General Burnett Memorial Tower - Banchory, Aberdeenshire. - Specific Veteran Memorials on Waymarking.com

William Burnett (1762-1839) was a landowner from the Aberdeenshire (then Kincardineshire) town of Banchory in Scotland. He became a general and fought alongside the Duke of Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars.

This 50 foot high rubble-built tower with a 14 foot diameter was erected in his memory in 1842 on the summit of Scolty, a 299 metre hill just over a mile to the south-west of Banchory. An inscription on the eastern side reads as follows:

'ERECTED

TO THE MEMORY OF

GENERAL WILLIAM BURNETT

OF BANCHORY LODGE

Born 19 Feb: 1762. died 7 Feb: 1839.

By his numerous Friends

And Tenantry 1842'

Underneath here is a metal plaque which reads:

'RESTORED BY

PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION

1964'

The tower was further refurbished in 1992 to mark the 150th anniversary and was attended by the Prince of Wales, with over a hundred people in attendance. A further plaque reads as follows:

'TO COMMEMORATE THE VISIT BY

H.R.H. THE PRINCE OF WALES

15th SEPTEMBER 1992

ON THE OCCASION OF THE 150th ANNIVERSARY

AND THE RESTORATION OF THE MONUMENT BY

THE ROTARY CLUB OF BANCHORY TERNAN'

All these plaques are situated above the entrance to the tower which contains a circular staircase, leading to the top where there is a viewing platform erected by the Rotary Club following the refurbishment.

The hill can be climbed by a series of paths from the Scolty Woodland Car Park (pay and display) on the north-west side of the hill.