Craigdarroch

About this place

Craigdarroch stands near Moniaive in Dumfriesshire, a country house built up from a much older building on the same site.

William Adam remodelled the earlier house in 1729, working over foundations that record keepers trace back to the 14th century.

It has been the seat of the Chief of the Fergussons of Dumfriesshire for some 600 years.

Historic Houses supports its visitor offering, though it is not part of the free entry scheme, and there are no public toilets on site.

History

The earliest records of a house on the site date to the 14th century, making Craigdarroch one of the older seats in Dumfriesshire long before William Adam's 1729 remodelling gave it its present form. Alexander Fergusson, 14th Laird of Craigdarroch, married Annie Laurie on 29 August 1709 and she lived in the house for the next 33 years.

Architecture

The current house is a 1729 remodelling by the architect William Adam, built over the structure of a 14th-century predecessor on the same site.

Worth knowing

Annie Laurie, whose name gives the song 'Annie Laurie' its title, married into the house in 1709 and is often credited as the inspiration behind what has been called the world's greatest love song.