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West Lothian Council, ECCLESMACHAN Parish Listed: 25-JUN-1980 Category: C(S)
THOMSON OF BINNY MAUSOLEUM BINNY POLICIES
Dated 1873. Gothic revival. Small. Built into hollow in rock. Ashlar front. Pointed arch with inscription and date. Vaulted interior.
Binny House.
The name Binny for this area is said to have come from a peasant, William Binnock, who was granted an estate by Robert the Bruce. This reward was for Binnock's brave deed of re-capturing the Castle of Linlithgow from the English in 1313, Binny House and lands are thought to be the remains of that estate.
There is little known about the early history of the estate until Mr Stewart, a naval captain, bought some 293 hectares circa 1800, where Mr Stewart built the present house, stables and lodges. In 1872/3 he also built a mausoleum in the grounds, this building was consecrated by the Bishop of Edinburgh in 1873. Although the mausoleum entrance is blocked up, up you can still clearly see the inscription Consecrated by the Bishop of Edinburgh 25 October 1873 in the stone above the entrance. When asked by some of the local villagers why he would want to build this when there was a churchyard so close, he replied 'in the great day of resurrection, I wish to rise from my own property'. Both Captain Stewart and his wife, Janet Stewart, were buried in the mausoleum.
Sometime in 1880 the estate passed from Captain Stewart to a nephew, Mr George Falconar. (When Mr Falconar took possession of Binny he changed his name to George Falconar Stewart) He kept ownership for about 13 years before selling the estate to a Mr Peter Thomson circa 1894.
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