Mar Lodge is a sporting lodge to the west of

Braemar Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee, sitting at an elevation of . The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' p ...

and the principal building on the

Mar Lodge Estate Mar Lodge Estate is a highland estate in western Aberdeenshire, Scotland, which has been owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland (NTS) since 1995. Its principal building, Mar Lodge, is about west of the village of Braemar. The esta ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. It was built in 1895, replacing an earlier building, by

Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife Alexander () is a male name of Greek origin. The most prominent bearer of the name is Alexander the Great, the king of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia who created one of the largest empires in ancient history. Variants listed here are ...

Location

Mar Lodge is a sporting lodge built for the use of the

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

and

Duchess of Fife Duchess of Fife is typically the wife of the Duke of Fife, an extant title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which has been created twice, in both cases for Alexander Duff, 6th Earl Fife. In one case, however, the incumbent was Duchess of Fife ...

. It is located about to the west of

and is accessed from the

Linn of Dee The River Dee () is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through southern Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen. The area it passes through is known as Deeside, or Royal Deeside in the region betw ...

road, over the Victoria Bridge, a lattice girder structure built across the River Dee in 1905.

History

There have been three buildings known as Mar Lodge. The first, originally known as Dalmore House, was built in the 18th century by William Duff, Baron Braco, close to the site of the present Lodge. Lord Braco had acquired the Dalmore estate some time between 1730 and 1737 from the Mackenzie lairds of Dalmore, and by the end of the 18th century the Duff family also owned the lands of

Allanaquoich Allanaquoich is a locality on Mar Lodge Estate, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. ''Allanaquoich'' is little more than a farm house now although it once could have been described as a hamlet. It is locate(streetmap)on a slight rise to the East of the Quo ...

, Auchindryne and

Inverey Inverey (; ) is a hamlet on Mar Lodge Estate, in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Description The hamlet straddles the Ey Burn close to its confluence with the River Dee. Inverey comprises two 'communities' separated by the Ey Burn – Muckle Inve ...

The Duffs owned huge swaths of land in addition to the estate as the heads of many Scottish Feudal Baronies, including MacDuff, named for

James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife (29 September 1729 – 1809) was a Scottish aristocrat and Member of Parliament. Heritage James Duff was second son of William Duff, 1st Earl Fife, and Jean Grant (daughter of Sir James Grant of Pluscardine, Baron ...

. The building was damaged in the " Muckle Spate" ("great flood") of 1829, and later demolished. The lodges served as the seat for the 5th-7th Barons of MacDuff.

Corriemulzie Cottage

The 2nd Mar Lodge, colloquially known as Corriemulzie Cottage or 'New' Mar Lodge, was built near Linn of Corriemulzie at the top of Mar Lodge Brae. It was a very 'Victorian' building with architectural detailing such as prominent use of lattice work (still visible on the 'Stag Ballroom') and tree-trunk supports (visible in the veranda of the old bar at the rear of Mar Lodge) being reused in the construction of the next Mar Lodge. It was destroyed by fire on the 14th of June 1895.

The present lodge

The 3rd Mar Lodge was built between 1895 and 1898 for the

and his wife

Princess Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife Princess is a title used by a female member of a regnant monarch's family or by a female ruler of a principality. The male equivalent is a prince (from Latin ''princeps'', meaning principal citizen). Most often, the term has been used for t ...

. The foundation stone was laid by her grandmother

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

on 15 October 1895. An old postcard shows the original veranda and drive alignment that allowed horse-drawn carriages arriving from

to pull up at the main door. The 3rd Mar Lodge was extensively damaged by a fire while being renovated in 1991, but was rebuilt. It was converted into holiday flats and retains many of the grand features of its heyday as a hunting lodge. The ballroom has 2,435 red deer stags heads lining the walls and ceiling.

became a

National Trust for Scotland The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...

property in 1995.

Stag Ballroom

A ballroom was constructed for estate staff balls, required by the need for segregation between master and servant which dominated the period. Built near to the second Mar Lodge at Corriemulzie, it was moved to the present site in 1898. A large timber building in the estate red, it has distinctive lattice trellising, an original Victorian ventilation system and unusual cast iron bracers on stone plinths supporting the walls. Internally the building remains virtually in its original state and contains over 2,000 stags skulls. Image:mar-lodge-foundation-stone.jpg , The foundation stone Image:marlodge_interior_01.jpg , Interior of Mar Lodge Image:marlodge_interior_02.jpg , Interior of Mar Lodge Image:Marlodgeantlers.jpg, Ballroom with thousands of antlers

St Ninian's Chapel

St Ninian's Chapel stands immediately adjacent to Mar Lodge and was originally the private chapel of the owners of Mar Lodge. The 1st Duke of Fife and his family are buried in the chapel.

Sources

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Footnotes

External links

{{commons category, Mar Lodge Category B listed buildings in Aberdeenshire Buildings and structures on Mar Lodge Estate National Trust for Scotland properties Hunting lodges in Scotland