Pitfour Estate, picture heavy.

Went here with my parents for a long walk a few weeks ago upon their recommendation that there were "That kind of houses you like to take pictures of". Hopefully you enjoy the pictures too!

To set the scene.

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr


Two separate buildings, one looked more like part of a farmhouse, and the other was a smaller house.

Building one.


Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr
(My dad peeking up from the ground floor.)

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr






Building two.

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr
Anyone got any ideas what that weird stone structure would have been? It just jutted out of the building and has a hole in the top.

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr
The hole

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr
(crap quality because it was so dark)

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr
I always shit myself when I see things like this. Like who would just sit there in a chair staring at nothing?

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr


The second building had, what my dad thought was a cold store.

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr
Hole in the top of the structure.

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr

Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr
Looks like a pizza oven . . .




Pitfour Estate by rebeccainabox, on Flickr
Inside the cold store, stalactite.

Nice one! Lovely place!
Cheers for sharing great photos

Lovely coach house! Your parents weren't wrong were they.

The weird stone structure is possibly a kind of larder/ice house? Further than that I have no clue sadly.

What a fantastic place, thank you

This is a really cool place. The 12th picture down looks to have a lady looking through a hole in the upper right corner of the room. Beautiful shade of red lipstick!!! Thank you for posting this.

mookster said:

The weird stone structure is possibly a kind of larder/ice house? Further than that I have no clue sadly.

Click to expand...

Yeah, that was my dads thoughts also. Thanks. x

The crude DIY structure on the back of building two is a cold larder - filled with ice, or more usually snow in winter. It was probably added when the estate started to be sold off to pay outstanding debts, some time in the early 1900's. The second building (that your father thinks is a cold store) is I think, the remains of the original smoke house for the estate. When viewing the remains here, you have to remember this was a very large estate and all the buildings played their part in the day to day running of the whole. The Riding Stables are listed as' at risk' and are being conserved/restored at the moment.

i do hope these fantastic buildings are saved

lovely pics.l hope you didnt use the toilet though!!

Dirus_Strictus said:

The crude DIY structure on the back of building two is a cold larder - filled with ice, or more usually snow in winter. It was probably added when the estate started to be sold off to pay outstanding debts, some time in the early 1900's. The second building (that your father thinks is a cold store) is I think, the remains of the original smoke house for the estate. When viewing the remains here, you have to remember this was a very large estate and all the buildings played their part in the day to day running of the whole. The Riding Stables are listed as' at risk' and are being conserved/restored at the moment.

Click to expand...

Thanks, you seem to know a lot. I wish you were my tour guide x

Superb collection of really interesting shots,I found the written invitation quite amusing and intriguing!

Rebeccasuth said:

Thanks, you seem to know a lot. I wish you were my tour guide x

Click to expand...

My real interest is large country estates that were sold off piecemeal to pay Death Duties and country mansions that were de-roofed to avoid paying rates. In many cases the stonework from the walls was used to build habitation for the estate workers, occasionally the walls were left to slowly decay and the remains - cellars etc, can still be found. As can be expected the period between WW1 and WW2 was the busiest period for the loss of country mansions - the carnage of the WW1 battle fields put paid to many inheritance plans.

Pitfour is a good example of what can still be found on these long forgotten estates - stable buildings, coach houses, estate offices, farm houses etc. I even found a small steam powered saw mill many years ago.

For anybody really interested in seeing just how many of these mansions have disappeared, the following book is now well discounted in soft back at certain outlets or online -

ENGLAND'S LOST HOUSES
From the archives of Country Life.
by Giles Worsley
Published by Aurum Press
ISBN 978 1 84513 614 7

The book is worth having just for the list of properties demolished in the 20th C., that are listed in he Gazetteer.