The Cottage, Prestonmill, Kirkbean, Kirkbean, Dumfries and Galloway

Description

Dating to the later 18th century, The Cottage is a low two-storey, symmetrical, three-bay cottage. It is built on rough foundations in traditional rubble stonework using very large field boulders and small pinnings and all the elevations are painted. The cottage is on low garden ground that slopes down to the east and the Prestonmill Burn. The building is adjacent to, and lower than, the road bridge.

The small square first floor windows in the principal elevation are immediately below the eaves. The windows in the ground floor and in the gables have been enlarged. There are cast iron drainage grilles around the base of the sunken west gable and part of the front wall. There is a later 20th century brick kitchen addition to the rear built on earlier foundations and this is excluded from the listing.

The windows are predominantly later 20th century replacements. There are four-pane, timber sash and case windows at the ground floor and top hung timber casements in the small first floor windows. The front entrance door is boarded timber and has a drip canopy above. The roof of the house is graded grey slate with stone skews and stone ridges. Each gable has a painted chimney stack with a cornice, thackstane and a pair of hexagonal clay chimney pots. That on the west gable is rubble and that on the east gable is brick.

The interior was seen in 2019. The interior plan form largely appears to date from the 19th century. The ground floor rooms have exposed timber beams and there are partly exposed rough-hewn timber roof trusses in the upper rooms. There are wide board doors to the upstairs rooms. Most of the other fittings, including the staircase, are later 20th century.

There is a small, painted stone and brick, L-plan outhouse with a shallow mono-pitch roof built against the curved west retaining boundary wall which rises in height to the north. A small painted brick outbuilding with a corrugated sheet roof (the former outside toilet) is adjacent to the northwest corner of the house.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: the flat-roofed addition at the rear and the detached garage.

Historical Development

The Cottage is part of a small rural group of around ten houses that form Prestonmill on the A710 on the Southerness peninsula, around 14 miles south of Dumfries. Prestonmill is first marked on Moll's map of 1745 where it is called 'Prestoun' and then Thomson's map of 1832 names it 'Preston Mill'. Because of the scale of these early maps individual buildings are not depicted.

The 1795 Statistical Account of Scotland records the Parish of Kirkbean and that it was part of the local Oswald Estate. It notes 'some years ago the village was inhabited by 24 farmers….at present only 3 with their cottages'. It is likely that The Cottage was there at that time because it is in the centre of the group and its design and construction materials indicate a later 18th century date.

The Church of Scotland Veto Rolls from 1834 recorded ten families living in Prestonmill at that time. The Cottage first appears on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map (surveyed 1851, published 1854) on which it is also marked as a post office. This is described in the Ordnance Survey Name Book (1848-51) as 'a small dwelling house in which is kept a post office - a runner goes daily to New Abbey and returns carrying the mails.' The map shows the cottage in its existing L-plan form across the road from Prestonmill Cornmill and mill pond. The village also had a smithy, a farm steading and other dwellings.

The current listed building record (written in 1971) noted that from 1845 the cottage was known as The Bourtree Inn. An article in the Dumfries and Galloway Standard of that year recorded a meeting of the Kirkbean Curling Club in the Bourtree Bush Inn. The same newspaper published an article in 1866 by which time it was known as the Bourtree Inn, Preston Mill.

The Cottage has alterations from the later 20th century such as the brick kitchen addition to the rear (this addition is excluded from the listing). The ground floor and gable windows have been enlarged and the interior modernised, including a new staircase. The detached, flat-roofed garage was also added within the west boundary (this is excluded from the listing).

Statement of Interest

The Cottage meets the criteria of special architectural or historic interest for the following reasons:

The building retains a significant amount of its 18th century traditional character and fabric and its principal elevation is relatively unaltered.

The building is the principal historic building in a group of 18th and 19th century buildings and structures including the historic bridge.

Dating to the later 18th century, it is an early surviving vernacular building in Prestonmill which retains its historic character.

It contributes to the social history of the parish because its former uses remain readable in its current form.

Architectural interest

Design

The Cottage's vernacular design and construction demonstrate its relatively early date. The symmetrical principal elevation has small first floor windows immediately below the roof eaves and the thackstanes at the base of the chimneys show the roof was previously thatched. The roofline is in intact without later dormers or rooflights. The window reveals show the very thick stone walls. The walls are constructed with unusually large rubble stones and small pinnings which are likely to have been sourced from surrounding area. There is no known designer for the cottage however this is not unusual for small vernacular buildings of this date.

The 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map indicates the cottage may have at one time been a post office and newspaper articles record it was an inn. 18th century roadside inns often had small windows in the gables to offer views of approaching carriages. The upper floor windows in the cottage gable, although enlarged, show its former use as an inn and post office on a main route in the area.

The building's footprint appears largely the same as that shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map. The later brick addition to the rear is built on rubble foundations of a former outshot. Later additions for kitchens and bathrooms are not uncommon on small traditional buildings. This later addition is to the rear and is a small part of the whole building. It does not adversely affect the late 18th century vernacular interest of the rest of the building.

The interiors of traditional cottages were often simple. Many of them have been refurbished and historic features no longer survive. Internally most of the detailing dates from the later 20th century. There are exposed original beams and roof timbers in most rooms which demonstrate the building's early date.

There have been changes to the building over time such as the interior detailing and the enlarged windows on the ground floor. This level of change is not unusual for buildings of this age and it does not adversely affect the special interest of the Cottage's with a significant amount of surviving later 18th century fabric and historic character remaining.

Setting

The Cottage is built on sunken ground and is a prominent building in the centre of Prestonmill adjacent to the 19th century stone road bridge and mill lade. The main elevation is very noticeable when the village is approached from the west and its central village position reflects its former uses as both a post office and roadside inn.

The small shallow pitched outbuildings sit low against the west boundary and very close to the rear of the house. Their position, and irregular roofline, adds interest to the vernacular history and setting of the building.

The setting is largely unaltered from the late 18th/early 19th century as there are no significant later developments. The building groups well with other adjacent buildings of a similar date.

Historic interest

Age and rarity

The Cottage dates from the later 18th century at a time when small, traditionally built rural cottages were commonplace. Although not a rare building type the cottage is slightly unusual because it is two storey and rural, vernacular dwellings of this date were typically single storey. Other surviving dwellings of this date in the village are single storey.

The older a building is, and the fewer of its type that survive, the more likely it is to be of special interest. The cottage is an early survival of a vernacular building in Prestonmill with a relatively unaltered principal elevation and roofline. The building retains a significant amount of its 18th century character and fabric, such as the thick rubble walls and small first floor windows immediately under the eaves.

Social historical interest

The Cottage is part of the social history of Prestonmill and the neighbouring area. Earlier 19th century newspaper articles record social and parish meetings in the building when it was known as the Bourtree Inn. The 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map shows the building was used as the post office in the mid-19th century.

The off-centre windows in each gable and the cottage's setting continue to represent the building's former use as an inn and post office on a rural Dumfriesshire road.

Statutory address, category of listing changed from B to C and listed building record revised in 2020. Previously listed as 'Prestonmill Village, Bridge House'.

External Links

Historic Environment Scotland Listing
Wikidata IDs Q106787186 Q17805980

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