Westhall House
Date 25 June 2002
Event ID 900018
Category Management
Type Site Management
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/900018
16th cent. L plan. Extended at E. End in 17th cent with round tower at SE angle. Mostly 3-storeyed. Harled. Corbelled parapet. Slated roof. With 19th cent additions at E end and rear. Cheese-press at rear.
Purchased by Rev James Horne from Gordons 1681. Passed to Dalrymple-Home Elphinstones and later to Leiths. Became a school for students of farming. (Historic Scotland)
The estate was originally the property of Bishops of Aberdeen; at Reformation changed to a branch of the Gordons, then purchased by Revd James Horne, vicar of Elgin in 1681.
Westhall has a small place in railway history, being the point where work began on the Great North of Scotland Railway in 1852. The estate owner, Sir James Elphinstone, had formerly been active in the Aberdeen Canal Company. (Ian Shepherd)
