Binny Craig, West Lothian

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Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby Lucky Poet » Tue Feb 12, 2008 1:22 am

About a half hour walk from my place, Binny Craig is a perfect wee Stirling or Edinburgh Castle Rock planted in the middle of nowhere, being a crag and tail thingummyjig created at the same time as its more famous big sisters. I should go up there more often really. I though some of you might like a look, as it's probably little-known outside of these parts. NT 043 735 on an OS map. (These were taken on 2 different trips by the way. I'll try to get some good shots of the view from the summit at some point with Shiny New Camera.)
From the south:
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Closer from the south, the Forth and the Ochils in the distance:
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Looking south, from the other side of the main crag:
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From the top looking east - two of the old red shale bings in the distance, and Edinburgh on the far horizon. Please excuse all the sheep shit:
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Here's the best bit though. At the foot of the hill, behind the triangulation pillar in the last pic, lies this poor forgotten mausoleum, known locally as Binny Tomb:
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These were taken a few days ago. I'd not been there in a good 12 years, and was shocked at how much more overgrown it is now. In those days you could admire the gothic madness of the tomb more clearly, in between swanning around on the roof listening to old Cure tapes and smoking roll-ups; now you can hardly get a clear photo of the thing. (At least all the ivy hides the doorway - the original having been replaced by some stunningly out of place concrete after some punks broke in sometime around 1980 :roll: )
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The story I was told was the nineteenth century owner of Binny House, whose grounds this is in, didn't want to be buried in any common cemetery, insisting that on Judgement Day he would bloody well rise from the dead on his own land. They don't make landowners like that any more. He was presumably some sort of big cheese, as the inscription round the gothic arch reads 'Consecrated by the Bishop of Edinburgh 25 of August 1877'. I must try to find out something about the auld maddo...
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Re: Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby crusty_bint » Tue Feb 12, 2008 3:33 am

How interesting! Excellent stuff :) I've no idea where this is (and can't be bothered working it out) but if you go to http://www.rcahms.gov.uk/search.html and register to use the PASTMAP database (its free) theres a good chance you'll find some information on the mausoleum.

Let us know what you find! :)
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Re: Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby Lucky Poet » Tue Feb 12, 2008 6:58 pm

Cheers Crusty. It never even occurred to me to search on RCAHMS, and here's me been registered on Canmore for yonks. Anyway, I read the inscription wrong. It actually reads: CONSECRATED BY THE BISHOP OF EDINBURGH 25 OF OCTOBER 1873. Nearly right. My excuse is it's in an odd script and it's badly eroded on the right hand side :roll:

I was well chuffed when it appeared on the Historic Buildings database, this being the first mention of the tomb in writing that I've ever seen, ever. According to RCAHMS then:
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.

So far so good. Thomson! However, on Googling for the name of the tomb given above, I found out there's a website for the village of Ecclesmachan (which is an achievement considering there's little more than 40 houses in the place) and it disagrees with the RCAHMS:
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.

So apparently Thomson was a later owner, and the actual maddo himself was a Captain Stewart. I'm inclined to believe this second account more, even though the date "circa 1800" for Stewart buying the estate seems very unlikely, and the buggers don't give any references. Still, it puts a probable name to the story, and backs up what I was told years ago, which is nice. I'll try to see if I can settle this for sure, and find out more about Cap'n Mental in due course - including how a naval captain got the money for a country estate, and then was able to get a Bishop wheeled out specially to bless things for him.

Oh, and the exact location is NT 048 733, should anybody be interested :D
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Re: Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby Dexter St. Clair » Tue Feb 12, 2008 10:34 pm

a day out in warmer times for HG'rs?
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Re: Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby Lucky Poet » Wed Feb 13, 2008 6:51 pm

Warmer times indeed, Dex, I nearly froze my chuckies aff the other day. Blowing a gale up the top of the hill too, & I couldn't even get my fag lit. It's really nice in the good weather though, worth the climb I'd say.

Oh and it turns out both accounts are slightly off as regards the date of the mausoleum, as it's marked on the 1854 Ordnance Survey map; it was only consecrated in 1873 after being built at least 20 years earlier. I'll have to pay the RCAHMS a visit, partly to tell them they're wrong :mrgreen:
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Re: Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby Lucky Poet » Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:09 pm

Having not been arsed going to work today :oops: I went to stretch my legs. Being a lazy git I've still not done all that research I promised myself I'd do into the tomb...

