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Montrose, Lochside Distillery

Distillery (Period Unassigned)

Site Name Montrose, Lochside Distillery

Classification Distillery (Period Unassigned)

Alternative Name(s) Brechin Road; North Esk Road; Mcnab Distillery

Canmore ID 36263

Site Number NO75NW 49

NGR NO 7150 5902

NGR Description Centred NO 7150 5902

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/36263

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
Canmore Disclaimer. © Copyright and database right 2024.

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Administrative Areas

  • Council Angus
  • Parish Montrose
  • Former Region Tayside
  • Former District Angus
  • Former County Angus

Activities

Field Visit

NO75NW 49 centred 7150 5902

Not to be confused with (Montrose) Hillside Distillery (NO 7170 6154), for which see NO76SW 37.

NMRS REFERENCE

Architect: Charles Doig 1896, Elgin.

(Undated) information in NMRS.

(Location cited as NO 715 590). Lochside Distillery, built 1889, architect C C Doig. The most interesting part is a 4-storey block with a rounded corner, incorporating a French Renaissance tower with louvred ventilators on the top floor.

J R Hume 1977.

Historical Notes

1. Brewing at the site dates from 1781.

2. Brewery was built to British architect's design but in German style. Water tower has cold water tank on top, with hot water tank beneath. Date of construction on plaque at base (18? ).

3. Deuchars operated brewery until 1958, when it was taken over by McNabs and became a distillery which developed both malt and grain whisky capacity.

4. Grain distilling occurred from 1958, with brewing coppers being converted to whisky pot stills in the 1960s.

5. McNab were taken over by Spanish company DYC in 1973.

6. DYC were absorbed into Allied Domecq in 1992. Allied distillers wanted access to Spanish market, and having their own whisky capacity, chose to close the distillery. Activity since then has centred on emptying the bonds.

The site is dominated by the tall water tower, said to be the style of German breweries. The original buildings are predominantly rubble-built, painted pale yellow (cream), and have slate roofs. Newer buildings associated with the conversion from brewing to whisky distilling from 1958 tend to be brick-built in part, and/or steel-framed with corrugated sheet-asbestos upper walls and roofs. There are plans to demolish much of the site in 1996 to make way for a new development, the plans including the retention of the water tower.

Visited by RCAHMS (MKO), 11 September 1996.

Site visited in April 2005, at which time all the distillery buildings had been recently demolished.

M K Oglethorpe

References

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