Baronial home with India connections

For more than a century Newbold House has stood as a testament to Victorian success.

Set amid landscaped grounds, and located on the eastern outskirts of Forres in Moray, this fine example of Scots baronial architecture dates from the turn of the last century. It was built by a Colonel John Woodcock, a retired Indian army officer who inherited the estate from his uncle and made his fortune trading tea.

The impressive 14-bedroom B-listed mansion, with grounds extending to approximately 6.4 acres, was designed by Inverness based architects Ross and Macbeth in 1893 and completed around 1900.

Despite owning the property Col.p139 Woodcock and his wife were often absent and both the house and landscaped gardens

were kept by a large team of servants, including eight full-time gardeners.

The gardens remain a focal point of the property. Entrance to the house is along a rhododendron lined drive through the gardens which were planted with specimen trees from around the world, including Atlantic Cedars, Incense Cedars, Copper Beech, and the native Scots Pine.

There is a large lawned area to the south, which is thought to have been a tennis court, while a substantial and beautifully maintained walled garden is located to the north.

The walled garden is a real feature of Newbold and it has been very productive over the years. It includes a variety of fruit and vegetable beds, two greenhouses and various quiet seating areas.

Inside the house the Victorian passion for wood is apparent in archways and panelling in all the main four reception rooms on the ground floor which demonstrate the original owner’s links to India.

Decorative plasterwork adorns the ceiling and in the former ballroom plaster motifs of birds of paradise and scallop shells add to the creative decoration.

A wood staircase, overlooked by stained-glass windows, leads from the main hallway to the guest rooms.

The conservatory, which was built by celebrated Liverpool manufacturers Mackenzie & Moncur whose other clients included Queen Victoria, the Prince of Wales and the Duke of York, provides a sense of the tropics. In late spring jasmine scent floats through the air in between the fig trees, and other tropical plants.

Outside the house, beyond the walled garden, lies the Muiry woodland. Owned by Moray Council it provides sanctuary for an abundance of wildlife, including red squirrels, roe deer, badgers, greater spotted woodpeckers and the occasional pine martin, who live among the Scots pines and purple heather.

In time the Woodcocks sold Newbold House to a Mr Sommerville and his wife who lived in it until the property was requisitioned by the British government during World War II.

After the war Newbold House fell empty for a time until it was acquired in 1959 by a retired policeman from Keith who bought the property for £3,000 - roughly the same amount as it cost to build some 60 years earlier.

Over the years it has been a private home, a hotel and a residential and educational retreat.

Now it is on the market once again - for less than the price of three-bedroom house in some parts of London - at offers over £800,000.

With all its bedrooms and four reception rooms Newbold has the potential for a wide range of alternative uses.

“The sale of Newbold House offers a fantastic opportunity to purchase a beautiful and architecturally important property,” said Rod Christie, who is handling the sale for estate agents Galbraith.

“Extensive and well-appointed accommodation is laid out over three storeys. Period features are in abundance throughout from ornate cornicing to deep bay windows and decorative fireplaces, with wood panelling adorning the grand hallway and four reception rooms which include a ballroom, music room, art room and dining room.

“Newbold House would make a superb family home being easily accessible yet offering a good level of privacy while also presenting a business opportunity, subject to obtaining the necessary consents.”