Description

Later 16th century/early 17th century two-storey, three-bay, bastel house with later alterations and additions including an 18th century forestair, mid to later 19th century wing to north with adjoining outbuildings. The house is constructed in rubble, rendered around 1991. Grey slate roof (not original) and skews removed. Later glazing throughout.

East (front) elevation: later rubble forestair to door at first floor with rubble lean to alongside obscuring slit openings at ground floor. Later timber porch to first floor doorway, flanking windows enlarged 18th/19th century with raised concrete margins, one partially blocked. Later full-length box dormer to attic. Traditional entrance to vaulted basement is in the north gable behind later wing.

South (gable) elevation: original window close to crown of arch vault formerly with pair of original slit openings at low level; enlarged window at first floor.

Interior: barrel-vaulted basement with traditional features. Small internal stair access to first floor and five slit windows mostly blocked. A single slit survives on west long wall; harl conceals, blocked opening at upper level above. There is part of an engraved headstone built in to the ground floor interior wall of the front elevation (right hand bay). A section of this reads: PORTIONER IN EIS / WHO DIED JUN.

Mid to later 19th century wing: two-bay addition with adjoining single-bay piended wing to north gable, squared rubble with contrasting cream raised ashlar dressings and deep eaves course. Door with window to right at ground level, window to lower wing. Large rubble outbuilding adjoining to north with ashlar dressings, large vehicular slapping to south.

Statement of Interest

A lintel dated 1607 and bearing the initials "SF" and "DL" was removed from a first floor fireplace and now forms a step in the garden. The stone gives a probable date for the house although it could be earlier. Bastel houses were stone built defensive farmhouses, unique to the Border Country of both Scotland and England, built in the late 16th/early 17th century for protection against raiders during the lawless period in the Borders. They provided siege accomodation for livestock on the ground floor and people above, reached only by an internal stair or external ladder, the forestair was probably added in the 18th century when all defensive need had passed.

The thick walled stone-vaulted basement provided fireproof protection for livestock. The original basement entrance in the south gable with two draw bar tunnels, and the basement's cobbled floor, slab and feeding troughs survived until relatively recently, sheep were the predominent livestock. The wall thickness reduces at the upper level, the roof would have been slated for additional fire protection.

Other, mostly ruinous examples of Clydesdale bastel houses have been located in particularly high concentration to the west of the Clyde, including Snar (NS 862200), Glendorch (NS870188) and Glenochar (NS946139). Other examples are Windgate House (NT016273) and Carnwath Mill (NS997454); all of these examples were under archaeological investigation (1991). The Nemphlar Bastel is "the star of the project to date" (Ward).

The tombstone in the interior wall has a inscription with the word 'portioner', which is a term in Scots Law meaning the proprieter of a small estate or piece of land resulting from the division of a larger piece of land.

Listed building record updated in 2019 to include reference to the headstone found in the ground floor interior wall of the house.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17851857

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

• 
  For the Record
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair