Tack room to east of main block, view from south Digital image of E 15221 cn

Description Tack room to east of main block, view from south Digital image of E 15221 cn

Date 4/6/2001

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

Catalogue Number SC 769255

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of E 15221 CN

Scope and Content Tack Room, Balmoral Estate, Aberdeenshire This long, single-storeyed range, built of the same light-coloured local granite used in the construction of the castle, was designed as a tack room. It lies to the east of the main stable block, and has a simple construction with ground-floor accommodation for the saddles, bridles and other 'tack' used in the management of horses, and a hayloft above for storage. The stables employed a hierarchy of grooms and stable lads to dress, saddle, bridle and groom the royal riding and carriage horses on a daily basis. Queen Victoria had her own riding and carriage horses, in addition to the large number required for visitors and other members of the royal household, and there were also a number of stalking ponies, used to recover the red deer from the hills during the stalking season using special pack saddles. The responsibility for management fell to the head groom who maintained a stock of saddles, bridles, stirrups, reins and other necessary equipment, and supervised the daily cleaning and polishing of the tack. When the motor car superseded the carriage for private transport, many of the stables were adapted for garage use. The tack room now serves to store equipment for use by the stalking ponies that are also used for trekking outside the stalking season. 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. He also put forward plans for new cottages for estate workers, new bridges, a model dairy, and a new stable complex for which he employed the same architect, William Smith, who designed the castle. The complex, built to an E-plan round an open courtyard, was completed in 1857. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/769255

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap