Killiechassie
is a country estate and house near Weem, about a
mile northeast of Aberfeldy, in Perth and
Kinross, Scotland. The estate lies on the banks
of the River Tay in some 12 acres, about 74
miles north of Edinburgh. It was owned by the
Douglas family in the latter part of the 19th
century, and a new house was erected in 1865.
Killiechassie
Estate has existed for centuries, and
historically fell within the civil parish of
Logierait. The name Killiechassie means
"the church of the steep face" which refers to a
church which stood on the hill there. This was
part of the earldom of Atholl and was then
granted by Máel Coluim, Earl of Atholl, to Scone
Abbey in the 12th century.
In the 17th
century the estate was owned by members of Clan
Murray who were the Dukes of Atholl. Later
proprietors of Killiechassie included the
Robertson family, who belonged to the house of
Struan. In 1727 the estate was owned by the
Reverend Robert Stewart, who left money for a
chapel to be built there. On his death in 1729
he was buried here, followed by his wife, Anne,
a year later. According to legend, Bonnie Prince
Charlie was reputed to have sheltered in a
sycamore tree here on his retreat to Inverness
during the Jacobite Uprising in 1746. A small
loch in the vicinity is also, according to
superstition, occupied by a Celtic water spirit.
In 1850 the
estate was documented to be held by a Miss
Fleming, when it was described by poet David
Millar as "almost opposite Aberfeldy, a sweet
place, but capable of much greater
embellishment." In the later 19th century the
estate was owned by the Douglas family, and an
Edward Octavius Douglas, nephew of John Douglas,
7th Marquess of Queensberry held it in 1871, and
a Hannah Charlotte Douglas by 1892. In 1865 the
older house was replaced with a new one.
On 26 December
2001 British author J. K. Rowling married Neil
Murray at Killiechassie, the ceremony being held
in the library. She had bought the estate a
month earlier as a retreat from press and public
intrusion. She was reported to have paid
£440,000 (£500,000 according to some) for
another house which shared the same drive and
then paid around £1.5 million for 72 acres of
farmland adjacent to the property.
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