Killiechassie is a country estate and house near Weem, about one mile (two kilometres) northeast of Aberfeldy,[3] in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. The estate lies on the banks of the River Tay[4] in some 12 acres (5 hectares), about 74 miles (119 kilometres) north of Edinburgh. It was owned by the Douglas family in the latter part of the 19th century, and a new house was erected in 1865. A dovecote by the house was listed as Grade B on 9 June 1981. The house was purchased by author J.K. Rowling in 2001.
Killiechassie | |
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General information | |
Town or city | Weem |
Country | Scotland |
Cost | £440,000[1][2] |
Owner | privately held |
The Killiechassie Estate has existed for centuries, and historically fell within the civil parish of Logierait.[5] The name Killiechassie means "the church of the steep face" which refers to a church which stood on the hill there.[6] This was part of the earldom of Atholl and was then granted by Máel Coluim, Earl of Atholl, to Scone Abbey in the 12th century.[6]
In the 17th century the estate was owned by members of Clan Murray who became the Dukes of Atholl.[6] Later proprietors of Killiechassie included the Robertson family, who belonged to the house of Struan.[7] In 1727, the estate was owned by the Reverend Robert Stewart, who left money for a chapel to be built there. On his death in 1729 he was buried here, followed by his wife, Anne, a year later.[8] According to legend, Bonnie Prince Charlie was reputed to have sheltered in a sycamore tree here on his retreat to Inverness in 1746 during the Jacobite rising of 1745–46.[9] A small loch in the vicinity is, according to superstition, occupied by a Celtic water spirit.[10]
In 1850, the estate was documented to be held by a Miss Fleming, when it was described by poet David Millar as "almost opposite Aberfeldy, a sweet place, but capable of much greater embellishment."[11] In the later 19th century, the estate was owned by the Douglas family, and an Edward Octavius Douglas, nephew of John Douglas, 7th Marquess of Queensberry held it in 1871, and a Hannah Charlotte Douglas by 1892.[12][13] In 1865 the older house was replaced with a new one. The Laird of Killiechassie is listed in the 1956 Scottish Record Society publication A Directory of Landownership in Scotland, c. 1770, ed. Loretta Timperley.[14][10]
The house was purchased by author J.K. Rowling in 2001,[15] and she married Neil Murray there, the ceremony being held in the library on 26 December 2001.[16][17]
The current house was built in 1865. A freestanding dovecote, built from rubble at this time, is a grade B listed feature, having a "Gothic, symmetrical frontage with centre tower and pyramid roof", with jerkin-head gables.[18][19] However, the house remains classified as a Georgian property,[4] and Country Life observed that it retains the feel of a Georgian building, although with intensive alteration, and now features double-glazing, "mock-Georgian" doors, and "fake stone cladding".[20]
There are two halls, a dining room, a drawing room, a morning room, and seven bedrooms, with a two-bedroom extension on the west wing.[16] The swimming pool is covered with copper domes. Since Rowling acquired the property, she has undertaken extensive security measures, with a state-of-the-art electronic security system, including 6-foot-high (1.8-metre) gates and a CCTV camera, and guards 24 hours a day, seven days a week.[16]
Aberfeldy distillery (part of the Dewar's group), school, Castle Menzies and General Wade's bridge across the Tay at Aberfeldy are in the vicinity.
Laird of Killiechassie: Pitcastle