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03-FEB-2005

Harthill Castle, Oyne

Harthill Castle in Oyne, Aberdeenshire.
In the mid-1970s the 400-year-old pile was uninhabitable. Then in stepped Ann Savage a writer from America and her husband, Michael ''Duke'' Savage.
They lavished love and care on the castle and won a string of conservation awards for their work.
Tragically, Ann Savage died in an accident January 2005.

Konica-Minolta DiMAGE Z3
1/200s f/4.5 at 69.5mm iso50 hide exif
Full EXIF Info
Date/Time03-Feb-2005 15:41:36
MakeKonica-Minolta
ModelDiMAGE Z3
Flash UsedNo
Focal Length69.5 mm
Exposure Time1/200 sec
Aperturef/4.5
ISO Equivalent50
Exposure Bias
White Balance
Metering Modemulti spot (3)
JPEG Quality (6)
Exposure Programprogram (2)
Focus Distance

other sizes: small medium original auto
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Willie Todger 03-Apr-2009 18:29
I was particularly glad to see this photo of Harthill, obviously taken on one of Aberdeenshire's rare sunny days, as my interest in the Leith-Ross family goes back many years. How much I enjoyed playing with Carol, Felicity, and Patrick all that time ago. God be with the days!
Leith-Ross, Felicity 06-Dec-2008 15:17
I see my sister Carol left a comment. Am I the only one who loved the wild ruins back in the mid 50s and wrote a poem about them. The pigeons and rooks were tenants then and one felt a great deal closer to the original inhabitants than gazing at pink walls and enjoying underfloor heating ! We were brought up on stories of the family and I have trouble relating to this "new" Harthill Castle.
Guest 06-Sep-2008 21:08
The Savages are very welcoming and if you explain that you have a familial connection to the Castle I'm sure they would love to give you a peek inside.
Carol[nee Leith-Ross] 19-Jun-2008 18:37
I have just seen others comments re Harthill & thought i'd add mine.
My father is the last of the line of Leith-Ross males.[ His father was Sir Frederick & his uncle Harry an artist who went to America]
As children we were taken to Harthill which was then a disappointing ruin, shown the book the "Leiths of Harthill" & told the story of the "mad Laird" who was locked in the dungeon!
We are often in Scotland & when in Aberdeenshire visit various castles which have "links" to the Leith-Rosses & are amazed at how wonderfully restored Harthill now is & just wish we had asked to see inside!
William Paul Harthill 27-Apr-2008 04:07
I am William Paul Harthill son of Clifford Noble Harthill, grandson of William Paul Harthill. I know my grandfather came from England and have longed to see the areas associated with the Harthill name. I would like to know more about the Harthill castle and it's history. I would be very pleased to see the posting or more pictures on your web site. I live in Spokane, Washington, USA and can be reached at bharthill@comcast.net
Ian Leith Ross 05-Jan-2006 00:28
January 4th, 2006

I was very saddened to learn of Ann's death. My family, the Leiths, built Harthill Castle in the early 1600's. It was supposedly burned down by one of our ancestors, the infamous Mad Jock Leith, some years later and remained a ruin until Ann and her husband, Duke, bought the property and reportedly spent some £10 million impeccably restoring the structure to its former glory in the mid 1970's (There is the date of 1977 inscribed on a lead drain on the upper rampart.)

I wrote to Ann in 2000, prior to a trip to Scotland with my sister and my brother and his wife. Not realizing that Harthill had been restored I asked Ann if we could tour the “ruins.” I was delighted to hear back from her that our ancestral home was now back to it’s original state. Indeed, with such modern (and well-hidden) devices such as in-floor radiant heating and of course electricity, Harthill was actually better than it ever was.

Ann graciously invited us to a wonderful lunch at the castle, prepared by her private chef, and allowed us to take many pictures of both the interior and exterior.

You can imagine our delight to discover this incredible jewel after having believed all our lives that Harthill was nothing more than a pile of rubble.

My Grandfather commissioned a book on Harthill Castle called “THE LEITHS OF HARTHILL” which was written by Francis Buckley.

If anyone has any details about Ann’s death I’d appreciate hearing same… ianross@sympatico.ca
Paul Harthill 02-Jan-2006 20:03
I am Paul Harthill, This was my families residence i belive and I want it back.
Jean 11-Mar-2005 23:14
I have a photo taken years ago by a family visitor to Scotland. I had no idea that some insightful person could find the beauty from what was left after all those years of neglect. I would like to see other pictures of the work done. ( I'm a Leath (Leith) descendant)
jude03-Feb-2005 23:33
My god.. that's beautiful.. the light on it is hitting just right and the framing of it by the trees is perfect - well done, Andy