Fetteresso Castle, Dovecot
Dovecot (16th Century)
Site Name Fetteresso Castle, Dovecot
Classification Dovecot (16th Century)
Alternative Name(s) Doocot
Canmore ID 121357
Site Number NO88NW 2.01
NGR NO 84386 85391
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/121357
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Fetteresso
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Kincardine And Deeside
- Former County Kincardineshire
Bee-hive. Harled rubble with three rat lines and top entry. (Historic Scotland)
Fetteresso Castle was recorded in existence in 1587, becoming the residence of the Earl Marischal in the early 17th century, when the Countess, upset by the noise of seals, wished to leave Dunnottar. The Castle was converted in 1808, overlooking the 16th century doocot, terraced gardens and orchards. (J Geddes)
Field Visit (March 1984)
NO88NW 2 8426 8548
The ruinous shell of this early 19th-century mansion incorporates at least two distinct portions of an older house. The earlier, which probably belongs to the 16th century, comprises a three storeyed block aligned on a SW-NE axis. The ground floor incorporates a range of barrel-vaulted cellars and a kitchen, and there is an extruded stair tower on the SE side; traces of what seems to have been another tower are visible at the S corner. To the N corner of this block, and extending NW at right-angles from it, there was added in the 17th century another of similar height. This faces SW into what may have been a courtyard and its three ground floor doorways bear, respectively, the Marischal arms, the date 1671 and the initials WEM/ ACM (William, Earl Marischal and Anne, Countess Marischal). When the house was enlarged in the 19th century, service corridors were added to the courtyard fronts of the two early blocks and their re-entrant angles were infilled to accommodate a new staircase and principal entrance aligned on an E-W axis. In 1645 the house was burnt by Montrose, and although it was rebuilt, it was apparently in a state of neglect by 1715. A well preserved 16th-century beehive dovecot stands on the edge of a field 140m SE of Fetteresso Castle (NO 8438 8539). About 120m SSW of the castle, an ice-house, ovoid in shape, has been built into the crest of a bank. A walled garden, terraces, a boat house (NO 8438 8536) and an artificial lake (now drained) are all that survive of the policies.
RCAHMS 1984, visited March 1984.
(W Robertson 1798; J Spalding 1851; Name Book 1865; J B Paul 1904-14; W Macfarlane 1906-8; W M Mackenzie 1927)
Publication Account (2013)
16th Century beehive doocot stands SE of the castle, with three rat courses and a slight curve upwards towards the entry point for pigeons. The unfortunate castle was destroyed by Montrose in 1645, restored in 1671 and forfeited after it was used to proclaim as King the Old Pretender in 1715. It was given a toy fort look in 1808, but retains vaults, was unroofed in 1954 and restored into apartments in 1992. A wrought iron lenticular truss footbridge in the grounds could be 1820-1860 (a similar one at Melville Castle, Midlothian was put up in 1817).
M Watson, 2013
Project (1 April 2015 - 31 March 2016)
Survey work undertaken to upgrade records of listed buildings by area.
