Description

William Atkinson, 1806, 1815 and circa 1821. Castellated mansion consisting of 2-storey keep, with long single storey Tudor Gothic range to S and kitchen and office range concealed behind Gothic screen walls to NE and SE. Asymmetrical; rambling-plan. Ashlar. Battlemented parapet; hoodmoulds.

KEEP: 1806, 2-storey over raised (now blinded) basement.

N ELEVATION: 3-bay, entrance bay at centre; window at ground (former door); window at 1st floor; hipped hoodmoulds. Pentangular, battlemented corner towers; Tudor-arched windows at ground and 1st floor; platform top; blind arrowslit openings. Parapet between towers supported on 3 deeply-moulded corbels. Low crenellated wall runs along court area to N; low, single storey storage block against N wall of court.

W ELEVATION: 5-bay over raised basement; giant order pilaster at centre with roll-moulded arrises; segmental- headed windows regularly disposed to left and right. Broad angle pilasters. S return; 3-bays, window at 1st floor outer left; blind window at outer right; jettied, corbelled chimneybreast and stack at centre. Square ashlar entrance porch advanced to right; roll-moulded arrises; segmental-headed door; bolection moulding. Sculpted owl finials in flight at either end of parapet. Single storey, long Tudor Gothic range (1815) to SE; 3-bay block with centre canted bay; tripartite pointed arch windows; hoodmoulds. Plain 3-bay screen wall of kitchen court beyond this; projecting porch at centre (door now blocked as window); segmental-headed door; arrowloop above; bipartite pointed arch window to outer right. Segmental arch into kitchen court; stugged voussoirs; chamfered arrises; shaped parapet above. Screen wall abuts onto wall of garden to S.

S ELEVATION: U-plan kitchen court set behind ashlar screen wall on W and E elevations. Single storey; stugged squared, honey-coloured sandstone. 2-bay ashlar on E return; bipartite pointed arch windows (horizontal glazing). Single round headed window at outer right (casement window).

E (GARDEN) ELEVATION: near-symmetrical; 3-bay main block to left of centre; low single storey kitchen and office blocks advanced to left and right respectively; keep rises behind right block. Centre block slightly recessed; 3 windows divided by thin gabletted pilasters; quatrefoil frieze. Tripartite narrow Tudor Gothic arched window to left block; 3, broader Tudor-arched windows to right. Link block with entrance recessed to right; segmental- headed door. Office range to outer right (1821); squared honey-coloured sandstone on E elevation; stugged ashlar parapet; 3-bay symmetrical to garden; tripartite, pointed- arch windows. Armorial panel in parapet above centre bay. 2-bay to SE return; tripartite window to outer right; jettied parapet at centre; paired, octagonal ashlar stacks rise above. Segmental headed window to outer right.

Modern diamond-pane casement windows to keep; 5-pane sash and case windows to linear range; Tudor-arch windows at rear 12-pane sash and case windows. Grey slate piended roof concealed behind parapet. Paired, octagonal ridge stacks.

INTERIOR: house was completely refurbished in 1980s. Original plasterwork, with some remodelling in the main S room; panels divided by fluted reeding; raised diamond moulding in centre; trefoils in corners; palmette stop at juction of each panel. Rib moulding in curved ceiling of bay. Quatrefoil wooden frieze above main windows. In room to N original floral ceiling cornice and rosette. No other original features.

GARDEN STORE: canted, single-storey shed in re-entrant angle between main range and garden wall; boarded door on NW facet; fleur-de-lis side hinges; bolection moulding; set between 2 stugged pilasters with angle nook-shafts; blind segmental-headed door on SW facet.

WALLED GARDEN: located immediately to S of house. Irregular D-shaped plan; approx. 50 x 60 metres. Brick wall with ashlar slab coping. Bothy and boiler house remain to S; originally part of wall could be heated. Wall now open to kitchen court.

Statement of Interest

Millburn Tower was designed by William Atkinson for Robert Liston who was British Ambassador in several countries including the USA. Liston lived at Millburn in his retirement from 1821-1836. In 1804 Captain George Parkyns designed an American garden for Lady Liston, complete with lochs, this is all now almost completely gone. The house has many fine chimneypieces but none are original features of the house and all were installed during the refurbishment in the 1980s.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17809838

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

• 
  Cumbria: Cumberland, Westmorland and Furness (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Maintaining and Repairing Old Houses: A Guide to Conservation, Sustainability and Economy
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets