Mackenzie & Moncur glasshouse, Gordon Castle Walled Garden

Gordon Castle's walled garden was built in 1803-1804 as part of a reshaping of the landscape of the Dukes of Gordon's estate, on the site of the old village of Fochabers, which was moved. According to the Aberdeenshire heritage record, it reached its heyday from about 1820 to 1838, divided into four quarters, and remained a major producer of vegetables and soft fruit until the Second World War. Wikipedia, relying on a 2012 historical study, ties that period of renown to the head gardeners John and Charles Webster, and adds that glasshouses by Mackenzie & Moncur of Edinburgh produced exotic fruit. The present glasshouse is described as Victorian.

After the war the garden turned to commercial fruit growing, then raspberries, and fell into disuse in the 1980s; the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes recognised it in 1987. Angus and Zara Gordon Lennox set about restoring it with the designer Arne Maynard; the start of the project is put between 2008 (taking over the running of the estate) and 2013 (renovation launched), with 2011 on the estate's history page. A 2022 National Trust for Scotland blog post says Gordon Castle has two free-standing Mackenzie & Moncur glasshouses, which it has restored, and that the Trust's gardeners sheltered in them during an outing in 2016. Parks & Gardens UK speaks of a recently restored Victorian glasshouse.

The glasshouses occupy the north-east corner of a large rectangular garden whose high rubble walls are faced with brick on the south side and on both faces elsewhere, in English garden bond, with external buttresses; the north-east entrance, with a segmental head, is closed by double timber gates. The gardens inventory notes that the garden once had sixteen compartments and that the north-east one holds several glasshouses; the Aberdeenshire record adds that Mackenzie & Moncur designed them and that some keep their original fittings.

The NTS mentions two free-standing glasshouses whose distinctive ironwork can be seen overhead. The garden's listing record (Category B, 26 January 1971) describes the walls.

Parks & Gardens UK says the Victorian glasshouse yields a large crop of tomatoes in summer, and a photo caption on the estate's website shows tall tomato plants laden with fruit inside the glasshouse. According to Wikipedia, in the Websters' time the Mackenzie & Moncur glasshouses produced exotic fruit.

The walled garden itself is overflowing with vegetables, fruit, herbs and cut flowers according to Scotland's Gardens Scheme; the estate's visit page counts more than sixty varieties of flowers, and the RHS cites over 200 wall-trained fruit trees, 82 apple varieties, a cherry orchard and a potager. The produce feeds the garden's restaurant, which follows a "Plant, Pick, Plate" ethos.

The walled garden lies at the western end of Fochabers village, just off the A96, between the Spey and the Moray coast. According to the estate's website it opens daily, with a play area and a shop; the restaurant opens Wednesday to Sunday, and the castle itself is not open to the public. The RHS lists the glasshouse as open to visitors, which the estate's website does not detail; the garden is largely wheelchair accessible.

Combine it with the area guide published by the estate: whisky distilleries, sandy beaches, woodland walks and historic towns.