Torchwood House

Torchwood House, also known as the Torchwood Estate, was a stately home owned by the MacLeish Family since the 16th century, as part of the MacLeish Estate. (TV: Children of Earth: Day Two, Tooth and Claw) It was located in rural Aberdeenshire. (TV: Children of Earth: Day Two)

The name of the house came from the wood used in the construction of the Great Staircase. Legend said that it was made from gallows struck down by lighting - "the Torched Wood", though later studies found that the staircase had been rebuilt during the time of Sir George MacLeish, using Amyris elemifera. (PROSE: History of the House)

Parts of the house dated back to the 15th century, though it was extensively rebuilt in the late 17th century. (PROSE: History of the House) The estate was purchased by the Crown in 1893, then later opened to the public in 1981. It was famed for both its grounds and observatory, and was considered a jewel of the Highlands. (PROSE: Welcome to Torchwood House) By 2016, James Stirling III lived at the estate. (COMIC: World Without End)

History
Some parts of Torchwood House dated back to the 15th century. (PROSE: History of the House)

The house was extensively rebuilt in the late 17th century. (PROSE: History of the House)

Much of the house fell into disrepair in the 19th century, when the house was owned by Sir George MacLeish. Sir George rebuilt the Great Staircase using Amyris elemifera, and built the Torchwood Observatory. (PROSE: History of the House)

Further work was completed in the 19th century. (PROSE: History of the House)

It was here that the Tenth Doctor and Rose Tyler helped defend Queen Victoria from a werewolf, setting up the foundations for the Torchwood Institute.

Part of the house's top floor was turned into an observatory by Sir George MacLeish under the auspices of Victoria's husband, Prince Consort Albert of Saxe Coburg. Prince Albert and George created the light chamber, a device that, used in conjunction with the Koh-i-Noor, killed the Lupine Wavelength Haemovariform who tried to infect the Queen in 1879. The house suffered major damage during the attack; several doors were broken down, a table crushed and the glass dome of the library shattered. Moreover, all of the male staff, including the steward, were killed by the creature. Sir Robert MacLeish, the house owner and Captain Reynolds, Victoria's protector, also lost their lives in the attack.

As a direct result of these events, Victoria created the Torchwood Institute. On permanently banishing the Doctor and Rose from the British Empire (concurrently with knighting them both), she warned that they should beware of Torchwood should they ever attempt to return. (TV: Tooth and Claw)

For some time in the 19th and 20th centuries, Torchwood House housed the Torchwood Archive. (AUDIO: The Torchwood Archive)

In 2016, James Stirling III lived at Torchwood House. John Hart broke into the house and shot Stirling, stealing the Astrolabe that he kept there. (COMIC: World Without End)

Behind the scenes
According to the Torchwood House website, which tied into series 2 of Doctor Who, Torchwood House was licensed for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies. One of the images on the website showed what appeared to be Bernard Cribbins, over a year before Cribbins appeared as the character of Wilfred Mott in the 2007 episode Voyage of the Damned.

On another tie-in website to series 2, Who is Doctor Who?, Mickey Smith reveals that the Torchwood House website has an "online observatory" connected to "a bunch of satellites" that observe alien activity. Mickey has been using this observatory for looking out for "alien invaders and stuff", but notices that Torchwood have lost contact with the satellites. He asks the viewer to go onto the Torchwood House website, click on Observatory, and then "Scan for heavenly bodies" and to enter the password "Victoria". This leads to an online game where the objective is to rediscover these satellites.

The filming location was the same place the Torchwood cast stayed whilst filming Countrycide. (DCOM: Day One)