Description

Dated 1713, with later alterations, renovated 1995. 2-storey, 4-bay, rectangular-plan forestaired house. Rendered, dressed and chamfered stone surrounds.

W (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: asymmetrical arrangement. 1st floor entrance door at 3rd bay; moulded stone surround, lintel dated 1713 with recessed oblong panel. Coped stone forestair with rendered sides, modern iron railings. Stair flanked at ground floor left by inserted small window, large window to further left (formerly a door), to right large window flush with stair (formerly a door), to far right rendered outshot. 2 evenly spaced 1st floor windows to left of main door, window to far right.

N ELEVATION: plain gable wall facing street.

E ELEVATION: asymmetrical window arrangement; large windows to left and right, inserted offset central narrow window to ground floor. 3 evenly spaced windows to 1st floor. Exposed stonework below ground floor cill level, ground rising to S.

SE ELEVATION: plain gable wall. Lean-to to left; window close to eaves, door to E.

2-leaf timber boarded door; replacement 8 and 12-pane timber sash and case windows with horns. Raised coped skews to gables. Pitched slate roof. Replacement coped, rendered gable apex stacks, circular clay cans. Outshot; flat coped skews, red clay pantiles.

INTERIOR: modernised interior to house. Blocked door leading from outshot to house.

Statement of Interest

NOTES: 6 Sands Place is one of only a few traditional forestaired houses remaining in Aberdour. It was built under orders of Anne, Countess of Moray to be used as an alms house for 4 aged/infirm widows of the Moray estate. The Earl of Moray and the Clerks to the Signet decided upon whom should reside at the alms house. Its use as an abode for a number of people is highlighted by the fact that there were various openings to the ground floor, the original interior was most likely split into a number of dwelling rooms accessed by the various doors. At the end of the last century a new almshouse was built nearby. 6 Sands place was sold to Dunfermline Council who used it as a coal store. The building became derilict and at some point during the 20th century the interior was completely gutted. In 1995 the building underwent a major renovation, including the re-instatement of the chimney stacks and refenestration. It is now used as a single dwelling house, however its name "The Countess of Moray" alludes to its past history. To the south of the house is a lectern style dovecot of the late 17th /early 18th century, (see separate list). The relationship between house and dovecot is slightly unclear.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17817174

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings