History in Structure

Tower O' Ess

A Category B Listed Building in Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside, Aberdeenshire

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Coordinates

Latitude: 57.0633 / 57°3'47"N

Longitude: -2.8188 / 2°49'7"W

OS Eastings: 350442

OS Northings: 797214

OS Grid: NO504972

Mapcode National: GBR WP.95JN

Mapcode Global: WH7NH.NQXK

Plus Code: 9C9V357J+8F

Entry Name: Tower O' Ess

Listing Name: Glen Tanar Estate, Tower of Ess, Including Gatepiers and Boundary Walls

Listing Date: 30 March 2000

Category: B

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 394484

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB47093

Building Class: Cultural

ID on this website: 200394484

Location: Aboyne and Glen Tanar

County: Aberdeenshire

Electoral Ward: Aboyne, Upper Deeside and Donside

Parish: Aboyne And Glen Tanar

Traditional County: Aberdeenshire

Tagged with: Architectural structure

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Description

Probably George Truefitt, late 19th century. 3-storey and basement, single bay, square-plan folly tower. Ladder-snecked pink and grey granite above dark grey granite at ground floor, with rough-faced long and short dressings finely finished to margins. Battered base course; projecting cills; corbelled, flat-coped parapet.

W (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: asymmetrical; small-pane, glazed timber door to right of ground floor, flanked to left by window. 1st and 2nd floors blank.

N ELEVATION: not seen 1998.

E ELEVATION: asymmetrical; regular fenestration off-centre to left of basement, ground and 1st floors; narrow vertical windows off-centre to right between 1st and 2nd floors; 2nd floor blank. Circular angle turret to SE corner of parapet, narrow vertical window, modern roof.

S ELEVATION: asymmetrical; window off-centre to right of ground floor; narrow vertical window off-centre to left between ground and 1st floors; 1st floor blank; window to centre of 2nd floor.

Modern timber casement windows with top hoppers. Flat roof, lead with wooden duck boards; grey painted fibreglass roof to turret. Wallhead stack to N with circular cans. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: not seen 1998.

GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALLS: rough-faced polychrome granite walls with rough-faced coping to N and W of tower, steps to bowed lookout to NE. 2 square-plan, rough-faced, polychrome granite gatepiers to W, corniced with pyramidal caps; circular inset panels with tooled thistle, shamrock, rose and monogram WCB (William Cunliffe Brooks). Gatepier to far W set in granite coped wall, tooled panel to N reading "BRIDGE O'ESS miles to Bridge of ABOYNE 1?, DINNET 3?, BALLATER 9?".

Statement of Interest

The Glen Tanar Estate was originally a deer forest which was part of the Aboyne Castle Estate. In 1869 Sir William Cunliffe Brooks, a Manchester banker and MP, bought the estate from the 10th Marquis of Huntly. Brooks employed Thomas Mawson to layout the garden and estate, George Truefitt as architect, and 250 masons to construct the buildings, built of granite quarried locally. Both Mawson and Truefitt appear to have been involved in the widening of the Bridge of Ess (see separate listing) which was the be the new entrance to the park. Truefitt designed the gatepiers and the Tower of Ess to guard the bridge.

External Links

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