View from south

Description View from south

Date 18/6/2001

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

Catalogue Number E 15347 CN

Category Photographs and Off-line Digital Images

Copies SC 769166

Scope and Content Queen Victoria's Obelisk, Balmoral Estate, Aberdeenshire This slender, four-sided, tapering granite pillar, set on a stepped granite base, stands overlooking the River Dee, close to a statue of Prince Albert erected by Queen Victoria after his death in 1861. The inscription reads: 'To the beloved memory of Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria, Sovereign of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India. This obelisk was erected by the tenants and servants on the estates of Balmoral, Abergeldie and Birkhall.' Queen Victoria was born in 1819 and succeeded to the throne in 1837. In 1840 she married Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, and their happy marriage produced nine children, most of whom married into the royal families of Europe. Albert was her principal trusted advisor in affairs of state, and after his death in 1861, she was devastated, and mourned him for the rest of her life. She was considered conscientious, hard-working and of strict moral standards, and had, by the end of her long life, won the affection and respect of her subjects, as well as the servants and tenants on her estates, to a unique degree. Her reign saw industrial expansion and economic progress, and by its close the British Empire and British world power were at their peak. Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight in 1901 following a reign that lasted almost 64 years, the longest in British history, and was buried at Windsor beside Prince Albert. 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 Balmoral Castle in 1853-5 that became Queen Victoria's 'dear place'. The queen took great pleasure in the local landscape and, after her death in 1901, the servants and tenants of the estate erected an obelisk to her memory in the grounds. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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