Belladrum Estate was once part of the lands owned by the Lords of Lovat, chieftains of the Clan Fraser, to whom belonged much of the land in the area and stretching to the South and West. From them it came into the ownership of the Frasers of Belladrum, whose memorials you can see in Wardlaw Church in the nearby village Kirkhill, and who raised the Regiment of Fraser Fencibles during the Napoleonic Wars. In the 1820s, the Belladrum Frasers sold their estates to merchants by the name of Stewart. They in turn sold in 1857 to James Merry of Belladrum. MP for the Burghs of Falkirk, and an ironmaster from Glasgow. Davina Merry, the mother of the current owner Joe Gibbs, was the last of the name of Merry to own Belladrum. In 1977, Davina sold Belladrum and it was split up into many parts by its new Dutch owners who operated as asset strippers. In 1987, Joe Gibbs repurchased Phoineas House, which had become the main house on the estate since Davina's father, Eion Merry, was forced to pull down old Belladrum House. Joe then gradually re-assembled the heart of the old estate including the home farm and woodlands. Belladrum House had been considerably enlarged by James Merry on acquiring it, using the services of the well known Scottish architect David Bryce. After the Second World War, it proved too large to staff and though offered to a number of schools and institutions, proved to be unsuited to them.

To discover out more about the places, names and history of the estate, place your cursor over these numbers to find out more about the places they represent. If you are staying in one of our cottages, you will find a larger version of this map and key on the wall.