Issue 45 Feb 25 web - Flipbook - Page 7
National Trust for
Scotland saves at risk
royal picnic cottage
• A picnic spot enjoyed by Queen Victoria saved from ruin
• Work commissioned by the National Trust for Scotland has brought the former picnic cottage back
into use
• Project supported by funding from the NTS USA Foundation
A picnic spot enjoyed by Queen Victoria on her visits to
Balmoral has been saved from ruin by the National Trust
for Scotland.
The picnic cottage in woodlands near Linn of Quoich on
Mar Lodge Estate, Scotland’s largest national nature
reserve, close to Braemar, has been restored to its former
glory with contractors completing the building work this
autumn.
Moxon Architects helped Scotland’s largest conservation
charity to develop the plans for the restoration work
early last year that were well received by Aberdeenshire
Council’s planning department, with listed building
consent granted in September 2023. Contractors Brudon
Joinery were brought on board to carry out the work and
started in June 2024.
They initially focused on clearing rubble from inside the
dwelling, before repointing mortar and harling on the
cottage walls, dismantling dormer windows and installing
doors, windows and floors to make it watertight and
accessible. In addition to repairing the fabric of the
building, a covered wooden porch was added to the
exterior of the property to help reinstate the cottage’s
original features that were discovered during research for
the project.
David Frew, National Trust for Scotland Head of Mar
Lodge Estate, said: “Our archival research and subsequent
archaeological survey showed that there used to be a
porch on the property, with our archaeologists discovering
post holes for the structure during research on site. We
have tried to reinstate this sympathetically with the help
of our architects Moxon and archival architectural drawings, so that it’s in keeping with the rest of the property
and the 19th century period when it was originally
constructed.
