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History of Balmoral Castle and Estates
Balmoral Castle and estate on the upper Dee is the personal holiday home of the Queen, the estate having been purchased, together with the old castle by the Prince
consort for £31,500 in 1852. Queen Victoria and her family first came to Balmoral in September 1848 eleven months after the death of the last tenant. Sir Robert Gordon.
The estate first appears on record in 1484 when Alexander Gordon, second son of the first earl of Huntly. paid an annual rent of £6.8 shillings for
'Bouchmorale' as it was then called.
The Gordons retained Balmoral until 1662. when they sold it to the Farquharsons of Inverery. They in turn were obliged to sell it as a bankrupt
estate to the earl of Fife in 1798. who let it in 1830 to Sir Robert Gordon brother of the earl of Aberdeen. who was
Prime Minister during the Crimean War. Sir
Robert virtually created the Balmoral deer forest and added a kitchen wing, public rooms, bedrooms, and a turreted tower to the old castle.
Among his guests at the castle were Sir Edwin Landseer. painter of “The Stag at Bay” and John Clark the invalid son of Sir James Clark. the Queen's doctor. John had
a grand time at Balmoral while the royal family and Sir James were enduring persistent rain and mist at Ardve- rikie. near loch Laggan,
It was this circumstance that first turned the Queen's attention to Deeside.Sir Robert Gordon's sudden death made possible a tenancy for the
Royal family at Balmoral which they occupied on lease for the next four years. When he bought the place
al the end of that period. Prince Albert engaged William Smith, city architect of
Aberdeen and son of John Smit (nicknamed 'Tudor Johnny') who had rebuilt the old castle. to design the new
Balmoral Castle that we know today. There is no doubt that Prince Albert's own hand was the major influence on Balmoral’s design. It consists of two separate blocks
of buildings connected by wings, at the east angle of which the massive tower 35 ft square. rises 80 feet and is surmounted by a turret with a circular stair,
carrying the total height to 100 ft.
The style is Scottish baronial and the material is light grey Invergelder granite, quarried on the
Balmoral estate. The hand-dressed granite work of the fabric is said to be the finest in Scotland.
On entry by the main porch, the hall opens to the main corridor that runs along the centre of the
building, from which the grand staircase climbs to the royal private rooms on the first floor. The dining-room, drawing room, billiard room. And library are on the
ground floor. The ballroom.
68 ft long and 25 ft wide, has been the scene of many a famous assembly and many a memorable Ghillies Ball. The whole building was designed to
house from 100 lo 120 residents.
The Balmoral estate now extends to 24.000 acres, including Lochnagar Broad Cairn and
Loch Muick. The Castle grounds are open to the public in May. June and July (unless the royal family are in residence)
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