Sandford Lodge is well hidden from prying eyes. But during a recent trip to Peterhead, I decided to check out the gutted remains of the fire-hit mansion. However, Google Maps failed me, taking me to an empty spot beside a closed-up, fenced-off garage just off the A90.
Had it in fact been demolished, I wondered? Because I knew that there were rumours of it being ripped down after the fire took hold in August 2015. A quick check with a local historian friend assured me it was still standing, and I soon located it at the opposite side of the road, in the shadow of Peterhead Power Station. An overgrown track led down towards the sea, and within a few minutes I found myself facing a series of dilapidated outbuildings.
Just beyond these was an old walled garden, still impressive and bearing fruit, including apples galore. A ‘miniature mansion house’ And then I spotted the tall chimneys of Sandford Lodge. The B-listed building, constructed around 1800, was described by architectural historian Charles McKean, as a “miniature mansion house”, and, in my opinion, it’s a seriously impressive edifice.
It would have been even more impressive before the fire which rendered it roofless and ruinous. Today, only the shell of the building remains, and it’s ringed by foreboding looking security fencing. I peered through the railings and took a series of photographs, desperately keen to explore further but not wishing to risk impaling myself on a fence spike.
The building is partially.
