Monument record MHG49233 - Site of Bellsgrove Lodge, Strontian

NMRS Report: (06/12/2005)
NM86NW 39 83130 85272 <1>

The house was built c.1850 for John Barratt, manager of the Strontian Mining Company. After 1856 it reverted to the estate and became a shooting lodge. <2>

It is said in <2> that Sir Humphrey Davy worked here on his miners' safety lamp and mineralisation. This could not have taken place in this building, however, since Sir Humphrey died in 1829. Presumably it was within the mining complex, which is famed for being the place where Sir Humphrey isolated the chemical element strontium. <3>

Photographs of this building were submitted to the HER prior to its proposed demolition in connection with planning consent for a replacement house. The developer informs us that a photographic record of the building has also been taken by RCAHMS. <4>

The photographic record mentioned in <4> does not appear to be accessible via Canmore however RCAHMS does hold photographs of the building in the Iain Thornber collection. These can be viewed in the Search Room in Edinburgh (see Canmore record for details). <5>

Iain Thornber has provided additional information about this building. When in use as a shooting lodge the building housed one of two estate gamekeepers. The last resident keeper to live there was Roderick MacDonald, or "Rory", who is buried in the graveyard by the parish church. The building, along with the whole of the Sunart Estate, was sold to the Board of Agriculture for Scotland in 1920 who leased it out and then sold it to a Mr Buchan Watt in the early 1960s.
Five photographs of the lodge were also submitted to the HER including historic and modern views of the house. The photographs are held offline but copies can be provided on request for personal use. <6>