Sawmill, view from north west

Description Sawmill, view from north west

Date 18/6/2001

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

Catalogue Number E 15263 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 769297

Scope and Content Sawmill, Invergelder Steading, Balmoral Estate, Aberdeenshire These long low buildings, constructed from the same local granite as the castle, were completed in 1861, and designed to contain the machinery for the sawmill that was an integral part of the working farm. The timber that supplied the mill was chiefly birch and Scots pine from the estate's vast acres of natural woodland that stretched south from the castle. Today the estate is run as a self-supporting business. Forestry plays an increasingly important role, and Balmoral's commercial forests produce most of the timber income for the estate. These forests, which now extend to 2,290 acres south of the castle along the west bank of the River Muick into the Lochnagar massif, have a good mixture of Scots pine, Norway spruce, larch, Douglas fir and lodgepole pine. Their management is the responsibility of a head forester, one of several heads of departments under the authority of the estate factor. The factor is ultimately responsible for the day-to-day running and management of the estate. The Balmoral estate was bought in 1852 by Prince Albert and Queen Victoria at their own expense as a Highland retreat from the stresses of London life. Prince Albert initiated many improvements, including the building of a new holiday home, Balmoral Castle, in 1853-5, and put forward plans for a model estate with new houses and offices for estate workers and tenants. He also superintended the re-organisation of several farms, including the design of new buildings at Invergelder, the main working farm on the estate. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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