Glen Tanar Estate, St Lesmo's Chapel Aboyne and Glen Tanar, Scotland
Listed Building Data
Glen Tanar Estate, St Lesmo's Chapel has been designated a scheduled monument in Scotland with the following information. Please note that not all available data may be shown here, minor errors and/or formatting may have occurred during transcription, and some information may have become outdated since listing.
- Historic Scotland ID
- 330237 (entity ID)
- Building ID
- 44
- Canmore ID
- 80261
- Category
- B
- Name
- Glen Tanar Estate, St Lesmo's Chapel, Including Boundary Wall
- Parish
- Aboyne and Glen Tanar
- County
- Aberdeenshire
- National Park
- Cairngorms
- Easting
- 347920
- Northing
- 796054
- Date Listed
- 24 November 1972
Listed Building Description
Text courtesy of Historic England. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
Circa 1870, incorporating arched gate and using stones from 17th century Braeloine Farmhouse. Single storey, 3-bay, rectangular-plan chapel, with late 19th century addition, probably by George Truefitt, to SW and 1937 tower to NW. Granite rubble with terracotta cherry-cocking; squared and snecked, rough-faced addition to SW, finely finished to margins. Rubble base course; long and short quoins; chamfered reveals; timber eaves course. SE (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: near-symmetrical; regular fenestration to each bay; 17th century round-headed arch to outer left, with roll moulding, decorative pink and grey granite floor; late 19th century addition behind, doorway with stop-chamfered reveals, boarded timber door with iron studs; bipartite, pointed-arched window to single bay, late 19th century bay to outer left. NE ELEVATION: symmetrical; gabled, 2 small windows set in gablehead; replacement granite cross to apex. NW ELEVATION: asymmetrical; 4-bay; window to penultimate bay to left and bay to outer left; 1937 piend-roofed tower advanced to penultimate bay to right, slate-roofed porch with modern boarded timber door to right return, window to re-entrant angle to right; window to bay to right. 2-bay, late 19th century addition to outer right, bipartite pointed-arched window to bay to left, bowed bay advanced to right. SW ELEVATION: gabled; ground floor obscured by advanced 2-bay, late 19th century addition, quadripartite pointed-arched window to left, pointed-arched window to right, outer right obscured by tree. Bell mounted on timber panel reading "S. LESMO/S" set in gablehead. Leaded stained glass windows, barred or protected by wire mesh. Grey slate roof with stone ridge; grass roof to late 19th century addition. Stone skews with simple skewputs. Coped circular wallhead stack to late 19th century addition. Cast-iron rainwater goods. INTERIOR: Glen Tanar granite flagged floor; granite altar; rustic timber pews, roof and lectern. BOUNDARY WALL: low granite rubble boundary wall surrounds chapel.
Listed Building Statement of Special Interest
Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
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. His grave survives in the graveyard, and is a replica of an ancient cross from Aboyne Castle. 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. Built on the site of the "auld hoose" of Braeloine (featured on 1st Edition OS Map), and incorporating its ancient arch, St Lesmo's Chapel originally had a heather thatched roof. It was built as the Brooks family chapel, consecrated by the Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney on the 15th of November 1871. St. Lesmo was supposedly a holy hermit who lived in Glen Tanar, and introduced Christianity to the area (d. AD 731). The saint is remembered in one of the churches stained glass windows. George Coats followed Brooks as owner of Glen Tanar, and indeed became the first Lord Glentanar. The 2nd Baron of Glentanar was a musician, and in 1936 acquired the organ (which dates from 1874) from his brother-in-law, the 5th Duke of Wellington, the pipes of which are housed in the tower to the NW.
Listed Building References
Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.
1st (1866-67) and 2nd (1902) EDITION OS MAPS; NMRS Photo Album No 194, GEORGE TRUEFITT AT GLEN TANAR 1875-85 DRAWINGS, p17, 20, 24, 47; F H Groome, ORDNANCE GAZETTEER OF SCOTLAND: A SURVEY OF SCOTTISH TOPOGRAPHY, STATISTICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL, AND HISTORICAL, (1886), Vol 1, p31; J Coutts, DICTIONARY OF DEESIDE, (1899), p213-4; A I McConnochie, DEESIDE, (1900), p112; G M Fraser, "Glen Tanar", THE DEESIDE FIELD, (1925), p29-30; H Hamilton (ed), THE THIRD STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND: THE COUNTY OF ABERDEEN, (1960), p427; F Wyness, ROYAL VALLEY: THE STORY OF THE ABERDEENSHIRE DEE, (1968), p25; AN INVENTORY OF GARDENS AND DESIGNED LANDSCAPES IN SCOTLAND, VOL 3: HIGHLAND, ORKNEY AND GRAMPIAN, (1986), p228; PANEL IN GLEN TANAR VISITOR CENTRE; NMRS Photographs.
