Site Record

Metadata

Site Name

Corran

Site#

805

Description

The Corran is a house that was built in 1882 by Alexander McNeill and his wife Hester McNeill; Irish aristocrats who moved to Canada in 1872 to take over the farm of a cousin who was killed in a lumber incident. The mansion and estate that it sat on eventually fell into disrepair and the building was burned down in 1976. It was the first house to have a telephone and electricity in Bruce County.

The house was made from cut stone walls, and oakwood floors. The interior was decorated by Hester, with the walls being paneled with mahogany or well papered. The original layout was a square house with a kitchen, bathroom, dining room, and parlour on the lower floor and two bedrooms, the master suite, and a bathroom on the upper floor.

In 1910 there was an addition to the house that added a library, solarium, larger kitchen and verandah to the lower floor of the house, the old kitchen becoming a scullery (dishwashing room). The additions upstairs were a servants’ quarters with three bedrooms, a dressing room and one large guest bedroom.

In total, when the building was finished there were 17 rooms in The Corran mansion, and at the estate’s height they maintained 15 servants.

The McNeill Estate was best known for its beautiful gardens. The estate boasted gardens with both flowers and fruits. The estate and owners were well known for their rose gardens, having over 500 bushes of the flower. There was also a large peony garden visible from the bedroom windows that the pear orchard backed right onto. The McNeills often gave their guests a rose when leaving as a sign of hospitality and generosity.

The family had many orchards on site for their fruits including: apples, pears, plums, and grapes. The Estate often made the Communion Wine for the English Church in Wiarton with these grapes, and used the leftovers for entertaining guests at the estate.

There were many buildings aside from the house on the estate as well, some records referring to the place as "almost a tiny village." There were at least two cottages on the land near the house, one for the Lewis family and the other for an old cousin named Escott, who was sent away from Ireland for being an alcoholic. The grapevines were primarily tended to by Escott. There was also an icehouse, a boathouse, a house for Delco generators, a barn, henhouse, Grainery, slaughterhouse, and log house.

The assets attached to the estate were also numerous before its downfall. Alexander McNeill owned 300 acres on the Bruce Peninsula where his main estate was, a farm in Paisely where his family lived upon their initial move to Canada, a 32-foot sailboat, one of the largest private collections of books and photos north of Toronto, many carvings and old weapons, around 40 cattle, 13 horses and later a farm in Alberta. The McNeill family was not lacking in wealth prior to the son's (Malcom's) ownership.

McNeill named his estate after his childhood home in Larne, Ireland. Intentionally buying land that reminded him of his old county, attempting to recreate the old house. The name means "point of running into the sea" in Gaelic. The old Corran in Ireland was seized by the admiralty during the Second World War for its strategic position on the coast.

When Alexander died in 1932, the estate was willed to his only son Malcolm. The house and gardens had already begun to deteriorate as the groundskeeper died about a year prior. Many people had offered to buy the estate, including poet William W. Campbell, if only to maintain the estate for their old friend Alexander. Malcom later died in 1956 and bequeathed what hadn’t been sold for taxes to a housekeeper named Sally Simmons. Simmons sold the estate to a man named C.H Franklin in 1959. Franklin had plans to restore the estate but vandals and squatters made upkeep difficult. The property was bought by the Saugeen Conservation Authority in 1976, the same year vandals burned the estate down.

Sources:
Amabel Township Historical Society. Alexander McNeill - Corran files. 1970-1983. Amabel Township Historical Society fonds. A985.036.F015, Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre.

Bruce County Historical Society. Alfred Williamson interview re: Alex McNeill Estate [audio recording]. November 14, 1994. A2012.035.009, Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre.

Bruce County Historical Society. Historical notes - yearbook edition 2004. Stewart, William, ed., Bruce County Historical Society, 2004, AX2008.001.038, Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre.

Bruce County Historical Society. The Bruce County Historical Society year book 1979. McGillivray, Marion, ed., Bruce County Historical Society, 1979, AX2008.001.013, Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre.

Bruce County Historical Society. The Corran remembered by Edward and Clara Eyre [audio recording]. May 8, 1995. A2012.035.010, Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre.

Floren, Russell. Ghosts of the Bay. Gutsche, Andrea, Chisholm, Barbara, ed., Lynx Images, 1994. AX2004.0167, Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre.

Green Meadows and Golden Sands: The history of Amabel Township 1851 - 1982. Blake, Annice, ed. Gowanlock, Helen, ed. Gatis, Sheila, ed. Amabel Township Historical Society, 1984, Wiarton, Ontario, Canada. AX2004.005, Amabel Township Historical Society, 1984, Bruce County Museum & Cultural Centre.

Grey Sauble Conservation. Spirit Rock Conservation Area. Grey Sauble Conservation, 2022, https://www.greysauble.on.ca/portfolio/spirit-rock-mcneill-estate-conservation-area/#. Nov 1st 2022.