Some news and stories were found on www.scotsman.com.
Photographs courtesy of www.rdwest3.com (a MacGregor!)
Read a short history of Lanrick Castle and the MacGregor Monument
written by Gregor Hutchinson of the Clan Gregor Society here.

Fri 31 Jan 2003

Lanrick Castle owner receives nominal fine for demolition

Alistair Dickson, the owner of Lanrick Estate, was convicted of demolishing B-listed Lanrick Castle, the former home of the Clan Gregor. Following a four-day trial, he received a only nominal fine of £1,000 for contravening listed building regulations, a charge that can lead to a maximum £20,000 penalty or six months’ in jail.

Historians worry that this "slap on the wrist" will lead to other clandestine demolitions of endangered historical properties.

Wed 20 Feb 2002

The castle that came down

ONE of the seven clans descended from King Alpin of Dalriada, the MacGregors, are known as the "Children of the Mist". After a ruinous feud with the Campbells, they were reduced to outlaws, Rob Roy being the most famous. The MacGregor official clan seat (until 1830) was Lanrick Castle at Doune. Alas, Lanrick has now itself become part of the mist. Last Saturday, despite its being a Category B listed building, the 200-year old castle was summarily demolished.

The current owner claims the building was in a dangerous condition following recent storms, which is a possible defence in law. Nevertheless, Lanrick had been listed as early as 1971, an act which enjoined both the owner and the local authority, Stirling Council, to ensure it was kept in good condition. This did not happen, and Lanrick was put on the at-risk register in the mid-Nineties. Still the council seems to have taken no enforcement action to protect the building. Nor did the Secretary of State, who also had powers to intervene. There seems little point in having a listing system if council negligence or parsimony result in zero action to maintain our built heritage. Doubtless Rob Roy would have dealt a more robust justice for the MacGregors. In this case, a serious investigation is called for.

Wed 20 Feb 2002

Now you see it, now you don’t
by John Staples

IT WAS once the sumptuous country pile of the chief of the Clan Gregor.

With an impressive gothic entrance, baroque-style Lanrick Castle was, when initially built, described by a magazine as "extremely commodious and elegant".

Yesterday, however, the grade B listed mansion was gone, razed to the ground after the laird who owns it took it into his own hands to knock down the historic home.

Now the local council is investigating and says it could prosecute Alistair Dickson, the owner of Lanrick Estate, for what has been dubbed by heritage groups "an act of vandalism" .

That could result in a heavy fine, a prison sentence or even a demand by the courts for him to rebuild the property.

Terry Leventhal, of the Scottish Civic Trust, said they had failed to persuade Mr. Dickson to repair the castle: "This property has not been lived in for years and has been in a state of decay, which was very sad. It needed a lot of work to restore it to its former glory.

"Now, though, this building has been lost for ever all because of the actions of one man and a huge crane.

"If we had been told what he intended to do we could have tried to mount a rescue plan or at least salvage artefacts in the demolition. This is just an act of vandalism."

Stirling MSP Sylvia Jackson added: "Obviously we will be following this through as we certainly don’t want to lose any more buildings that could be a great asset to the locality."

Lanrick Castle, which is situated four miles north west of Doune in Perthshire, on the banks of the River Teith, was once the home of the Haldanes, but, in 1776, General John Murray bought the property after making his fortune serving with the army in India.

In the late 15th century, the MacGregor clan, whose most famous member was Rob Roy, were banned from using their name in an Act of Proscription, which was renewed after William of Orange’s accession to the throne because of their support for the Jacobite cause.

However, the act was repealed in 1774 and General Murray, himself a MacGregor, achieved his wish of becoming chief of the Clan Gregor.

In the 1790s, he commissioned Scottish architect James Gillespie Graham to design the new property around the original tower and called it Clan Gregor Castle.

However, in 1840 it was sold by his son and the property eventually became vacant in the 1960s and fell into disrepair.

