Game larder, interior view from North

Description Game larder, interior view from North

Date 12/5/1997

Collection Records of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS), Edinbu

Catalogue Number D 12174 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 778728

Scope and Content Work area, Game Larder, Mar Lodge, Aberdeenshire This shows the work area of the timber-clad and timber-lined game larder which was built in 1899 and used to store and butcher deer shot on the estate. Once the deer had been killed it would have to be gutted immediately or the meat would putrefy. The body would be placed onto one of the small wooden trestles where its intestines would be cut out. The carcass would then be suspended on the wooden pulley and skinned. The intestines would be loaded into the metal bin in the background and other waste would be washed down the drain in the centre of the room. This building is still used for its original purpose as visitors staying at the lodge have the opportunity to shoot deer. The National Trust for Scotland aims to regenerate the native Caledonian pine forests, and to encourage this, the Trust wants to reduce the number of red deer on the estate from 2,700 to 1,750. Currently 400 stags and 600 hinds are culled every year and five gamekeepers are employed to manage the animals on the estate. William Duff of Dipple who became the 1st Earl of Fife in 1759 built the original Mar Lodge (or Dalmore House) in 1750. The 6th Earl was created the 1st Duke of Fife when he married Princess Louise, who was a daughter of King Edward VII. When Mar Lodge was destroyed by fire in 1895, Alexander Marshall Mackenzie (1848-1933) designed a new lodge and Queen Victoria laid the foundation stone later in the same year. The duke and duchess used the house mainly as a sporting lodge and an autumn home. The building had another serious fire in 1991 but was subsequently restored. The 29,380-hectare estate had several owners from 1959 until 1995 when The National Trust for Scotland bought it, with the help of a £10 million lottery grant. The lodge has been divided into five self-catering holiday apartments which can be rented by the public. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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