I promised a revisit to this amazing place with a proper camera so this was our first stop on the drive up to Scotland. We set off from Surrey at 4am so we could have a bit longer here, and I didn't drown myself with coffee and lucozade on the way up like last time, so I didn't feel like crap by the time we arrived. And what a beautiful day for it!
Some history pillaged from elsewhere:
"Eastend is a 16th century tower incorporated within a later mansion house. The earliest origins of Eastend are unclear, but there is thought to have been a castle on this site owned by the Carmichael family since the 13th century. Unfortunately the majority of the family’s papers from before 1677 were accidentally destroyed. The Carmichaels also owned the castle of Carmichael nearby. It is not known which of the two branches of the family is the oldest, some sources asserting that the Carmichaels of Carmichael are older than the Carmichaels of Eastend, while others insist the opposite. It may also have been the case originally that Eastend was used by the eldest son and heir of the head of the family at Carmichael. One version has it that Eastend became the home of a branch of the Carmichaels of Carmichael which separated from the main line around 1500. The oldest visible part of the building, a rectangular keep, dates from around this time, although it is said to incorporate earlier work. The keep was originally three storeys in height, plus a garret within a crenellated walkway with bartizans at each corner. It had a vaulted basement, with the main doorway being at first floor level.
Although Carmichael appears on early maps, Eastend doesn’t appear to. However a castle named Wairnhill does appear on Joan Blaeu’s map of 1654, based on a late 16th century Timothy Pont map. Wairnhill’s location could be interpreted as approximately where Eastend is – south-east of Carmichael and west of Covington Tower. Warrenhill is the name of the Carmichael farm midway between Carmichael and Eastend. Could Wairnhill / Warrenhill be an earlier name for what is now known as Eastend?
When the castle at Carmichael was destroyed by Cromwell, Eastend appears to have escaped unharmed. It has been suggested that while the Carmichaels of Carmichael were Royalists, the Carmichaels of Eastend may have been loyal to the Government. Four story wings were added to the east and west sides of the keep in 1673, with crow-stepped gables, forming a U-plan in shape. At this time the vaulting was removed from the ground floor of the keep, and much of its interior gutted during the installation of a grand wooden staircase. A string course was added between the ground floor and first floor levels, and the windows in the keep were enlarged.
The space between the two new wings was filled in in the 18th century with the addition of bow-fronted façade. When a John Carmichael died unmarried and without an heir in 1789, Eastend passed to his nephew Maurice Carmichael, son of Michael Carmichael of Hessilhead. Maurice’s son, another Michael, married Mary MacQueen Thomson Honyman, the daughter and heiress of William Thomson Honyman of Mansfield, Ayrshire. Upon their marriage, they took the name of Thomson-Carmichael. In 1851 they commissioned a large Scots baronial wing was added to the west by David Bryce.
During the Nazi occupation of Poland in 1939 - 1945, the house was used as a HQ for the general staff of the Polish National Army. With the liberation of Poland in 1945, it was left empty and was acquired by the McNeil Hamiltons, and following Edith’s death in 1959 it passed to two of her daughters, Miriam Millicent and Enid McNeill Hamilton. Enid died in 1979, but Miriam continued to live at Eastend until her death in 1991."
The explore:
We had a leisurely stroll the same way we walked last time. I was so excited to be back with my newest camera, and a friend of mine lent me a 6.5mm wide angle lens to play with. (I couldn't get the hang of it though!) We located our access point from last time only to find it bricked up. Damn! But as with most explores a bit of patience pays off and we found a different way in. And to my delight we managed to gain access to the parts we couldn't get to last time. After a mooch about, constantly jumping out of our skin as we crept around startling pigeons and crows in different rooms I realised just how much this place was deteriorating and how quickly it was happening. There had been more internal collapsing, new holes in floors, some floors that I had stood on previously that were now impossible to walk on, even some fireplaces had fallen through the floors due to the dry rot! The parts we saw last time had piles of new rubble and debris from the internal collapsing and were only just accessible now, but because we saw them last time we decided to not to risk it. Making it to my sisters wedding in one piece was far more important!
Anyway, on with the pics...
I turned a corner and the way H was standing side on looked really cool so grabbed a shot. She couldn't stay still for the full exposure but the result was pretty good I think!
