Balmoral Castle. General view South. Insc: '604 Balmoral Castle' Digital image of AB 5045 po

Description Balmoral Castle. General view South. Insc: '604 Balmoral Castle' Digital image of AB 5045 po

Date c. 1900

Collection Collection of photographs by Thomas Polson Lugton, photographer, Edinburgh, Scotland

Catalogue Number SC 775913

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of AB 5045

Scope and Content Balmoral Castle, Aberdeenshire, from the north The castle, modest by royal standards, is a rambling, rather quaint building, constructed of near-white granite from the local Glen Gelder quarries. Its most impressive visible feature is a five-storeyed, square tower which rises to a height of 30m at the east end of the south front. The tower, with pepperpot turrets at three corners, has a circular stair-turret at its north-east corner topped by a two-storeyed round tower that gives access to the flat crenellated roof. The turreted and crowstepped main block (right) contains the principal rooms grouped around a small inner courtyard, and is connected to the tower by a low service range (centre). Queen Victoria and Prince Albert spent six weeks at Balmoral each autumn, returning to London towards the end of October. The castle proved to be an ideal holiday home where the royal couple could devote their time to rest and recreation, and where they could appreciate and enjoy the scenery. Recreation included walking, boating, fishing, sketching, billiards and dancing, and the prince was able indulge his passion for deer stalking. Both he and the queen embarked on adventurous escorted pony treks to the Cairngorm summits, often spending two or three days rough trekking and staying overnight in isolated cottages. The queen maintained her royal duties, dealing with the contents of the red despatch boxes that were sent daily from London, and entertaining Cabinet ministers whom she required to see for reasons of State. Albert, whose ambition was to 'educate and improve', made many social improvements to the estate, planning new cottages for estate workers, new stables, new bridges, a dairy, a ballroom for dances for the ghillies and other estate workers, and a 500-volume library in the castle to which everyone in the neighbourhood had access. Balmoral Castle, set in gently wooded countryside close to the River Dee, was built in 1853-5 for Prince Albert and Queen Victoria at their own expense as a Highland retreat from the stresses of London life. The house was designed in a Scots Baronial style by the City of Aberdeen architect, William Smith, and incorporated ideas suggested by the prince who exercised considerable influence on the form which the building finally took. On Queen Victoria's death in 1901, ownership of the house passed to her successors, and is today a favourite residence of the present royal family during the summer holiday period. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

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File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap