Saturday 10 August 2013

The Way We Were

I have only ever seen small versions of this very old photograph of Balintore Castle. However, a friend recently sent me an A4-sized photocopy,  so I had it scanned for this blog and indeed for posterity i.e. so it doesn't matter if I ever lose the paper copy.

It was clearly taken shortly after construction as the subjects have a proprietorial pride in the building. I have been told that the man in the tall stove-pipe hat is the architect William Burn.

It is a delight to be able to zoom in on the detail for the first time by having a hi-res scan.

Things present then but absent now:


  • pair of urns above entrance
  • ball finial on low square turret
  • lion rampant in shield above entrance

Things absent but present now:
  • yews in front of building
  • ballusters on wall to left of entrance tower 
I have recently discovered that the yews date from 1960's, as they are small in a 1960's photo and so are not an original planting. These are now for the chop! :-) The presence of a few balusters on the wall at the front nowadays (most have been removed) but not in this photo is a mystery. Perhaps, construction was not quite complete at the time of the photograph?





earliest known photograph of Balintore Castle

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