Destroyed by fire in 1919, today very little remains of the medieval Bishop’s Palace: it is essentially a skeletal ruin.
And yet, even seen from a distance, its mellow sandstone walls seem to retain some of the mansion house’s former glory.
Originally built in the 1200s as a summer residence for the Bishops of Aberdeen, the palace was rebuilt and extended over the following centuries before becoming the seat of the Leslie family in 1566.
Sadly, the fire of 1919 brought the mansion’s inhabited life to an abrupt end.
There’s no public access to get inside to explore due to its crumbling, dangerous condition, and it’s fenced off and on private land.
However, it’s an impressive building and well worth a look – even if it has to be from the other side of the fence.
Incredible architecture
Look closely and you’ll spot several striking architectural features, including the coat of arms belonging to Patrick Leslie carved in stone above the front entrance.
I made a wee detour to check out the palace during a circular walk which started in Kemnay, followed a riverside path to the Shakkin’ Briggie at Burnhervie, and returned on tarmac roads.
It was a joy to wander through Fetternear Estate, pausing to catch glimpses of the River Don through the trees, and clusters of snowdrops.
I also spotted the Fetternear Steen, a carved, square-shaped stone which shows two people on horseback fording a river on one side, and two monks and their attendants with a boat on the other.
But the highlight of the walk was gazing up at the lofty, roofless remains of Bishop’s Palace.
Today, its windows yawn like voids, eyeless and gaping, but its castellated turrets have stood the test of time, and look down on passers-by with a certain dignity.
It’s one of Aberdeenshire’s most striking ruins, and it’s hard to resist vaulting the fence and popping inside for a peek. I refrain, reminding myself of its precarious state.
What became of the Bishop’s Palace?
It’s hard to imagine that the palace, which sits in a tranquil setting, was once full of life, laughter and no doubt parties.
These days, it’s only sheep that wander round the ruins, grazing on once-manicured lawns.
The house was gutted by fire in just three hours, a few days before Christmas in 1919.
The seat of Clan Leslie, the family and their servants escaped, with some jumping from windows, but a rare collection of Chippendale furniture was destroyed, and a pet cat perished.
It was Lieutenant Colonel Charles Leslie, a Gordon Highlander, who raised the alarm after noticing smoke spiralling under his bedroom door at 5am on December 19, 1919.
The source was identified as a smouldering wood and coal cellar in the north basement.
It didn’t take long for the fire to spread, with the staircase to the servants’ quarters bursting into flames, trapping staff upstairs.
Their only hope was to jump from the windows – a drop of 15 feet. One maid, Mrs Emslie, fell awkwardly and dislocated her leg.
Fuelled by gale-force winds, efforts to fight the fire were futile.
But volunteers who showed up from Kemnay helped Lt-Col Leslie save a £40,000 collection of paintings by the old masters – including portraits by Kneller and Holbein.
By 8am, all that remained of the mansion was a “cordon of gaunt masonry around an accumulation of smouldering debris”.
Medieval history
However, Fetternear’s history stretches back to medieval times.
Referred to not only as the Bishop’s Palace, but also as Fetternear House, or Fetternear Palace, the site was originally a palace for the Bishops of Aberdeen built in the 1200s.
Extensive archaeological digs around the mansion in the late 1990s and early 2000s revealed trinkets and artefacts from the medieval period.
Mansion destined to decay
It’s sad that it has been left to rot, but attempts to save it have been made.
In 2008 Fetternear Estate‘s owners submitted an outline planning application with Aberdeenshire Council to restore and transform it into visitor attraction.
The plans proposed a leisure centre, swimming pool, gym, cafe, shop, exhibition space, meeting rooms – and 77 houses.
But it seems they never came to fruition.
Once I’d gazed at the ruins for long enough, I marched on towards Burnhervie, taking a slight detour down a muddy, unmarked path towards the Don.
How to find the ruined chapel
The path led to the stark remains of the ruined chapel of Fetternear, which stands beside an ancient walled kirkyard.
It’s a scene of total desolation, where curious oblong gravestones lie on the ground, their Latin inscriptions barely legible. The earliest I could pick out hailed from 1864.
Upright gravestones are almost buried in a wilderness of scrubby vegetation.
The crumbling chapel is a relatively modern building, but it’s said there was a chapel on the site as far back as 1109.
Leaving the neglected site, I continued towards Burnhervie and its Shakkin’ Briggie over the Don.
The route back – on tarmac – rises high above the Don, with great views of the Aberdeenshire landscape opening up below.
It was three miles back to Kemnay, passing the Dalmadilly Ponds, where I enjoyed a lovely swim in summer.
It was far too chilly to consider even the briefest of dips, and instead, I marched on in search of a warming takeaway coffee from the Co-op.
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