Rednock House

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Location and Setting

Rednock House is set in a low-lying park east of the Lake of Menteith. It is approximately 5 miles (8km) east of Aberfoyle and 1 mile (1.5km) east of the Port of Menteith and the A873 to Aberfoyle forms the northern boundary of the park. The area has a high annual rainfall. The Goodie Water flows from the Lake of Menteith to join the River Forth to the south, and tributaries to it flow through the Rednock policies. The flat nature of the surrounding landscape affords views from the house across the park to the Fintry Hills in the south and Hills of Menteith to the north-west. There are views into the park from the A873 to its north.

Roy's map of 1750 shows no designed landscape around the present site of Rednock House. It does show a formal layout around Lochend House, at the south-east edge of the Lake of Menteith. Grahamestoun is marked and this later became the dower house for Rednock, and a place called Bogtown is also marked near the present house. Inchknoch is marked on the plan near the site of the ruins of Rednock Castle. By the 1st edition OS map of 1866, the landscape had been planted up much as it remains today, with a large park and many individual parkland trees. There are 586 acres (237ha) in the designed landscape today.

Landscape Components

Architectural Features

Rednock House: the early part of the house dates from the 18th century and a two- storey block was added to its east side in 1827, forming the main part of the house today. This has a pedimented porch and steps flanked by two large eagles, the Graham crest. The screen walls and circular baronial towers were added to the wings at the junction of the old and new houses around 1840. The house is listed B. The Stable-block, listed B, probably dates from the mid-18th century and was remodelled by Brown in c.1827. It is quadrangular with a centre archway and had an octagonal dome tower which was removed in the 1980s as it was in poor condition.

The walled garden is listed B, dating from 1816, and has high rubble walls with West and East Gateways framed in half vermiculated pilaster strips. A gate in the north wall is set at an angle to it and the north wall is hollow for heating. There is a square cistern house at its east end. The Ice House is listed B and is egg-shaped but has suffered some gale damage to its roof, which was decorated with quartz boulders.

Parkland

There are some older large trees in the park of late 18th century which predate the designed landscape and tradition holds that there was a lime and oak avenue leading to the house from the north which was later interrupted by the building of the walled garden and by the new approach road. Most of the designed parks are still grazed although some have been converted to arable use and these have lost more of their individual parkland trees. Within the parks there are limes, oak, sycamore and beech dating from the 1820s with later conifers including Wellingtonias planted in c.1900. The former dower house, Grahamestoun, was pulled down in the 1900s. The course of the Rednock Burn was altered, possibly at the same time that the mansion house was built, and was canalised to the west of the house away from the new eastern approach. The burn was used to feed the new serpentine lake which lies to the south- east of the house and whose shape is well-defined on the 1st edition OS map but is less distinct today as its margins have become overgrown.

Woodland

Most of the commercial woodlands are now managed under a Forestry Commission Dedication Scheme. Earl's Hill has now been planted with softwoods but retains a hardwood edge. Most of the planting over the years has been of mixed species with beech, oak, lime, pine and cedar. The conifers were mainly planted around 1900 by Mr Shepherd.

Woodland Garden

The woodland walk to the west of the house and up to the Lake of Menteith was planted up in the early 1900s by Mr Shepherd. Some of the exotic conifers have been measured by Alan Mitchell and include a Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) and a Picea jezoensis. The two small lochs to the north of the west drive were surrounded with ornamental plantings of Rhododendrons and Azaleas. The ponds were used for curling but one of them is now rather overgrown. Many Rhododendron varieties survive around their shores. There was also a walk from the house up to the walled garden.

Walled Garden

The garden was built between 1816-1820 and its walls contain several interesting features including the cistern building in the north-east corner of the garden. A canal- type feature is shown in the early map at this end of the garden. The gardens were kept up until World War II with ornamental planting as well as vegetables. The box hedges surrounding the beds remain along the north section of the garden. There were also extensive glasshouses including a Peach House which was destroyed by a land-mine during World War II. Part of the garden is kept for fruit and vegetable growing.