Three weeks ago, Mr. Dickson, a wealthy property developer whose family has owned Lanrick estate for three generations contacted Stirling District Council saying it had been badly damaged in the storms.

The authority agreed the building had become dangerous and said it needed securing or demolishing. As it was a listed building Mr Dickson was told he could not simply pull it down and would need Listed Building Consent from ministers, but last Saturday he called in a demolition team.

A spokeswoman for Stirlingshire District Council said: "We will be investigating these unauthorised works, which could lead to prosecution."

Mr. Dickson was unavailable for comment last night.

Thu 21 Feb 2002

Castle knocked down 'to save lives'
by John Staples

A SCOTTISH laird who is facing prosecution after knocking down a listed mansion yesterday said he took the law into his own hands because the building was so dangerous somebody could have died.

Alistair Dickson, a property developer, received widespread condemnation earlier this week when he razed 200-year-old Lanrick Castle to the ground.

Mr. Dickson had contacted his local council saying the Grade B-listed baroque building, the former country pile of the chief of the clan Gregor, had been badly damaged in the storms.

Stirling Council agreed that the property, near Doune, Perthshire, was a hazard and said the only options were to make it secure or for it to be demolished.

But it warned him that simply pulling the three-storey premises down without permission was illegal and that he would need listed building consent.

However, last Saturday, Mr. Dickson sent workmen in to destroy the castle, leading heritage groups to call his actions an “act of vandalism” and to claims that he had acted because he wanted rid of it.

Yesterday, Mr. Dickson, who has been laird for 20 years and whose family have owned Lanrick Estate for 101 years, told The Scotsman he was worried children may hurt themselves.

Mr. Dickson said: “After last Thursday’s bad weather, I saw four children playing there. I had already received a notice from the local authority telling me this building was now dangerous. I realised I had to act quickly to make the area safe.

“My understanding is that getting consent for demolition can take two years because it would go to a public inquiry, which would still leave the problem of a dangerous building being there.

“I feel I was left with no alternative, but to do what I did.

“Although I was told that an option was to secure the place, putting a fence around it would be no good. This would just make it an attraction.”

He continued: “It was so dangerous that I had to pull it down, otherwise there could have been a fatality, somebody could have died. I would not have wanted this on my conscience and it makes me very sad that I could be prosecuted as I was acting in the interests of public safety.

“The real issue here is that landowners who inherit properties with listed buildings are not helped. While there is money for some buildings this was Grade B-listed and just about all the money goes to Grade A properties.”

Lanrick Castle was designed by the architect James Gilles-pie Graham in the 1790s for General John Murray MacGregor, but had been vacant since 1964 and fell into a state of disrepair.

In 1991, the Scottish Civic Trust placed it on its buildings at risk register, but the trust claims that, despite its protests, Mr. Dickson was unco-operative and showed no interest in renovating the castle.

Three years later, the building was gutted in a fire while several other listed building within the estate’s grounds, including the North Lodge and the A-listed MacGregor monument, have also become dilapidated.

Yesterday, Terry Leventhal, of the Scottish Civic Trust, said he was not swayed by Mr. Dickson’s decision to pull down the building without consultation. Mr. Leventhal added: “For many years we have tried to get this building refurbished, but because of the owners’ lack of interest, that did not happen.

“We had several parties who were interested in getting involved and it could have been a realistic possibility. While we realise that the building was now dangerous and safety is of course an issue of concern to us, we still feel that it could have been secured rather than demolished so hastily.

“In addition to this there are other buildings on the site, such as the MacGregor monument, which the owner has also let fall into a poor state.”

A spokeswoman for Stirling Council said that the authority’s officers revisited the site yesterday to compile a report which could then be submitted to the procurator-fiscal.

The spokeswoman added: “We are still investigating what happened.

“The officers’ report will go to the planning panel on 7 March and they will make the decision on whether or not to take it forward.”

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