| Victoria Barracks | |
|---|---|
| Ballater | |
 Victoria Barracks, Ballater | |
  Victoria Barracks Location within Aberdeenshire | |
| Coordinates | 57°02′57″N3°02′48″W / 57.04920°N 3.04675°W |
| Type | Barracks |
| Site information | |
| Owner | Ministry of Defence |
| Operator |  British Army |
| Site history | |
| Built | 1850 |
| Built for | War Office |
| In use | 1850-Present |
| Garrison information | |
| Occupants | Royal Regiment of Scotland |
Victoria Barracks is a military installation in Ballater, Scotland.
The barracks were built as temporary accommodation in 1850 to accommodate the Queen's Guard around the time that Queen Victoria and Prince Albert acquired Balmoral Castle. [1] A row of Tudor style cottages were converted into permanent barracks in 1869 and some flat-roofed oriental-looking buildings were erected on the site in 1904. [2] [3] [4] Further modernisation, including the removal of some old huts, took place in 1969. [5] During the flooding caused by Storm Frank in late December 2015, families living in the worst affected parts of Ballater were evacuated to the barracks. [6] When Queen Elizabeth II resided in Balmoral Castle for three months each summer, the barracks housed the Royal Regiment of Scotland's Royal Guard. [7]
Balmoral Castle is a large estate house in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and a residence of the British royal family. It is near the village of Crathie, 9 miles (14 km) west of Ballater and 50 miles (80 km) west of Aberdeen.
Alexander William George Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, styled Viscount Macduff between 1857 and 1879 and known as the Earl Fife between 1879 and 1889, was a British peer who married Princess Louise, the third child and eldest daughter of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra.
Ballater is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on the River Dee, immediately east of the Cairngorm Mountains. Situated at an elevation of 213 metres, Ballater is a centre for hikers and known for its spring water, once said to cure scrofula. It is home to more than 1400 inhabitants and has had a long connection with the British royal family.
The River Dee is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through southern Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen. The area it passes through is known as Deeside, or Royal Deeside in the region between Braemar and Banchory because Queen Victoria came for a visit there in 1848 and greatly enjoyed herself. She and her husband, Prince Albert, built Balmoral Castle there which replaced an older castle.
The A93 is a major road in Scotland and the highest public road in the United Kingdom. It runs north from Perth through Blairgowrie and Rattray, then through the Grampian Mountains by way of Glenshee, the Cairnwell Pass and Glen Clunie to Braemar in Aberdeenshire. At Braemar, the road then switches east down the strath of the River Dee before crossing the A90 and terminating in Aberdeen.
Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, 1st Baronet, was an Austrian-born British medallist and sculptor, best known for the "Jubilee head" of Queen Victoria on coinage, and the statue of the Duke of Wellington at Hyde Park Corner. During his career Boehm maintained a large studio in London and produced a significant volume of public works and private commissions. A speciality of Boehm's was the portrait bust; there are many examples of these in the National Portrait Gallery. He was often commissioned by the Royal Family and members of the aristocracy to make sculptures for their parks and gardens. His works were many, and he exhibited 123 of them at the Royal Academy from 1862 to his death in 1890.
Crathie Kirk is a small Church of Scotland parish church in the Scottish village of Crathie, best known for being the regular place of worship of the British royal family when they are in residence at the nearby Balmoral Castle.
Crathie is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It stands on the north bank of the River Dee.
Birkhall is a 210 km2 estate on Royal Deeside, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, owned by King Charles III. It is located alongside the River Muick to the south-west of Ballater.
The Deeside Railway was a passenger and goods railway between Aberdeen and Ballater in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Opening in 1853 to Banchory, an extension reached Aboyne in 1859. A separate company, the Aboyne & Braemar Railway, built an extension to Ballater and this opened in 1866. By 1855 there were five services a day over the 43+1⁄4-mile (69.6 km) long line, taking between 1 hour 50 minutes and 2+1⁄2 hours. The line was used by the Royal Train for travel to and from Balmoral Castle from 1853 and a special 'Messenger Train' ran daily when the Royal Family was in residence.
In countries whose armies are organised on a regimental basis, such as the army of the United Kingdom, a regimental museum is a military museum dedicated to the history of a specific army regiment.
Knock Castle is a ruined tower house in Aberdeenshire, north-east Scotland. It is typical of the traditional type of residence of a laird, a Scottish landed gentleman. Knock Castle is in Royal Deeside, about 1 mile (1.6 km) west of the town of Ballater, and about 6 miles (9.7 km) east of Balmoral. It sits on a knoll in a field on the south side of Craig of the Knock, a low hill at the entrance to Glen Muick. The castle is a category B listed building, and is in the care of Historic Environment Scotland. Knock Castle is the ancestral seat of Lady Krisztina de Varga of Knock.
Ballater railway station is a former station in the village of Ballater in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The station was formerly the terminus of a branch line from Aberdeen.
Aberdeenshire West is a constituency of the Scottish Parliament (Holyrood) covering part of the council area of Aberdeenshire. It elects one Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of ten constituencies in the North East Scotland electoral region, which elects seven additional members, in addition to ten constituency MSPs, to produce a form of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Abergeldie Castle is a four-floor tower house in Crathie and Braemar parish, SW Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It stands at an altitude of 840 feet (260 m), on the south bank of the River Dee, five miles (8 km) west of Ballater, and about two miles (3 km) east of the royal residence of Balmoral Castle. Behind it rises Creag nam Ban, a rounded granite hill about 527 metres (1,729 ft) high, and across the river to its front is the cairn-crowned Geallaig Hill, rising to 743 metres (2,438 ft).
The cairns commemorate the marriages of Victoria's children, of the Princess Royal located on Canup, Prince Albert Edward located on the Coyles of Muick, Princess Alice, Princess Helena, Princess Louise, Prince Arthur, Prince Leopold all located on Craig Gowan and Princess Beatrice located at the bottom of Creag an Lurachain. Victoria's son Prince Alfred's cairn is located on Ripe Hill.
The Cambus O' May bridge spans the River Dee to the east of Ballater, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was paid for by the estate of Alexander Gordon, who had grown up nearby. The bridge was built in 1905 and is a suspension footbridge 164 feet (50 m) long and 4 feet (1.2 m) wide. The bridge was rebuilt in 1988 for safety reasons but was badly damaged in the December 2015 Storm Frank. It was repaired and reopened in April 2021.
The Polhollick Bridge spans the River Dee near Ballater, Aberdeenshire. It was built in 1892 by James Abernethy, a steel founder in Aberdeen. The bridge had been commissioned by Alexander Gordon as a gift to the area to replace a ferry crossing. Gordon had grown up in the area and witnessed a drowning incident at the ferry. It is a suspension bridge for pedestrians only. The bridge is similar to the nearby Cambus O' May bridge also paid for by Gordon. The bridge suffered severe damage during Storm Frank in December 2015 and reopened after repairs in December 2018.
The Victoria and Albert Halls is a complex of municipal buildings in Station Square, Ballater, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The structure, which accommodates the new Ballater Community and Heritage Hub, is a Category C listed building.