Managers House, Royal Lochnagar Distillery

The Royal Lochnagar Distillery complex comprises a group of distinctive buildings dating back to 1845, with later 19th and 20th century alterations. The complex forms a purpose-built distillery, including a manager’s house to the northeast. The buildings are constructed of coursed grey granite rubble, with some pink granite used in the manager’s house.

The complex includes a four-storey double-pile former maltings building, now a warehouse, characterised by regularly spaced small shuttered or hoist door openings. An “U” shaped steading, now a visitor's centre, has seven former cart arches on its eastern side, flanked by advanced blank gable ends to the north and south, and now features boarded, two-leaf timber doors. A pyramid-roofed mash house is also present, along with a complex of single-storey office buildings to the north, which includes a three-bay cottage. A tall brick chimney rises from the south side. The fenestration is varied, but predominantly features timber surrounds. Grey slate roofs cover the buildings, with some gable stacks visible. Brown painted iron rainwater goods are present, along with white-painted rainwater goods on the manager’s house and purple slates on that building's roof.

The interiors of the various buildings have been extensively modernised, although the mash house retains an old, open-top mash tun with rakes, and the former maltings have rows of iron columns.

The manager’s house is a two-storey, three-bay building with a timber gabled porch. A single-storey outhouse is also present, constructed of granite rubble with an eight-pane timber casement window and a timber door.

The distillery itself has been in operation since its establishment in 1845, following a fire which destroyed a previous distillery on the site in 1841. John Begg was granted a lease to build the distillery, and after a visit from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1848, he received a Royal Warrant, and the distillery was renamed Royal Lochnagar. Substantial, but sensitive, alterations were carried out in the late 20th century to accommodate visitors and modern distilling practices. The complex represents a good example of mid-19th century distillery buildings still in use and the listing record notes a reference to the 1866 Ordnance Survey map and information provided by distillery staff in 2005. The site lies within the Cairngorms National Park.