St Ninian's Chapel, Braemar

[1] Built from 1895 to 1898 for use as a private chapel by the family of Alexander Duff, 1st Duke of Fife, owners of Mar Lodge, it has been the property of the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney in the Scottish Episcopal Church since 1899.

[3] An account of the building costs compiled in 1898 lists the project as "Mar Lodge and Chapel" and the contractors Alexander Marshall McKenzie as architect, Mr Edgar Gauld as builder, and McRobbie & Milne as carpenters.

[3] Immediately after St Ninian's Chapel was completed, the Duke of Fife made a disposition to "the Right Reverend Father in God, Arthur Gascoigne Douglas, Doctor of Divinity, Bishop of Aberdeen and Orkney in the Episcopal Church of Scotland" conveying the ownership of the chapel to the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney.

During the annual hunting season the Duke of Fife would hold functions for guests, tenants, and employees in the unique ballroom decorated with 3,000 stags heads.

Under the terms of his will, Mar Estate came into possession of Trustees, who administered it on behalf of his eldest daughter, Princess Alexandra, 2nd Duchess of Fife.

[3] On the 2nd Duchess of Fife's death in 1959, the Mar Estate passed to Captain Alexander Ramsay, son of Princess Patricia of Connaught.

At the same time the dukedom of Fife passed to the 2nd Duchess of Fife's nephew James Carnegie, Lord Carnegie, the son of her sister Princess Maud who had married the 11th Earl of Southesk who was born on 3 April 1893 at East Sheen Richmond-upon- Thames - Surrey - London - England and died on 14 December 1945 at the age of 52 years from bronchitis at a nursing home in London - England.

The Trustees eventually sold Mar Lodge Estate to a property company, after which it passed through several hands until it was acquired by the National Trust for Scotland in 1995.

The lodge and chapel are located in a rural setting, south of a steep hillside and close to the road through the valley.

The chapel itself is built close to the Mar Lodge complex, within a large walled garden area[4] separated from the surrounding parkland by an iron grille fence.

St Ninian's Chapel is a small rectangular building in a neo-Romanesque style with a gabled porch on the south elevation.

[3] The first slab, set into the floor in between the left wall of the chapel and the altar, seems to form the access to the vault and is sealed with concrete (photo).