Innes House

Innes House cannot be seen from any public road and is to be found on a private estate about three miles to the east of Elgin in Moray. It is built upon the eastern edge of a shallow bowl through which a burn used to flow into Spynie Loch, and is now well-drained farmland overlooking the River Lossie.

The house consists of a large L-shaped mansion with a square tower in the angle containing the main staircase, which serves all four floors of the mansion. To the north is a courtyard area flanked by two wings, these are attached to the main house by a long corridor.  Pont’s map of 1590 shows that at this date the building consisted of a single tower with a small wing, suggesting that the tower was greatly extended to form the L-plan.

The lands of Innes were granted to Berowald, a Fleming who held lands in Lothian, in the reign of Malcolm IV. There is no evidence that Berowald had a residence on the site of this house, but there is a mound nearby called the Knights Hillock which is said to have been a motte erected by him on which his hall was built. It is likely that a tower of some description had been erected by the time Sir James Innes entertained King James IV here in 1490. The Innes family fell into disarray towards the end of the 16th century, with the wealthiest of the family (Innes of Innermarkie) claiming the right to be chief of the family instead of Innes of Crommey, who had been made heir by the childless laird of Innes. By 1630 Sir Robert of Innes had sold off much of his estate and with the proceeds in 1639 began a substantial rebuilding programme. By 1649 it was finished, and formed the impressive mansion one can see today. Unfortunately the costs of maintaining and repairing the house after a lightning strike meant that the Inneses had to sell up and move out; the Earl of Fife purchased the Innes estate in 1767. In 1912, having further extended the house, Fife sold Innes House to the Tennant family, and it remains teh family home.

Official website for Innes House

HES Canmore database entry