Glenbuchat Heritage

1 Auchernach House and Estate

Auchernach Estate.

The picture above shows:
1. Auchernach House
2. 1850 Map of the house
3. Map of the estate when sold in 1901

The Auchernach Estate consisted of 1,000-1,200 acres and was centred around the now demolished Auchernach House.

This Album is aimed at collecting all the information collected about the estate along with a lot of new information kindly supplied by Ken Cruickshank.

Click to see all the pages referring to Auchernach.

Index to New Auchernach pages

Click to see Dunnottar, Netherly Houses and Cailleachanrennie Burn.

Click to see Purchase of Auchernach by Mr W McHardy 1901.

Click to see Drumblair, other House of William McHardy.

Click to see William McHardy Family History.

Click to see William McHardy Foundry in Brazil

Click to see William McHardy and Scott Skinner

Click to see Lifting Stones of Auchernach

Click to see McHardy Weddings and Valuation roll 1911

Click to see Reports of Roads and Rail Track at Auchernach

Click to see Obituary for William McHardy

Click to see G F Rose at Auchernach

Click to see Sale and Demolition of Auchernach

Click to see booklet on Geology of Auchernach

Background to the Auchernach Estate.

From the later years of the 16th century Skellater House and Estate Strathdon, Aberdeenshire was one of the famous estates of Forbes family, consisting of a main house, cottage and outbuildings. It was built by Lachlan Forbes in 1727. George Forbes of Skellater fought for Bonny Prince Charles at Culloden and after many attempts to hide from the victorious Hanoverians went into exile for his Prince and died in France in October 1767. General "Red Jock" John Forbes also lived here. Ian Roy (Red John in English) of Skellater was quite a soldier of fortune and reputed to have married a Portuguese princess. In the 1800s, the estate was sold to the Forbes of Newe family before it passed out of Forbes hands.

George Forbes (1570-1632) of Skellater had three sons, Alexander, William and John to whom he gave part of the Skellater estate namely lands of Invernettie, Belnaboddach and Ledmacoy all in Glen Nochty.

Belnaboddach was given to William but was later transferred to his brother John Forbes of Ledmacoy.

John passed Belnaboddach on to his son William Forbes (b1657) of Belnaboddach, and in 1714 William Forbes of Belnaboddach and John Forbes his eldest son disponed the lands of Auchernach to Nathaniel Forbes (1700-1760) his second son.

Nathaniel had a son Charles, (1730-1794) who succeeded him. Charles Forbes was governor or keeper of the Castle of Corgarff, which was bought by the Government after 1746, and was long used as a barracks for soldiers, at first with a view to subdue the Highlanders, and finally as a check upon smuggling, which was extensively carried on in the district.

In 1776 the lands of Auldahuie, Blairnamuick and Corriebreck were ‘wadsetted (mortgaged) by the Earl of Fife to Charles Forbes of Auchernack’

It seemed that Earl Fife was keen to get the estate back:
The following is a quote from Nathaniel Forbes of Auchernach
"The Earl of Fife's factor wrote to him in India, telling him that the Earl had bought up all the property near Auchernack, and that his little patch was now surrounded on every side, and he thought it was no use for him to keep it longer, for the Earl would give him a good price for it. The patriotic old General sent the following characteristic reply: " Tell him that I would sooner part with the skin of my face."

Charles Forbes had a son Nathaniel, (1766-1851) who later became Lt. Gen. Nathaniel Forbes of Auchernach. Nathaniel inherited the estate from his father on his death and it is noted that ‘father being possessed of an ancestral estate called Auchernach, on which there was then no house’ There is a statement however that indicates there may have been a dwelling there previously ‘Behind the ruins of Auchernach House, which was built in 1809 and demolished in 1945, are the remains of the vaulted basement of an older castle.’
This is discounted however in later archaeological reports.

‘Immediately to the rear of the demolished house of Auchernach, at NJ 3303 1594, are four vaulted chambers (one of which has collapsed), each with a doorway in the S wall. They are symmetrical with the 19th century house, and it would appear that they and the house were built as a whole, rather than the house being constructed in perfect symmetry with the remains of an older building.
The masonry of house and vaults is similar, and the curve of the arched roof is much shallower than typical barrel-vaulting of a 15th - 17th century castle. These chambers, therefore, were almost certainly storehouses contemporary with the 19th century house.’

In December, 1787, Nathaniel sailed for India, where he remained until 1808. He then obtained a furlough, and returned with his wife. In 1809 – 1810 Nathaniel built Auchernach House and its walled garden. There is one anomaly in the fact that the date on the clock in the clock tower in the garden is 1787, another inscription records that it was repaired in 1832, and it was overhauled again in 1929. Perhaps the clock was obtained second hand.

In 1835 General Nathaniel Forbes bought Dunnottar House and estate of 4,000 acres near Stonehaven. About the same time, he also bought Netherley House and estate of 2,600 acres.

Nathaniel Forbes had a son William Nathaniel Forbes1824–1900 and he had a son William Charles Forbes 1846–1880. Finally, William Charles Forbes had a son Charles William McKay Forbes 1869–1945

In 1901 Auchernach was sold by Charles W. McKay Forbes of Dunnottar and Netherly to Mr William McHardy

By the 1920’s the estate was owned by G F Rose, who had made his money in India where he worked with a number of Jute companies as manager and engineer. He died in 1940

In 1943.the Auchernach estate was sold via Burnett & Reid to Riddoch Timber merchants Rothiemay.

In 1944 Aberdeen Council turned down proposal to convert it to a Residential School.
The Educational Institute of Scotland had initially recommended the proposal:
‘Last week they decided to recommend that the Town Council buy Auchernach House, Strathdon, to which relays of children would be sent (luring the school session. The scheme makes provision for a staff of eight for thirty-five pupils’

In 1945 Auchernach House was demolished