Description

Mid 19th century single storey stalker's cottage, substantially extended 1866-1869 with stables, cellar and coalhouse; keeper's cottage and offices, 1867-8. 2-storey, U-plan, gabled house, with small court enclosed to NW by single storey outbuildings. Stugged, squared granite; base course. Gabled dormerheads.

SE elevation: symmetrical 3-bay. Centre bay with panelled door and 2-pane fanlight, cornice and 3 inscribed panels above (side panels inserted, altering original crenellated parapet), centre as tablet (see below); dormerheaded window breaking eaves above. Broad outer gabled bays, each with corniced, canted, lead-roofed window at ground and 3 grouped windows above at 1st floor, centre larger and outer lights blinded. Shield panels in gablehead.

SW elevation: 4-bay (1868 as 3, symmetrical, extended 1 bay outer left post 1868), 2 bays to left, keeper's cottage. Broad gabled bay advanced at centre with window to each floor flanked by blind arrowslits; bay to outer right with window to each floor, dormerheaded at 1st floor. Bays to left narrower, repeating those to centre and right, except advanced bay with segmental-headed door and fanlight to pend to left and stack at gablehead. Gabled return of range of single storey outbuildings abutting to outer left.

NE elevation: gabled bay advanced at centre with door flanked by blind arrowslits and with 2-pane fanlight; 3 windows above, larger at centre, blind to right. Single bay with window to each floor, dormerheaded at 1st, to outer left. To right, narrow window to left and glazed arrowslit window above, window to each floor to outer right, dormerhead at 1st floor.

Courtyard elevations: irregularly disposed variety of windows, blinded openings, dormerheads. Pend.

Outbuildings: 2 gabled blocks joined at N to house. Blank to rear; 3 doors, narrow window and blind arrowslit to SW, court elevation of lower and narrower stable, cellar and coalhouse (?) range, stack to E corner.

Cottage: L-plan. Single storey 3-bay cottage with store to rear. SW elevation with gabled stone porch at centre, door on return to right, window to SW; windows in flanking bays. Blank gable returns and narrow window to rear. Lower, later wing of store adjoined to right at rear with off-centre door to SE.

Timber cross mullioned and transomed, sash and case windows with small-pane and 4-pane glazing to rear elevations. Graded grey slates. Gablet coped skews to main house, remaining gables flat-coped; scroll-bracketed skewputts; ball finials. Clay ridge tiles. Gablehead, ridge and wallhead, coped stacks.

Boat slip: circa 1870, to SE of house on Loch Muick. 2 rubble jetties flanking launch slip.

Statement of Interest

The 3 over-door panels state that the house was built by Queen Victoria in 1868, Victoria Regina 1868, bought by King George VI 1950. On the death of the Prince Consort, Queen Victoria could no longer bear to visit Allt-na-Giubshaich, and so executed his earlier wishes to extend the Glas Allt cottage. She visited the shiel frequently, staying there over night until John Brown died, when his memory again made the place too sad to linger for long. The watercolours by William Wyld circa 1852 and William Simpson, signed and dated 1882, and the Valentine photograph, show the growth of the Shiel. The principal elevation is echoed at Craig Gowan, Easter Balmoral. A conservative design but with close historical associations.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Glas-allt-Shiel at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q17771472

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)