Station Road, the Phipps Hall and The Lovat Estate Office

At the main road, called Station Road at this point, turn left. As you stroll back into the centre of the village you will pass some magnificent villas set in lovely gardens. These date to the early part of the 19th Century and were where the wealthier families lived. They are, largely, still individual family homes, although some operate now as bed and breakfast accommodation. 

Turn and look behind and you will see the wonderful avenue of oak trees Beauly's famed for. But amongst the oaks there are many specimen trees such as flowering cherry, birch, yew, magnolia and hazel.

On your left hand side you will see a rather grand looking building called the Phipps Institute. It operates as a village hall and is home to numerous clubs and societies. It also houses a small library and a centre for our senior citizens.

The hall was built as a result of a generous bequest from Mr. Henry Phipps who for many years stayed in nearby Beaufort Castle while his business partner, the world famous steel magnate and philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie stayed in his own castle about 40 miles north at Skebo. 

Next door to the Phipps Hall is the Lovat estate office. As you have explored Beauly the names Lovat and Fraser have cropped up repeatedly. The Lovat Frasers are one of Scotland's ancient families and have been the major land owners here for centuries. At one point they owned land from the Beauly Firth on the east coast to Mallaig on the west coast. As well as the 16th Lord Lovat who raised the Lovat Scouts and his son, the world war 2 war hero, there is another famous, or should I say infamous, Lord Lovat in the family's history. The 11th Lord Lovat, Simon the Fox, inherited the title by abducting, and marrying by force, his uncle's widow. During the struggle for the throne between the Stuarts and the Hanoverians, the Fox lived up to his name by being on both sides in turn. When Bonnie Prince Charlie, the Young Pretender, started the 1745 Jacobite rebellion the Fox refused to support him, hoping to find favour from the government. But, when the Jacobites were retreating from England back to their Highland stronghold the Fox finally came out in support of the Young Pretender - just in time to join Charlie in his defeat at Culloden. Lovat was eventually captured, taken to London and tried. He was sentenced to be hung drawn and quartered, although the sentence was eventually reduced and he was merely beheaded at Tower Hill in London but remains the last aristocrat to be executed in Britain.

Those of you who are fans of the popular TV series "Outlander" may recall that the fictional hero Jamie Fraser, was related to the Fox.

Following the failure of the rebellion the Lovat lands were confiscated and it took three generations before the Frasers were restored to the title. But they then went on to become hugely successful landowners once more, all managed from this modest office in Beauly.