Description

Late 19th century. Pair of 2-storey, 2-bay Old English style houses forming symmetrical 4-bay block. Whitewashed harl with half-timbering at 1st floor; red sandstone ashlar dressings. Raised base course; timber brackets beneath slightly advanced 1st floor; overhanging eaves. Chamfered surrounds to ground floor windows set in advanced ashlar bays; stone mullions; roll-moulded cornice; gabled 1st floor windows breaking eaves. Half-timbered gabled entrance porches to front. Stop-chamfered surrounds to ground floor side openings; projecting cills.

NE (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: 2-leaf timber panelled doors centred in projecting porches in bays to outer right and left respectively; red sandstone plinths; overhanging eaves. Tripartite windows at ground and 1st floors in slightly advanced, gabled bays flanking centre (corbelled lintel courses beneath gableheads).

NW AND SE (SIDE) ELEVATIONS: single windows at both floors in bays to outer left and right.

Leaded 2-pane timber sash and case glazing. Red tile roof; decorative ridge detailing. Corniced red sandstone ashlar central ridge stacks; various circular terracotta cans.

INTERIORS: not seen 1996.

BOUNDARY WALLS: flanking rubble-coped harl-pointed random rubble walls.

Statement of Interest

B group with Nos 1, 3 & 4, 5 & 6, 7 & 8, 10 and 13 & 14 Kerrycroy village (see separate list entries). One of 2 identical Old English style houses commissioned by the Marquess of Bute. Although contrasting in style with the nearby single storey cottages and relatively stark former inn, care was taken to respect the existing layout of Kerrycroy Village, built to the liking of the wife of the 2nd Marquess, previously Lady Guildford, from 1803. This consisted of 4 simple whitewashed cottages and an inn set in crescent form, around a village green. Inspired by the idea of an English hamlet, subsequent development saw the respectful insertion of what are today, Nos 3 & 4 and 11 & 12. The addition of a maypole increased the sense of Englishness. By 1907, Kerrycroy was capable of supporting a school (the former inn), a post-office, tea-room and grocer?s shop. Today, some of the single storey cottages have been converted into single residences, the school has been subdivided to form 2 flats and the post office and grocer's shop have gone. However, conversions have been sympathetic and the basic form remains. Here, note the quality craftsmanship, the use of red ashlar, half-timbering, 2-leaf timber panelled doors, leaded glazing, red tile roofs and gabled porches. An unusual style in its Scottish context but relatively common within the confines of Mount Stuart (see separate list entries for East Lodge, Old School House and Kerrylamont Cottage).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17771697

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

• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide