Building record MAB8783 - GORDON CASTLE WALLED GARDEN, FOCHABERS

Walled garden of Gordon Castle with associated structures, which lies to the south of the castle (NJ35NW0010), to the west of the Castle Farm (NJ35NE0023) and on the east side of the lake which formed part of the designed landscape of the estate.

Walled garden of Gordon Castle with associated structures, which lies to the south of the castle (NJ35NW0010), to the west of the Castle Farm (NJ35NE0023) and on the east side of the lake which formed part of the designed landscape of the estate. It comprises a large rectangular walled garden, and with later smaller walled area at the west. The smaller garden to the west appears as un-walled on the 1808 plan of Gordon Castle policies. The walls are of rubble faced with brick on the south aspect, brick on both faces elsewhere and built in English garden bond brickwork. There is a segmental-headed entrance at the northeast closed by double wooden gates. The garden, which overlies the old village of Fochabers (which was moved in the late 18th century), was constructed between 1803-4 as part of a general expansion and reorganisation of the estate landscape. Its heyday was circa 1820-1838, when it was divided into four main quarters that were also themselves subdivided. The northeast corner of the garden included a number of glasshouses, some of which remain and retain original fittings, and which were designed by the famous Mackenzie and Moncur company. A number of ancillary buildings are located to the east of the garden, together with Apple Cottage. To the north of the north wall is Garden House. The gardens at this time comprised an extensive kitchen and fruit garden, which was nationally renowned for the variety and quality of its produce. Up until World War II it was a significant producer of vegetables and soft fruit. By the 1970s much of the garden had been given over to commercial raspberry growing, and in recent years has been neglected. Building recording of the walled garden and associated buildings were carried out by AOC in 2012. The walled garden is of red brick, with external buttresses. A major renovation project began in 2013 to restore the garden to its former glory. LAKESIDE HOUSE: In the smaller garden on the west side of the garden is a lakeside house, which is a two storey garden pavilion or tea house, against the ground floor of which was a former glazed vinery/conservatory. It was possibly designed by John Paterson, architect, Edinburgh, in 1800-01. It is constructed to abut the walled garden, with the garden wall continuous with the S elevation of the house. There is a substantial later lean-to 2-storey rear addition, and a later single storey lean-to wings the flank of the house. The house is hung at the first floor level with Banffshire slate, replaced on the south front by painted ('metal') material giving an impression of tile-hanging. The additions and alterations are harled and rendered. The present entrance is located in the re-entrant angle at the rear. A bowed French window forms the centre entrance to a 3-bay south garden front with flanking windows, one half of which is blocked. The first floor is lit by a wide, centre bowed window with blind outer lights, aprons, fluted jambs and a frieze with a lozenge ornament. A Venetian window lights the west first floor elevation, and two round-headed windows light the east. Multi-pane glazing is used. A mutule cornice encircles the building, which has a rear centre wallhead stack and a flat roof. Internally, the floor plan of the original house is of a single circular chamber within a cube on both floors. The upper floor is approached by curved cantilevered staircase at the east, with slender balusters and carved decoration to the outer face of the stairs. Small rectangular rooms open off the main centre chambers at the ground and first floor level. The circular rooms have beaded panelled window shutters, panelled dados and doors, carved wooden chimneypieces with fluted engaged columns on each side and decorative ceiling cornices. A carved trellis-like ornamentation decorates the curved wall of the small first floor room at the west. The Garden House was built in 1811 and comprises a 2-storey, wide 3-bay house, with a later projecting gabled bay at the rear. The house is flanked on both sides by the north wall of the walled garden, into which the south elevation projects slightly. It has a brick frontage, with harled flanks at the rear. The south elevation is symmetrical, with a wide centre projecting canted bay with a centre entrance and small windows in the flanking facets, and wider ground floor windows in the outer bays. All the first floor windows are segmental-headed and close under the eaves. The outer windows are 3-light, and the remainder of the windows are of two lights, divided by thick moulded wooden mullions and with multi-pane glazing. There are a pair of coped ridge stacks and a piended slate roof raised over the first floor windows. At the rear, there are slightly projecting rear centre bays that are now fronted by a later wing with the entrance in the re-entrant angle. The raised 'eyebrows' of the front roofline and the segmental-headed first floor windows are reminiscent of Sussex traditional building. The stylistic influence for this design may have come from the Goodwood Estate, Sussex, property of the Dukes of Richmond and Gordon. Estate accounts refer to 'new house for gardener', presumably the head gardener.

Period Notes
The walled garden was constructed between 1803-04, and the garden house was constructed in 1811. Designation 26/01/1971. Lakeside House upgraded from a B listing to an A listing on 24/03/1988

Author unknown, , KNOCK NEWS, Issue 71, 20-21 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1032.

AOC ARCHAEOLOGY, 2012, GORDON CASTLE WALLED GARDEN, FOCHABERS, MORAYSHIRE: HISTORIC BUILDING RECORDING REPORT, Building recording (Bibliographic reference). SAB5517.

AOC ARCHAEOLOGY, 2012, GORDON CASTLE WALLED GARDEN, FOCHABERS: HISTORIC BLDNG RECORDING AND WATCHING BRIEF: WRITTEN SCHEME OF INVESTIGATION, WSI (Bibliographic reference). SAB3604.

DINGWALL, C, 2012, GORDON CASTLE, FOCHABERS, WALLED GARDEN AND ENVIRONS: AN HISTORICAL APPRAISAL (Bibliographic reference). SAB4065.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2013, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 13, 2012, p.32 (Bibliographic reference). SAB5487.

Jun 26 2014 , AAS-Gr-14-06-133 - 136, AAS-Gr-14-06-133 - 136 (Ground Photograph). SAB30858.

Author unknown, n.d., THE NORTHERN SCOT, 04/01/13 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1270.

Record last edited

Sep 1 2022 12:37PM