Nether Braco Farmhouse, Strathallan, Perth and Kinross

Description

Possibly James Gillespie Graham, circa 1810-20. Single storey and attic, symmetrical, 3-bay, piended cottage ornée farmhouse with distinctive Gothic Revival features including diagonal buttresses to the advanced, gabled central entrance bay and pointed-arched windows. Painted harl with contrasting ashlar sandstone margins and with Tudor hood moulds to the windows. There are bi-partite windows to the ground floor and above the entrance door at the front elevation. The entrance door lies centrally and has a shallow pointed arch and flanking windows. The roof has deep eaves with exposed timber rafter ends and there is a pair of piended-roof, canted dormers.

Many of the windows are timber sash and case, some with 2-over 2-pane glazing pattern; others are non-traditional replacements.

The interior was seen in 2014. The original room layout is largely as original with timber curved stair. One iron fire surround.

Statement of Interest

Dating from around 1810-20, Nether Braco Farmhouse is a highly distinctive and little altered Gothic style farmhouse with a substantial amount of surviving exterior detailing. It may have an association with the Perthshire architect James Gillespie Graham. There are prominent buttresses to the front of the building, which together with the pointed-arch windows emphasise the ecclesiastical nature of the Gothic style. The low pitched piended roof and exposed rafters are a distinguishing feature. The building retains its relationship with the nearby Braco Castle in its prominent position on the southern approach to the Castle.

The building is low and wide in its composition, and the piended roof is shallow pitched, emphasising the low outline of the building. This is an unusual composition and adds to the architectural interest of the building. The central advanced gabled section projects above the roofline of the building and is a distinctive and prominent feature of the farmhouse. In particular, the prominent diagonal buttresses at the edges of the section, one with a tall fine, pinnacle (the other is missing) are a surprising and rare decorative feature in a small rural building and highlight the Gothic style. The octagonal decoration to the apex of the gable emphasises this. The windows to the front of the building (with the exception of the dormers) all have the pointed arches of the Gothic style and include hoodmoulds. The entrance door too has a shallower, but still pointed, arch surround. This is a significant amount of detailing on a relatively small building and makes the building more unusual and interesting in listing terms. The dormers may be of a later date, but as the building is noted in the Ordnance Survey Name Book (1859-62) as 2-storey, they may be original. Deep eaves are found in other rural Scottish buildings and the exposed rafter ends are a traditional form, but here are typical of the ornamental cottage style, popularised by Loudon in An Encyclopaedia of Cottage, Farm and Villa Architecture. There are no extensions to the front of the building and the size of window openings has not been altered . As the property dates to the early part of the 19th century, this lack of alteration is unusual and adds to its interest. The mid 19th century additions to the rear are of a standard type.

The farmhouse has a possible association with the architect James Gillespie Graham (1777-1855), who carried out work in the area and whose wife was the heiress to a neighbouring estate. James Gillespie Graham is particularly noted for his Gothic Revival work and was crucial in promoting the style in Scotland. He was based in Edinburgh and worked all over Scotland, specialising mainly in castellated country houses and Gothic church designs. The previous list description noted that the building may be by Gillespie Graham. Although the there seems to be no documentary evidence for this, the possible attribution can be suggested on stylistic grounds. Locally, his work includes Culdees Castle near Crieff and the Chapel at Murthly Castle, near Dunkeld. Some of his other work includes Ross Priory at Loch Lomond and the Highland Tolbooth Church in Edinburgh (now The Hub). Gillespie Graham married in 1815, and his wife Margaret was the heiress to the Orchill Estate, which neighbours Braco Castle Estate. He extended the House of Orchill and is likely to have been responsible for designing some of the estate buildings, including the Orchill North Lodge and Kaimes Cottage. Both of these have Gothic features and Kaimes cottage in particular has common features to Nether Braco farmhouse and is striking in its similarity in material and design. These factors make it highly likely that Nether Braco Farm is the work of Gillespie Graham.

The building is thought to date from around 1810-20 and is described in the Buildings of Scotland (2007) as dating from around 1810. It first appears as Nether Braco on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1866 and is described in the Ordnance Survey Name Book, as being "a large farmsteading, dwelling house and offices, two stories in height , all slate and in good repair, property of George Killie McCallum Esq, of Braco Castle, By Braco". The farm is situated on the southern approach to Braco Castle (which is separately listed).

Inveraray Castle was the earliest large scale building in the revived Gothic style in Scotland and the plans for this this began to be drawn up in the 1720s. The gradual revival of this style reached its height in the widespread Gothic Revival of the mid to late 19th century, popularised by its most famous exponent, Augustus Welby Pugin.

In farming, the Gothic style was evident in some of the larger Improvement farms of the late 18th and early 19th century, although it was perhaps not as common in smaller premises, as here. The Improvement farms were often home farms for large estates, positioned in eye-catching situations, displaying the wealth and prestige of the owner. Although on a smaller scale, Nether Braco does have a prominent position on an approach to the castle and will have been conceived as an eyecatcher.

External Links

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