Distant view from south east

Description Distant view from south east

Date 18/6/2001

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

Catalogue Number SC 768805

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of E 15434 CN

Scope and Content Dairy Complex, Balmoral Estate, Aberdeenshire This charming set of buildings, surrounded by the lush pasture that borders the River Dee, was built of the same light-coloured local granite used in the construction of the castle. It consisted of a milking parlour (left), workers' cottages (centre) and an octagonal-shaped dairy (right) topped by a domed ventilation shaft. A covered walkway round the dairy helped to keep the interior cool in summer. In 1861 Prince Albert drew up plans, incorporating the most up-to-date and sanitary principles, for a dairy to be built along the lines of the one that had been constructed in 1858 at Windsor Castle. Unfortunately he was never to see this project completed, as he died later that year from typhoid fever at Windsor, a victim of the castle's medieval drains. Queen Victoria resolved that everything should continue as Albert had wished, and work on the dairy went ahead the following May. It was finally completed in 1863, and operated successfully for more than a century. 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 new cottages for estate workers, new bridges, new stables and a model dairy complex. The complex, probably designed by William Smith, the same architect who designed the castle, was begun after Albert's death in 1862, and completed in 1863. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/768805

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap