Description

Circa 1790; wings probably added after 1798; interior refitted late 19th century. 2-storey, attic and basement, 3-bay, rectangular-plan, symmetrical, gabled house with single storey, 2-bay, piend-roofed wings. Random sandstone rubble with droved ashlar dressings. Eaves cornice. Tabbed quoins strips. Regular fenestration with raised margins; tripartite windows to wings. Regular fenestration to rear (street) elevation with central staircase window. One step up to central 2-leaf timber-panelled front door with fanlight to SW elevation.

Predominantly 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows. Gablehead stacks with yellow clay cans; tall wallhead stacks to wings. Ashlar-coped skews. Graded grey slate roof to main block. Plain railings to basement area.

INTERIOR: simple but good internal detailing mostly dating from the late 19th century. Timber stair with timber balusters and rail. Egg and dart cornice in hallway; simple cornices elsewhere. 6-panelled timber doors, some with fanlights (now blocked). Classical chimneypiece, possibly late 19th century, in main room. Large stone chimneybreast in former kitchen.

Statement of Interest

This house, now known as David Dale's House, is an important component of the mill and village complex. It occupies a prominent site in the centre of the village and is of considerable historical interest. It is one of the two buildings that were occupied as a secondary residence by David Dale and his half brother James, the other being for the manager William Kelly, though it is unclear which was which. It is also unclear which of the buildings was occupied by Robert Owen and his family from 1798 until 1808 when he moved to Braxfield House to accommodate his large family. It has been suggested that the wings of this house may have been added by Robert Owen in order to enlarge the house for the 7 children borne by his wife during his stay here.

Recorded in the fire insurance inventory of 1903 as 'Rosedale Villa', it was at that date the manager's house and is described as having two storeys and attic with five rooms, kitchen and bathroom on the ground floor, four bedrooms at the first floor and two in the attic.

New Lanark was a pioneering cotton-spinning village, which became a model for industrial communities that was to spread across the world in the 19th and 20th centuries and is recognised as being of outstanding importance historically and in visual terms because of its completeness and its physical form. Elements of sophisticated early town planning are evidenced in the orchestration of the various components in the village, from the mill weir, its lade and tunnel to south, to the tunnels and sluices leading off to the individual mills, the crucially generous circulation spaces, gardens, tailored walks and viewing points realised from the start. It is surrounded by an incomparable natural and designed landscape, the mill buildings sitting on the natural terrace to the east of the River Clyde in this deeply incised, wooded river valley.

Built to exploit the water power offered by the Falls of Clyde, the mills were in operation from 1786 to 1968. The mill village is made up of industrial, residential and community buildings, dating predominantly from between 1786 and the 1820s. It was founded by David Dale, a Glasgow merchant, in conjunction with Richard Arkwright, a trailblazing inventor of the cotton spinning industry whose patents enabled operation on a considerable scale. Dale's humane philosophy, realised from the start in the buildings of New Lanark, was expanded by Robert Owen, who took over management of the mill village in partnership from 1799. Owen created an environment where child labour and corporal punishment were abolished, and provided workers with good homes, education and free health care as well as affordable food. He had a profound influence on social developments such as factory reform throughout the 19th century.

Within World Heritage Site inscribed 2001.

List description updated 2010.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17571759

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

• 
  Gloucestershire 2: The Vale and The Forest of Dean: Vale and Forest of Dean Pt. 2 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Care and Repair