And finally, the one pic I have been longing to take:
And the one good shot from the wide angle. Admittedly there was about 10+ attempts!
Thanks for looking!
Some history pillaged from elsewhere:
"Eastend is a 16th century tower incorporated within a later mansion house. The earliest origins of Eastend are unclear, but there is thought to have been a castle on this site owned by the Carmichael family since the 13th century. Unfortunately the majority of the family’s papers from before 1677 were accidentally destroyed. The Carmichaels also owned the castle of Carmichael nearby. It is not known which of the two branches of the family is the oldest, some sources asserting that the Carmichaels of Carmichael are older than the Carmichaels of Eastend, while others insist the opposite. It may also have been the case originally that Eastend was used by the eldest son and heir of the head of the family at Carmichael. One version has it that Eastend became the home of a branch of the Carmichaels of Carmichael which separated from the main line around 1500. The oldest visible part of the building, a rectangular keep, dates from around this time, although it is said to incorporate earlier work. The keep was originally three storeys in height, plus a garret within a crenellated walkway with bartizans at each corner. It had a vaulted basement, with the main doorway being at first floor level.
Although Carmichael appears on early maps, Eastend doesn’t appear to. However a castle named Wairnhill does appear on Joan Blaeu’s map of 1654, based on a late 16th century Timothy Pont map. Wairnhill’s location could be interpreted as approximately where Eastend is – south-east of Carmichael and west of Covington Tower. Warrenhill is the name of the Carmichael farm midway between Carmichael and Eastend. Could Wairnhill / Warrenhill be an earlier name for what is now known as Eastend?
When the castle at Carmichael was destroyed by Cromwell, Eastend appears to have escaped unharmed. It has been suggested that while the Carmichaels of Carmichael were Royalists, the Carmichaels of Eastend may have been loyal to the Government. Four story wings were added to the east and west sides of the keep in 1673, with crow-stepped gables, forming a U-plan in shape. At this time the vaulting was removed from the ground floor of the keep, and much of its interior gutted during the installation of a grand wooden staircase. A string course was added between the ground floor and first floor levels, and the windows in the keep were enlarged.
The space between the two new wings was filled in in the 18th century with the addition of bow-fronted façade. When a John Carmichael died unmarried and without an heir in 1789, Eastend passed to his nephew Maurice Carmichael, son of Michael Carmichael of Hessilhead. Maurice’s son, another Michael, married Mary MacQueen Thomson Honyman, the daughter and heiress of William Thomson Honyman of Mansfield, Ayrshire. Upon their marriage, they took the name of Thomson-Carmichael. In 1851 they commissioned a large Scots baronial wing was added to the west by David Bryce.
During the Nazi occupation of Poland in 1939 - 1945, the house was used as a HQ for the general staff of the Polish National Army. With the liberation of Poland in 1945, it was left empty and was acquired by the McNeil Hamiltons, and following Edith’s death in 1959 it passed to two of her daughters, Miriam Millicent and Enid McNeill Hamilton. Enid died in 1979, but Miriam continued to live at Eastend until her death in 1991."
The explore:
We had a leisurely stroll the same way we walked last time. I was so excited to be back with my newest camera, and a friend of mine lent me a 6.5mm wide angle lens to play with. (I couldn't get the hang of it though!) We located our access point from last time only to find it bricked up. Damn! But as with most explores a bit of patience pays off and we found a different way in. And to my delight we managed to gain access to the parts we couldn't get to last time. After a mooch about, constantly jumping out of our skin as we crept around startling pigeons and crows in different rooms I realised just how much this place was deteriorating and how quickly it was happening. There had been more internal collapsing, new holes in floors, some floors that I had stood on previously that were now impossible to walk on, even some fireplaces had fallen through the floors due to the dry rot! The parts we saw last time had piles of new rubble and debris from the internal collapsing and were only just accessible now, but because we saw them last time we decided to not to risk it. Making it to my sisters wedding in one piece was far more important!
Anyway, on with the pics...
I turned a corner and the way H was standing side on looked really cool so grabbed a shot. She couldn't stay still for the full exposure but the result was pretty good I think!
And finally, the one pic I have been longing to take:
And the one good shot from the wide angle. Admittedly there was about 10+ attempts!
Thanks for looking!
