Description

Later 19th century (circa 1870); refurbished late 20th century. Kidney-plan sunken glazed fernery set to S of Ascog Hall. Predominantly red sandstone rubble; cast-iron roof girders.

Rubble sandstone entrance to E; sunken rubble walls with ornamental stream and rockery at centre; rubble fern-holders irregularly-disposed around outer walls; pebble-cobbled floor; cast-iron girders to shallow-domed, glazed roof; replacement cast-iron brattishing.

Statement of Interest

An interesting structure set within the grounds of Ascog Hall (see separate list entry). The house itself is a good and relatively intact example of the Victorian Scots Baronial style. It is said to have been commissioned in 1844 by a Rev. William Monteith, who moved to Bute during the Disruptions. In 1856, the house was bought by a Mr Robertson Buchanan Stewart, who then passed it on to his son - Alexander Bannatyne Stewart, Convenor of Bute and a prominent figure in the Glasgow Merchant City. With the funds to back his interest in architecture, Bannatyne Stewart carried out various alterations to the house as well as commissioning the fernery some time between 1867 and 1879, the landscaped gardens and the nearby stables (now virtually derelict but with an impressive entrance arch). Edward La Trobe Bateman (1816-1897), an artist and landscape designer who spent the majority of his life in Australia, returned to Britain and settled on the Isle of Bute in 1869 where, despite partial immobilisation after an accident, he planned to continue his landscaping and decorative stencil-work. He was to die in The Hermitage - formerly Kerrycroy School and headmaster?s house (see separate list entry). Having furnished and decorated a drawing room at Mount Stuart (subsequently destroyed by fire in 1877), Bateman went on to landscape the grounds at Ascog House (see separate list entry) and here at Ascog Hall. It is assumed that he designed the fernery which, in 1879, was described as a "...span-roofed house with rounded ends, the roof rests on stone walls, and is composed of an iron framework. It is well built and altogether has a very neat and good appearance....To reach the entrance of this charming and natural looking fernery, we go down a flight of rustic stone steps, which have rockwork on either side, well planted with ferns and alpine plants..." (GARDENER?S CHRONICLE).

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.

Recommended Books

• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Oxfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  County Durham (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England) by Elizabeth Williamson Nikolaus Pevsner(1983-03-11)
• 
  Hampshire: South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)