The Old School, Port Logan, Kirkmaiden, Dumfries and Galloway

Description

Port Logan School was built around 1867 and is a single storey, T-plan former school (now house) with later 20th century alterations. The building is surrounded by its own garden (former playground) on high ground overlooking the Port Logan Bay and village. It is built in painted random rubble with red sandstone long and short quoins and window margins with droved and stugged tooling. The gable apexes are topped by stone ball finials and some have small dressed stone details with a blind double circle motif cut-outs.

The shorter (formally three-bay) south facing section is slightly taller than the longer three-bay section which extends from it to the north. The west elevation has a gabled entrance porch off centre to the right. There is a late 20th century timber conservatory attached to the left of the south elevation which is excluded from the listing.

The rear windows (east elevation) have plain cills and lintels. The two wallhead chimney stacks on the west elevation are double-shouldered and built in dressed stone and rubble.

The entrance doors are boarded timber and the windows are four-pane timber sash and case. The slate roof has graded slates, a zinc ridge and stone skews.

There are rubble and rubble coped boundary walls to the south, east and west of the building.

The interior was seen in 2020 and the room partitions and decorative scheme date from its conversion to a house in the later 20th century.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: conservatory and outbuilding.

Historical development

The village of Port Logan was part of Logan House Estate. In the early 19th century the village was laid out by Colonel McDougall of Logan as a single street of houses along the shoreline of the sheltered south corner of Port Logan Bay. The harbour walls and lighthouse were built between 1818 and 1822. In the early part of the 19th century the local school was housed in a building in the village.

It is likely Port Logan School was built around 1867 or in the preceding few years. An article in The Alloa Journal of 1867 records that a local teacher left Alloa to take up an appointment as the new teacher at Port Logan School. In 1876 the schoolhouse was built next door to the school to accommodate the headmaster (information from the current schoolhouse owner). Both the school and schoolhouse first appear on the Second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (surveyed 1894, printed 1895). The map shows the school playground divided into two sections with a small range of outbuildings crossing the dividing wall.

Port Logan School overlooks the bay and is around 800 metres north of the village. It is just outside the south boundary of the Logan (Balzieland) Garden and Designed Landscape (GDL00268) and the grounds of Logan House which was built in 1702 (listed at category A, see LB13564). There is an early 19th century estate fishpond (listed at category B, see LB13567) around 500 metres west of the house.

Logan House dates back to around 1700 and in 1874 architect David Bryce carried out extensive remodelling in the Scottish Baronial style. Some of the stonework details of Logan House, such as finials are similar to the stonework detailing of the school, supporting the documentary sources that it was built around this time.

The school closed in 1959 and was converted to a house in the later 20th century. An aerial photograph from around 1990 shows a roofless long and thin outbuilding spanning the central dividing wall in the playground. Only the southern half of this outbuilding remains (2020). It also shows the windows have been changed from 12-pane to four-pane sash and case, and a chimney stack has been removed from the east elevation where a small stone gablet still breaks the roof eaves. A timber conservatory was added to the south gable in 1997.

Statement of Interest

Port Logan School meets the criteria of special architectural or historic interest for the following reasons:

It is a notable example of rural school building for its date. It has characteristic Scots Baronial design elements with good stonework detailing.

The exterior and its plan form are little altered. The building retains large window openings which show its original function.

It is a rare surviving example of a school building built before the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act.

Its historic association and visual relationship with the village it was built to serve still survives.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: conservatory and outbuilding.

Architectural interest

Design

This former school remains a good, representative example of its building type for its date in terms of its design. While the architect of the school is not known, it has characteristic design elements that reference the Scots Baronial detailing of Logan House which was remodelled around the time the school was built. This can be seen in the features picked out in tooled red sandstone. The rendered elevations and simple Scots Baronial style detailing are exceptional for small rural schools of the period which were usually of a plainer design and smaller size. The school is well constructed and has notable stonework details appropriate for a significant public building. These include the exposed sandstone quoins, the ball finials and the tall and shouldered chimneystacks.

The T-plan footprint of the building is typical for schools of this size during this period and is largely unchanged from that shown on the 2nd edition Ordnance Survey map (on which the building first appears). The 1997 conservatory is only visible from one elevation and it is clearly distinguishable as a later addition to the school building. It does not detract from the building's overall plan form, especially when the building is seen from the road at the west.

The interior has been altered by later room partitions when the building was converted to a house. These changes are not unusual for a school that has been converted to another use and do not adversely affect the interest of the building as a whole. The building retains large window openings to indicate its original function where adequate light levels would be required for pupils. The high window cills in the northern part of the building also continue to show the building's original use.

Setting

The 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map shows that the school and its neighbouring schoolhouse each had their own grounds and outbuildings divided by a boundary wall. The immediate setting has been altered by a new house and triple garage built between the two historic buildings and this has affected their historic grouping.

However, the former school retains much of its garden grounds and boundary walls. It also remains the most prominent and recognisable of these historic school buildings as it sits at the southern edge of the group on high ground directly overlooking Port Logan Bay and village. Its historic relationship with the village is unchanged and retains special interest in listing terms.

Historic interest

Age and rarity

The 1696 Education Act established the principle of a school for every parish in Scotland although attendance was not compulsory. 18th and 19th century school buildings were often built by estate landlords or the church, were typically of a domestic scale (as one or two rooms was adequate) and of traditional construction. The 1872 Education (Scotland) Act placed responsibility for education in the hands of locally elected school boards and made education compulsory for all children aged 5 to 13. The boards were also responsible for providing adequate school buildings and there was a substantial increase in school building in Scotland after 1872.

Whilst 19th century schools and schoolhouses are not a rare building type those dating from before the 1872 Act and surviving close to their original form are rare. This is because many schools built before 1872 were extended or altered after the Act as school rolls grew when attendance became compulsory.

The exterior and plan form of Port Logan school is largely in its original form and it remains readable as a mid-19th century school building.

Social historical interest

This former school contributes to our understanding the social and educational history of Whithorn in the mid-19th century. The relationship with the former schoolhouse can still be seen although interrupted by a new property. There is a prominent visual relationship with the school and Port Logan village and this also adds to its special interest under this heading.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2021. Previously listed as 'Port Logan School'.

External Links

Historic Environment Scotland Listing

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.