Moray HER - NJ46SE0005 - RANNAS HOUSE

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Main Details

Primary ReferenceNJ46SE0005
NameRANNAS HOUSE
NRHE Card No.NJ46SE5
NRHE Numlink 75907
HES SM No. NULL
HES LB No. 15526
Site Form Standing Structure
Site Condition Complete 2
Details Remains of house and estate, built in the mid to late 18th century. It is depicted on the 1st edition OS map of 1867 with walled garden, offices, mill buildings and a mill dam, lade and sluice. Only the flanking East and West wing blocks and the walled garden remain along with parts of the office and mill buildings, in the form of a barn and implement shed (NJ46SE0088). The wings, now in residential use, are a pair of formerly mirrored 2-storey, 5 bay blocks, with a centre projecting stairwell flanked by doorways, fronting each other and flanking the front court of the mansion, demolished some time before 1822. They are constructed of pinned rubble with tooled ashlar dressings. The East block was converted as a dwelling in late 19th century. The ground-floor canted window projects at the South-West. Two gabled dormers break the wallhead in the outer front bays, and three at the rear. There are 19th century gabled end stacks, and a single rear wallhead stack. The 19th century gabled slate roof has projecting eaves. The West block has a symmetrical 5-bay East front, with entrances that flank the centre stair projection. There is regular 3-window fenestration in the West elevation, and all windows are margined. There are coped end stacks and a piended local slate roof with stone ridge. The interior is in poor condition. There are remains of the former kitchen on the ground floor, and a large combed ceiling room in first floor. A cantilevered staircase survives in the stairwell. The L-plan walled garden lies to East and North of the complex, enclosing the site of the former mansion. The walls are constructed from rubble, with tooled coping. There is a large round-headed entrance arch at the West. Rannas was the ancestral home of the Hays of Rannas. George, the first Hay of Rannas, became Rector of Rathen and later Superintendent of Glasgow and Aberdeen. Andrew Hay, the last of the line, declared for Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745 and fought at Culloden, making his escape but thus becoming an outlaw until pardoned in 1788: he died in 1789. The property was then bought by the Earl of Seafield. The house was 'consumed by fire' in 1759 and it has been suggested from the content of contemporary letters that the new house was built on a different site. Some of the material from the demolished mansion was re-used in Cullen Town Hall (NJ56NW0027), 1822-3, and some slates were re-used on Cullen House (NJ56NW0003) in circa 1985. In 1999, a watching brief was carried out by MAS over the excavation of foundations trenches for a structure linking the two wing blocks at their southern end. No finds or features were observed, and it was evident hat drainage work and agricultural activity had removed any traces of the earlier house which had been demolished in 1789. The current owner has restored the remaining buildings on the site. See also NJ46NW0001 for the Rannas Aisle in St Peter's Church, Rathven.
Last Update05/11/2021
Updated Bycpalmer
Compiler 
Date of Compilation 

Google Map for NJ46SE0005

National Grid Reference: NJ 4609 6470



Event Details

Event DateEvent TypeOASIS ID
1999 Watching-Brief

Excavations and Surveys


Artefact and Ecofact

Ecofact

Samples
Palynology
Ecofact Notes

Monument Types

Monument Type 1Monument Type 2Monument Type 3OrderProbability
MILLS REMAINS OFL100
DAMSMILLREMAINS OFM100
LADESMILLREMAINS OFN100
BARNS REMAINS OFO100
OFFICES REMAINS OFP100
SHEDS REMAINS OFQ100
WHEELSMILL R100
DRESSINGSASHLARTOOLEDS100
WALLSRUBBLECOPEDT100
MANSIONS SITE OFA100
WINGS MIRROREDB100
STAIRCASES PROJECTINGC100
DORMERS GABLEDD100
STACKS GABLEDE100
ROOFSSLATEPIENDEDF100
RIDGESSTONE G100
STAIRCASES CANTILEVEREDH100
KITCHENS REMAINS OFI100
GARDENSWALLED J100
ARCHES ROUND-HEADEDK100