Mar Lodge Estate, Geldie Burn, Keeper's House

On the N side of the track along the Geldie Burn is a three bayed building, a Keeper's House, with a corrugated iron roof, which has been abandoned and gutted of furnishings. A cobbled stand for an outbuilding is attached to the WNW and there is a turf-banked enclosure on the ENE.

Visited by RCAHMS (PJD) 20 July 1993.

A careful inspection of the fabric of the Red House revealed a complex constructional history. Both the rear (NW) wall and most of the NE gable end are of a different build from the remainder. The rear wall is between 0.1m and 0.15m thicker than elsewhere and both this wall and the NE gable are composed of river boulders, usually in their rounded state; the ingoes of the windows are built of rubble. In the other walls river boulders are more often chiselled flat on their exposed faces and the ingoes of the windows are faced with smoothed granite. Superficially, the lime mortar in the rear wall has fewer inclusions than elsewhere. The larger of the two fireplaces, in the SW gable, is centrally placed as at Bynack Lodge (NO08NW 17) The other fireplace, in the NE gable, is not central to the wall. There are timber battens set into the rear wall which appear to have no function in the latest phase of the house. There is no evidence that any fixing penetrated the plaster which covers some of them. The stonework between the rafters appears to be the same build all the way round.

Information from G Barclay (HS) 24 July 1996

NO 0029 8688 An archaeological recording exercise was conducted at the Red House, Mar Lodge Estate, in August 1998. The building was recorded in its present condition, both inside and out, although detailed inspection of the roof and interior upper storey was not possible due to problems of accessibility. The site is presently in a state of advanced disrepair, and the archaeological recording exercise was intended to precede a programme of restoration, consolidation and repair.

As it presently stands, the house is a simple, rubble-built rectangular structure aligned approximately NE-SW, with a single doorway and two windows in the SE wall, and a further central window in the NW wall. The whole is roofed in rusted corrugated iron, from which the house takes its present name.

The findings of the survey generally confirmed that the house had two main structural phases. Initially the structure took the form of a rectangular building, probably of similar dimensions to the present house, but with a cruck-framed roof, tied into the long walls. This survived in the NW wall internally as four timber battens, or crucks, with angled timbers attached to their tops. The latter were sawn off when the roof was replaced, and the timbers themselves were plastered over, being no longer an integral structural element in the house. The composition of the original roofing material could not be deduced. A potential function of the original building as a dwelling is implied by the presence of a fireplace in the NE wall.

The second period saw the complete rebuilding of the original SE and SW walls, the latter incorporating a large, central fireplace. The NW wall was altered, with the upper stonework being added to either side of a newly inserted central window. The NE gable was also raised, fossilising the Period 1 chimney within the new build, and the roof was also replaced at this time. After taking its present form, the house saw the additions of lean-to structures against the SE, NE and NW walls, the former acting as a porch, with a doorway on its SW side. Internally the Period 2 house was sub-divided into at least three, more probably four, compartments, with stud-frames attached to the long walls via dooks, and suspended from the transverse beams of the roof. The internal sub-divisions have been removed, but their locations can be deduced from scars in the plasterwork on the NW and SE walls internally. The attic space seems to have been an open, continuous garret throughout its length, no sub-divisions being recorded.

Sponsors: Historic Scotland, National Trust for Scotland

A Dunn 1999

As part of the repair and consolidation works at the Red House a small (400mm x 450mm) test pit was excavated to determine the nature of the foundations and soil composition prior to underpinning works next week. The test pit was excavated on the exterior of the north gable at its eastern end.

The deposits appear to indicate at least two phases of activity; an initial pit or trench was dug and this was then filled with a fine sand (006). The discovery of a lump of mortar and an iron file within the lower fill may indicate this was associated with building works. This was then truncated by the foundation trench for the north wall of the Red House, the cut for the trench is clearly visible through layer 003. The frequent mortar flecks within 002 suggest that this layer was deposited around the time of the building works.

The purpose of the test pit was to determine the depth and nature of the foundations and the nature of the underlying soils. The test pit revealed that the wall extends approximately 450mm below the current ground surface. The lower courses (009) are composed of sub-rounded boulders and stones (max 300mm), no mortar was visible in the lower course, but traces of a cement render (008) was visible higher up. Underlying the wall at this point was a fine sandy deposit, which is the fill of an earlier feature.

Information from NTS (SCS) March 2014

NO 0029 8688 As part of the National Trust for Scotland’s

Thistle Camp working holiday scheme an excavation and

measured survey were carried out, 11–18 May 2018, at the

Red House. The excavation uncovered remnants of an internal

timber floor and the stone footing of an external front porch.

Archive: National Trust for Scotland

Funder: National Trust for Scotland

Daniel Rhodes – National Trust for Scotland

(Source: DES, Volume 19)