Basic Site Details | Name: | Glen Tanar Estate, Tower Lodge | | Town, district or village: | Glentanar/Glen Tanar | | City or county: | Aberdeenshire | | Country: | Scotland | | Parish: | | | Status: | | | Grid ref: | | | Notes: | Built in association with the Bridge of Ess - see separate item.
At the Bridge of Tanar, on a fine rock, is a tower - the entrance lodge of the estate. Here there is no show front; the windows of the different floors are dodged about, so that each front has only about one window; and the stones have been very carefully selected, of various colours, in stages. The lower portion of the tower is well ‘battered’ down into the rock; a staircase runs up inside one corner, and has a projecting turret at the top covered with lead. This is one of the most effective buildings we have seen here, while we noticed that there is nothing in it which we could point to as being expensive, as work which was not absolutely needed, or which could have been done at less cost, but all done ell and properly. [Aberdeen Journal/Builder 19 September 1874 p791-792]
Note that while the description matches the present building, the location of this entrance lodge is stated as being at the Bridge of Tanar in the above 1874 description.
Was the tower therefore taken down and re-built as a folly at the Bridge of Ess as part of the widening of the bridge and new entrance in the 1890s? | Alternative Names| The following alternative names are associated with this building/design: | | | Name | Current name? | Notes |  | Tower of Ess | | |
Building Type Classification| The building is classified under the following categories: | | | Classification | Original classification? | Notes | | Lodge | | |
Events| The following date-based events are associated with this building: | | | From | To | Event type | Notes | | Before 1874 | | Build/construction | Originally constructed at the former entrance -Bridge of Tanar? | | c. 1898 | | Build/construction | Taken down and rebuilt at new entrance to the estate at Bridge of Ess? |
PeopleDesign and Construction| The following individuals or organisations have carried out design/construction work. Where architects or practices worked together, matching letters appear beside their names in the Partnership Group column. | | | Name | Role | Partnership Group | From | To | Notes | | George Truefitt | | | Before 1874 | | | | George Haywood Truefitt | | | 1898(?) | | Architect if the lodge was built at the same time as the widening of the bridge |
Clients| The following individuals or organisations have commissioned work on this building/design: | | | Name | Notes | | Brooks, Sir William Cunliffe | |
ReferencesBibliographic References| The following books contain references to this building: | | | Author(s) | Date | Title | Part | Publisher | Notes | | Geddes, Jane | 2001 | Deeside and the Mearns: An Illustrated Architectural Guide | | Edinburgh: RIAS/Rutland Press | p129 | | Mawson, Thomas H | 1927 | The Life and Works of an English Landscape Architect | | | p46 |
Archive References| The following archives hold material relating to this building: | | | Source | Archive name | Source catalogue no. | Notes | | Historic Environment Scotland | Listed Buildings Register | 47093 | Tower Lodge | | National Monuments Record of Scotland/NMRS, RCAHMS | George Truefitt at Glen Tanar 1875-85: photo album | | p47 |
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