Aberlour House – a important national Historic building.
The house was originally a home at the centre of a large estate and the home of the Gordons of Aberlour. Later it was used as the headquarters for the Gordon Highlanders 51st Division during the war.
The current building, as seen today, was built in 1838 to a design by William Robertson for Alexander Grant who purchased the estate of Aberlour and errected the impressive statue.
For 50 years it was used as a private junior school until they incorporated the junior school into the Gordonstoun campus in September 2004. Those days the old stables were changed to classrooms. I was surprised when I was nosy looking through the windows of the old guard building what the kids left behind.
Now Aberlour House is the head office for the shortbread factory. It is an attractive category A listed Georgian building and it sits next door to the Shortbread factories on the edge of the village.
Since Walkers owns the estate they have meticulously restored the building, as far as possible, to its former condition and the local community were very pleased to see the building saved for the enjoyment of future generations.
The grounds at Aberlour House also have stables, grazing land for horses and an orchard which produces a good crop of apples for employees and residents at the local retirement home. The gardens are available to the local scout troupe for their annual camp and to pupils for field work in rural studies.
Over the years the factory have invested in farmland and woodland in the local vicinity around the village and Aberlour House, to help protect the local environment and take great pride in managing this land in a sustainable fashion.
To maintain the land and gardens around the factories in Aberlour, the factory employ an estate manager and two gardeners. The woods are professionally managed and there are footpaths through the trees, allowing access for the local community to enjoy walking, cycling, bird watching, running, pony-trekking and orienteering.
The grounds are rich in biodiversity with a full range of native plants and trees as well as a diverse array of wildlife including such species as red squirrel, badger, roe deer, pine martin, fox, buzzard, heron, woodpecker, bats and owls.
You are welcome to use the public paths here and enjoy the beauty of the estate.
However I kindly ask you to be stealth, respectful and discreet as it is very nice that this paths are open for the public.
This cache is NOT within the fenced-in area of the grounds! Start at the waypoint - at N57° 28.702' W3° 12.046' - for the correct access to the cache.
Follow that we path, it's indeed a public footpath - but I agree a very small and narrow one!