Ach weel, here are more photos anyway, just for the sake of it. You wouldn't believe how overgrown the place is at the end of the growing season; it was a wee fight to get near it, hence all the close-ups as you just can't see anything from further back. (A couple of photos are near-repeats, but I got a new lens I was trying out :mrgreen: )
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Binny Craig itself, though I couldn't be arsed climbing it this time:
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Brucie bonus shot of (I imagine) some past-all-hope crops. Looks like Farmer Giles gave up part-way through harvesting:
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Binny from further away:
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One of these days I'll do that research...
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Re: Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby Peetabix » Tue Sep 30, 2008 9:18 pm

Excellent thread. I'll need to take a wee walk up there sometime.
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Re: Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby Peekay » Tue Oct 07, 2008 10:05 pm

Here's an 1856 map and the mausoleum is marked on it so yer maddie died before then,

http://www.old-maps.co.uk/IndexMapPage2.aspx

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Re: Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby Lucky Poet » Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:28 pm

You must go up there Peetabix :D It's a neat wee place. The car parking is non-existent, I should warn. A grass verge and that's yer lot.

Cap'n Maddo is a mystery, PK. The mausoleum's existence in 1856 doesn't necessarily mean it was in use at the time though - it wasn't consecrated till 17 years later. I don't know what the routine was for private tombs - if they were often built in advance and only consecrated on internement of a stiff then all well and good for my theory, if not then who knows? Any info is most welcome!

PS if any of you are determined to make the trip some time, PM me...
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Re: Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby Mitch1 » Fri Jan 02, 2009 12:44 pm

By complete chance I stumbled on various messages relating to Binny Craig and nearby Mausoleum, the excellent photographs brought back many happy times spent in this area. I was fortunate enough to be allowed by a previous owner to do some rough shooting here, all pre golf course, agricultural college and nursing home. I cannot add much to the interest shown in the Mausoleum other than to say I did manage to get inside although my mid sixties memories are probably also verging on nursing home quality. In those days the Mausoleum was not all all overgrown, I assume the estate gardeners undertook this maintenance work. It had in those days a large wooden church like door which was not locked. I recall a 'cave' like structure probably some 15 ft square and at least two large stone tombs on the floor, neither of which I recall had any markings although I may be wrong on that point. Unfortunately even back in those prehistoric days vandals existed and after some of the decorative stones above the door were knocked off a large padlock was put in place. It seems that even the door has now vanished and given another couple of decades the whole building looks like it may vanish back to nature with or without the approval of the two inhabitants, perhaps that was the intention of Captain Stewart, who knows.
I did return to the area a few years ago more to look at the wildlife and countryside than anything else and was quite surprised by the changes that have taken place. Many of the more valuable woods seem to have been harvested and not replanted and it was particularly sad to see that the badgers that used to live on the south facing slope of the ridge leading up to Binny Craig have also vanished.
Many thanks to all those that have contributed to the postings it certainly brought on a bout of nostalgia and memories of happy school holidays.
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Re: Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby Dexter St. Clair » Fri Jan 02, 2009 5:33 pm

Thanks for the post Mitch. It's always useful to have some personal recollections particularly when they are well written.
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Re: Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby Lucky Poet » Mon Jan 05, 2009 12:34 pm

Absolutely. Thanks Mitch, I enjoyed reading that. I'd love to have seen the mausoleum before it fell into its current sorry state...
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Re: Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby Finder » Mon Dec 27, 2010 7:26 pm

Early 1970's we used to go up Binny, the mausoleum was intact up until around 1973 it seemed to me grave robbers were the culprits, a couple of stone coffins had been smashed open with the bones left scattered everywhere, probably looking for rings etc, that must have been the final straw and shortly after was bricked up, shame really :(
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Re: Binny Craig, West Lothian

Postby Lucky Poet » Thu Dec 30, 2010 11:45 am

Some people really will do anything where there's the chance of a quick buck. Thanks for the info, Finder; nice to have a time for it having been sealed up. (It seems punks have been unfairly blamed all these years then, including by me; another local urban myth bites the dust.)

Personal New Year's resolution: finally visit RCAHMS and do a bit of research there.
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