Description

Circa 1686. Renaissance entrance gateway. Triumphal arch flanked by high classical piers. Ashlar with later random rubble walls flanking. Later stone lion.

W (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: semi-circular archway with projecting keystone on channel jointed piers with shaped imposts; pilasters with cushioned courses, ovolo moulding on capitals with egg and dart ornamentation flanking; entablature: coursed architrave, triglyph detail on frieze, projecting banded cornice, later worn stone lion surmounting; further squared piers with corniced capitals; adjoining smaller setback pillars with cyma reversa capitals, vertical gap for original iron railings to exterior returns.

E (REAR) ELEVATION: as W elevation with less definition and ornamentation.

BOUNDARY WALL (surrounding playing fields): random rubble wall with shaped stone copes and small squared gatepiers.

Statement of Interest

Woolmet House was built around two sides of a courtyard. The house had never been modernised or restored but it had to be abandoned after fissures and rents were discovered due to subterranean mine workings. It was set in its own gardens and parklands, some of which survive. Woolmet was described as being in a dilapidated condition at the beginning of the 20th century, and was given over to the National Trust in 1947. The house was demolished in 1954, although parts of the interior are now said to be in the Castle of Mey, Caithness and Northfield House, Preston. The surviving gateway now forms the entrance to Danderhall Miners' Social Club and Recreation ground. It is now a focal point for the modern community. Woolmet-Edmonstone (both names of sizeable houses now gone) used to be a village, but has become even smaller due to people moving to more modern accommodation in the Danderhall area.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17568652

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

• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)