Tuesday 21 January 2014

History of Heathpark Lodge - Update


A Happy and Healthy New Year to all.

Since I did further research on the date the house was built (mainly because the internet now carries much more information than it did years ago when I first tried to find out), below is a copy of the new History of Heathpark Lodge.  Apologies for the photograph above, but as I said in a previous post, it was taken in November. I will take more of the ‘new look’ in the spring.


History of Heathpark Lodge

In 1745 this whole area was open grazing land.  Coupar Angus Road was a one lane track built for the use of coaches and horse traffic, connecting Blairogwrie with Coupar Angus.  According to historical records the Duke of Cumberland’s (known as the Butcher Cumberland in Scotland) cavalry camped on the actual site of Heathpark Estate for a period of around six weeks before their final push to Inverness, where they won the battle of Culloden against the ‘rebel’ Scots.  The Duke himself did not stay here but enjoyed the more sumptuous accommodation of Newton Castle set at the top of the town.

What was to be known as Heathpark estate was purchased in 1837 by John Thane of Dundee, one of Scotland’s wealthiest ship owners.  His permanent residence was in Dundee but he used his estate as a weekend and holiday retreat.  John Thane was also highly respected in the Free Presbyterian Church where he (and Heathpark) are mentioned on several occasions.  

As Mr Thane entertained influential members of his Kirk at Heathpark in the summer of 1838, perhaps to celebrate the ascension of Queen Victoria to the throne, I assume Heathpark Lodge was built by then.  The same stone as used in Heathpark, (the ‘big house’) was used in the frontage of the Lodge and that suggests both properties were build at the same time. The house was originally built with a hallway, two rooms to either side and the lean-to attached to the right hand side. In the very first census taken in 1841, Heathpark Lodge is listed as occupied with servants.

Unfortunately, owing to the many additions to the ‘big house’ the beautiful stone has been harled over, but in 2013 I decided to have the whole of the stonework renovated using lime mortar which would have been used in the 1800s. It looks splendid, but that is due to the lovely expert who spent many days chipping away 150 years of bad maintenance and bringing the exterior back to its original state.                                                                                                       
                                                                                                                                In the mid-1850s the house was sold to John Clarke, the owner of a reputable printing and publishing company in Edinburgh.  Soon after Mr Clarke arrived others purchased land, built houses and the result was the village of Rosemount.  The Clark family kept the house for a number of years until Mr Clarke died (he is buried in the old churchyard at the top of the town).

Early in the 1900s the estate was sold to a Miss Guthrie, who was Lord Lieutenant of Perthshire.  Records show she employed a gardener and his wife who lived in the Lodge. 

When Miss Guthrie died in the late 1930s, the whole estate was bought by a local veterinary surgeon who ran his surgery from the back section of the big house and resided in the remainder.  His mother lived here in the Lodge and I have been told there were many great musical evenings in this house as both the vet and his mother were talented fiddlers.

In the late 60s the vet’s mother died and the vet sold the Lodge to a private buyer; thus the breakup of the estate commenced.  In 1980 the then owners of Heathpark sold off much more land, including a wonderful walled garden, to a property developer but fortunately this did not affect the Lodge in any way.

Since the 1960s there have been three owners:  a surveyor and his family, a lawyer and wife and myself.  I purchased the house in 1991 and extended it to its present size in 1992, trying my best to ensure the extension was sympathetic to and in keeping with the original property.  The square arch in the hallway was the back door of the original house.


The garden has evolved in the past years since I took over as it was just pasture and stones then.  The beech hedge seen at the roadside and along part of the garden was over 15 ft high.  Thankfully it is now a manageable size and hopefully compliments the garden rather than buries it.

Heathpark Lodge
Blairgowrie
2014