Crossroads and Characters

42. QUITE A BIRTHDAY PRESENT.

South of Dunning, high above the road to Yetts of Muckhart and Dollar stands a 'Victorian sham castle' called Kippen House. Angus Turner, the town clerk of Glasgow, had like many ambitious Victorians the dream of becoming an estate-owner. He married into the Graeme family of Garvock. Much later he bought Kippen Estate and in 1874 built Kippen House. But he wasn't to enjoy it long: in 1876, his health was bad and his doctor recommended sea-bathing (remarkably, for it was September and he was then 77); he died of cramp and exhaustion. In 1898 Kippen was bought by Sir John Wilson, who ran his family's huge coal-mining business headquartered in Airdrie and employing 5,000 men. In 1910 Sir John completed Kippen House by building a ballroom wing -- later used as a dining-room - for the 21st birthday of his daughter Jane.