Description

1889 for Sir Charles Tennant (constructed and designed by estate joiners and masons). 1?-storey, 4-bay, rectangular-plan, picturesque-style workers' housing with central gable. Locally quarried coursed and squared whinstone with tabbed ashlar quoins and dressings; open timber porch.

SE (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: stone steps leading to advanced gabled timber porch to 2nd bay (entrance to Number 2) with heavy uprights to front, in-filled braced gablehead and exposed rafters to sides with timber balustraded in-fill to lower half; timber boarded door with large wrought-iron hinges; to left, single storey wallhead with bipartite window to ground floor and timber gabled dormer window to ?-storey. To right of entrance, central gable with bipartite window to ground and singke window to upper floor, moulded date stone (1889) inset between windows. To far right, single storey wallhead with bipartite window to ground floor and timber gabled dormer window to ?-storey; exposed rafters and overhanging eaves to all.

SW ELEVATION: Number1: 1?-storey gabled end with central door within timber porch with heavy uprights to front, in-filled braced gablehead with king-post finial and exposed rafters to sides (formerly open, now with glazed sides supported on timber bases and semi-glazed panelled entrance door) and window to left, gablehead window to left of upper floor, plain bargeboarding. Adjoining to left, single storey flat-roofed extension.

NE ELEVATION: Number 3, as Number 1 (see SW ELEVATION) but plan reversed.

NW ELEVATION: regularly fenestrated rears with single storey, flat-roofed extensions.

Plate-glass glazing in timber sash and case windows to larger ground floor windows; 4-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows to attic dormers; 3-pane fixed glazing in side porch in-fills. Pitched slate roof with lead ridging; exposed timber purlins and rafters; plain timber bargeboarding; later single pane Velux roof lights to main elevation (one per property). Painted cast-iron rainwater goods. Pair of roofline ashlar stacks with projecting neck copes and plain cans (some replacements).

INTERIOR: near original room plan with single storey bathroom/scullery extensions to rear; timber doors, skirting boards and stairs; 3 properties still in use as residential accommodation

Statement of Interest

Part of an A-Group with all other Glen Estate buildings. The Glen estate can be traced as far back as 1296 when Sarra of the Glen swore allegiance to King Edward I of England. The estate remained in the family's hand until around 1512, when the grounds became fragmented and parts were sold to neighbouring landowners and families. By the 1700's, there were 2 main parts of the estate, Easter and Wester Glen. Easter Glen was sold to Alexander Allan (an Edinburgh banker) in 1796 for #10,500. At this point, the house was a fairly small plain farmhouse. His son, William Allan (Lord Provost of Edinburgh) was responsible for enlarging and extending the house, the architect being his friend William Playfair (see The Temple, listed separately); even after improvement it was still not regarded as being fit for a landowner's principal residence. The 3,500-acre estate was bought in 1852/3 by Sir Charles Tennant, owner of the chemical works of St. Rollox, Glasgow, for #33,140. The house was by then outdated and not suited to modern family life; he commissioned David Bryce to design a baronial style house, to which a tower (also by Bryce) was added in 1874. Tennant continually improved the estate landscape (1860-1890) and was responsible for the building of the school, farm, workers' and estate cottages, walled kitchen garden and kennels making the Glen virtually self-sufficient. Fethan View was designed as workers' housing. It is sited adjacent to the estate road (not the main drive) and is so named as it looks across to Fethan Hill beyond the Quair Water. It sits in an area whose landscaping was part of the preceding main house's grounds. There are small wooded areas to the NE and SW of the property and to some degree these shield the buildings within the landscape and provide a picturesque outlook. Originally the windows were painted a dark colour; the timber work of the porch and at the gableheads is green and this is likely to have been the colour used on all estate woodwork. This building follows a distinct style employed throughout the estate. There was a plentiful amount of whinstone on site in the nearby quarry and it is believed the estate masons followed a plan that was adapted to fit the needs of a specific building (for example most estate cottages follow the same general plan but are enlarged or minimised depending on how many they were to house). This cottage is unusual as it appears to be one large scale cottage, but it is 3 separate dwellings. Number 2 is entered by the door in the principal entance, with Numbers 1 and 3 beining entered through similarly styled porches on the side gables. The rear extensions were very early additions, being noted on the 2nd edition O.S. map. Listed as a good example of a large residential estate building and for its importance within an intact later 19th century estate (other estate buildings are listed separately).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77779301

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

• 
  Pevsner's Architectural Glossary (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Drawing up a Local Listed Building Consent Order: Historic England Advice Note 6
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey