

Period Notes
Built 1690-1730, or earlier, with alterations in 1765.

SHEPHERD, I.A.G.S., 2006, DONSIDE & STRATHBOGIE: ARCHITECTURAL GUIDE, P.63 (Bibliographic reference). SAB3366.

Record last edited

Jun 2 2023 3:48PM