FINZEAN ESTATE
HISTORIC SEAT OF CLAN FARQUHARSON #3
The Parish of Birse, of which Finzean is part, was granted by King William the Lyon to the Bishops of Aberdeen in 1157. In those ancient title deeds are recorded the names of Percie, Clune, Balnaboth, Balfiddy, Tillyfruskie and Tillygarmond, all places which continue to exist as part of the working farm enterprises of today’s Finzean. In 1580, Donald Farquharson of the Castleton of Braemar acquired Tillygarmond, the first landed property in the valley to be owned by the Farquharsons. In 1707, Queen Anne granted Robert Farquharson, the 4th Laird of Finzean, a Barony Charter, ensuring his complete independence from any other feudal superior except the Crown.
Finzean today has come to mean many different things to many different people, though the name originated from a house and the modest area of land, which surrounded it, first acquired by the Farquharson family in 1609. Gradually, this territory expanded into something more substantial, recognised in the twentieth century as a Parish in its own right, with a church, school and village hall. For many, ‘Finzean’ has come to mean a much-loved home, a village – or, indeed, the community itself.
Finzean House was the family home of Joseph Farquharson, the Victorian landscape painter, and the garden was the backdrop for several of his paintings. The garden has lovely views over the historic holly hedge to the front of Clachnaben. There is a spring woodland garden, extensive lawns with herbaceous and shrub borders and a working cut-flower garden for late summer, alongside a recently restored pond area.
