Maryculter House

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Maryculter House

Maryculter House is a historic house in the village of Maryculter, or Kirkton of Maryculter, in the Lower Deeside area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

History[]

Lying along both banks of the River Dee, the Lands of Culter originally included the parishes of Peterculter and Maryculter. These were in the jurisdiction of the monks of Kelso.[1] However, about the year 1187, William the Lion granted the portion of the Culter lands on the south bank of the river to the Knights Templar.[2]

Between 1221 and 1236 Walter Byset, Lord of Aboyne, founded the Preceptory or College of the Knights Templar on the site of Maryculter House Hotel.[2][3][4] The barrel-vaulted basement of the house is said to have formed part of the Preceptor's Lodging.[2]

The Templars also built a chapel.[2] This became the parish church in 1535, was abandoned in 1782 and is now a fragmentary ruin, the only architectural feature surviving being the piscina built into the south wall.[4][5] The chapel and surrounding graveyard are a Scheduled monument.[6] The chapel was replaced as the parish church by .

The Templars were suppressed around 1309 but their lands and the parish church remained in the hands of the Knights Hospitaller until 1563/64.[3]

From 1535 to 1811 Maryculter House was first rented and then owned by the Menzies family of , Aberdeen,[2][7] though another source says it was owned by the Lindsay family until 1726.[8]

In 1811, Maryculter was bought by General William Gordon of Fyvie, and the Gordon family owned the estate until the death of Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon in 1931 led to the sale of the property in 1935.[2][9] The estate was broken up and the home-park was bought by the City of Aberdeen Boy Scouts' Association to create Templars' Park Scout Campsite.[10] Alterations to the house took place in 1936.[11]

The building is now a hotel, previously the Deeside Hotel and now Maryculter House Hotel.[12][2] It is a Historic Environment Scotland Category B Listed building.[13]

References[]

  1. ^ Boyd, EJ. "A brief history of the Knights of the Temple and of the Preceptory and Priory of St. George Aboyne 1794 - 1994". Craftings. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g "Maryculter House and the Precatory of the Knights Templar" (PDF). Maryculter House Hotel. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Aberdeenshire SMR". Aberdeenshire SMR. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  4. ^ a b "St Mary's Church, Maryculter". Places of Worship in Scotland. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  5. ^ "Maryculter, Church". Canmore. Historic Environment Scotland. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  6. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Maryculter House, church & burial ground 65m NNE of (SM10831)". Retrieved 15 April 2019.
  7. ^ Mitchell, Alex. "The Old Burghs Of Aberdeen – Part 4". Aberdeen Voice. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  8. ^ "OS1/19/15/7". Scotland's Places. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  9. ^ "The Gordon family at Fyvie Castle". Fyvie Castle Online. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  10. ^ "Templars' Park". Templars' Park. Scouts Scotland. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  11. ^ "Old Maryculter House". Dictionary of Scottish Architects. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  12. ^ Watson, Adam (2013). Place Names in Much of North-East Scotland. Paragon Publishing. p. 236. ISBN 9781782220695. Retrieved 25 November 2017.
  13. ^ Historic Environment Scotland. "Old Maryculter House (now incorporated into Deeside Hotel) (LB16496)". Retrieved 15 April 2019.

External links[]

Bibliography[]

  • Nicol, Norman D (1999) Maryculter in the Eighteenth Century: Lairds, Kirk and People in a Lower Deeside Parish

Coordinates: 57°05′23″N 2°15′32″W / 57.0897°N 2.2590°W / 57.0897; -2.2590

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