Essons Croft
Essons Croft (Boghead of Tullos) Colony House (Ruin).
Boghead of Tullos (sometimes referred to as Esson’s Croft) is the area of small fields surrounding a ruined cottage, barn and byre, which can be viewed from The Colony Trail looking northwest across the stone dyked fields with Mither Tap in the background.
This was one of the homes of the Esson family. Archival research confirms that the Esson family were living on Bennachie around the mid-1840s and by 1851 there were three Esson families living there. In 1847 John Esson married Sarah Findlater, the daughter of James and Ann Findlater, one of the first settlers of the Colony. John and Sarah lived at Boghead of Tullos for the whole of their married life and raised six children. The youngest, George, was the last of the Colonists, living most of his life on the croft and died there in 1939. His memorial gravestone is nearby in Chapel of Garioch and bears the words “Descended from the first and himself the last of the colonists of Bennachie”. It is not certain where in the Colony the other two Esson families lived, although research suggests that the croft close to Shepherds Lodge could be a possibility. For working purposes, this is now referred to as “Esson’s Old House”.
The Esson family were well-known for their ability to build drystone dykes and some of their hard work can still be seen around the hill today. Boghead of Tullos is now in private ownership.
For more information see https://www.bailiesofbennachie.co.uk/what-happened-to-the-bennachie-colonists.html
Bennachie Colony App: https://www.bailiesofbennachie.co.uk/bennachie-colony-trail-app.html
Map Reference: NJ 693 219 Coordinates: (57.286681,-2.5109204)
Points of Interest