Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands
Date 2007
Event ID 934460
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Publication Account
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/934460
Braemore and Inverbroom Estate
Structures, Wester Ross
(Institute Civil Engineers Historic Engineering Works no. HEW 1556)
Sir John Fowler, whose major works included London’s Metropolitan Railway and the Forth Bridge, purchased in 1865 and 1867, respectively, estates totalling 40 000 acres at Braemore and Inverbroom, near Ullapool, which he enjoyed for over three decades, his last visit being in October 1897. During this period he applied his engineering skills to developing the estate for the enjoyment of his family and distinguished guests. His improvements, apart from planting nine million trees and maximising agricultural development, included building Braemore House on a mountainside 700 ft above sea level. In a letter of 15 July 1867, Fowler refers to the bulk of the stonework of Braemore House as being gneiss obtained from a quarry about 1/4 mile away. The stone was of a blue colour and ‘wonderfully durable’. For the corners of the buildings and openings, durable sandstone was obtained from Glasgow by sea and carted 6 miles from the head of Loch Broom.
R Paxton and J Shipway, 2007.
Reproduced from 'Civil Engineering heritage: Scotland - Highlands and Islands' with kind permission
