Invercauld Arms Hotel, Invercauld Road, Braemar

Invercauld Arms Hotel, Braemar

The Invercauld Arms is a large purpose-built hotel complex dating from the mid-19th century with a significant extension of 1886 designed by London architect J T Wimperis. Set on the main approach to Braemar from the north and east, it is a 2-storey building with attic accommodation that dominates this part of the village streetscape.

The hotel displays traditional Highland character throughout, with gabled elevations, overhanging eaves and timber decorative bargeboards. The main block is constructed of granite rubble with tooled dressings, while the 1886 extension is built of squared and coursed rubble.

The principal west elevation features a tall 3-bay 2-storey and attic central section with a projecting full-height porch. The porch has a central pointed arch opening and a pair of flanking angled buttresses supporting turrets above, which are crowned with candlesnuffer roofs. Above rises a crow-stepped gable with a blind armorial panel. To the left and right of this centrepiece are 2-bay lower blocks fronted by rustic slated verandahs. Gabled dormers sit at the wallhead, linking to taller advanced gabled sections featuring 2-storey canted windows. A further bay to the northern extension also has a 2-storey canted window. The north and south elevations are irregular in composition, with a variety of advanced and recessed bays and gables.

The roof is covered in grey slate with areas of replacement. Chimney stacks are of varied design, some shouldered and coped, others featuring diamond flues. The windows throughout are non-traditional uPVC replacements.

The interior has been modernised but retains much character of a 19th-century rural hotel, with large principal rooms featuring decorative plasterwork, timber panelling and ornate chimney pieces.

The Invercauld Arms reflects the importance of tourism to Braemar during the 19th century, when it was one of two large purpose-built hotels in the village. The hotel advertised in local tourist guides and was noted as hosting royalty and nobility.

Historically, the site is significant as the location where the Earl of Mar raised his standard at the beginning of the Jacobite rebellion in 1715. This event is commemorated by a plaque mounted on the hotel and a stone positioned opposite the main entrance. The plaque reads: "ON THIS SPOT THE EARL OF MAR RAISED HIS STANDARD OF REBELLION, 1715". A granite gothic fountain standing beside the hotel serves as a memorial to Ann Farquharson, wife of James, Laird of Invercauld, in the 19th century.