Craft Workshops (Former Bachelor's Hall), Traquair House, Traquair, Scottish Borders

Description

Circa 1749 for Charles Stuart, 5th Earl of Traquair (11th Laird) with later 19th and 20th century improvements. Collection of vernacular outbuildings relating to Traquair House including 1, 1/2-storey former stables and separate tack room (previously part of a larger range); former single storey grain bothy; single storey, 2-bay bothy (Bachelor's Hall); former 2-storey, 5-bay cart shed and barn. All rectangular-plan, whinstone rubble construction with rough whinstone dressings and pitched gabled roofs set around an enclosed area.

FORMER STABLES AND TACK ROOM (now jewellery / leatherwork shop and pottery/photography shop): pair of partially harled buildings adjoining at right angles and forming small range comprising 1, 1/2-storey building, regular 3-bay entrance elevation to SE with central timber boarded entrance door with windows to flanks (all with raised margins), roof light aligned with door; gabled end to NE with former hayloft door in gablehead (now with timber in-fill to lower portion and glazed multi-pane window to upper and blind gabled end to SW (formerly range continued to SW); blind (NW) rear elevation. Small building adjoining at S comprising single door to right on NE (entrance) elevation with blocked door to left; central window to SE gable with blind gable to NW; central window to SW (rear) elevation.

FORMER GRAIN BOTHY:

SW (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: single storey, 2-bay elevation with timber boarded door to left and former door to right now with timber in-fill to bottom and 2-pane fixed glazing to upper (whinstone in-filled window to right now blending with wall). To NW and SE, blind gabled ends with inset red cast-iron Post Box off centre left in NW gable and estate sign boards above to flanks. To NE (rear), pair of regularly placed windows with evidence of alteration to centre of elevation; low whinstone rubble wall extends to SE terminating adjacent to Bachelor's Hall. Cast-iron roof light to front and rear attics.

BATCHELOR'S HALL (now needlework/clothing shop):

NE (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: single storey, 2-bay elevation with timber boarded entrance door to right and small window to left. Blind gabled ends to NW and SE (which rises into gablehead stack) and blind SW (rear elevation) with 2 regularly placed cast-iron roof lights to attic.

FORMER CART SHED AND BARN (now Beer Barn): to NW, 2-storey and attic, 5-bay principal elevation with 4 large segmental-headed cart arches to bays 1-4 (all with shaped whinstone voussoirs and 2-leaf segmental-headed timber boarded doors) and pedestrian timber boarded entrance door to 5th bay; to upper floor, 5 very small regularly placed rectangular windows with central iron bars; roof light and ridge ventilator aligned with 4th bay. To NE and SW, blind gabled ends (bar single window to NE gablehead) and remnants of outhouse adjoining ground floor of SW. To SE (rear) elevation, regularly placed ventilation slits to ground floor with 5 windows to upper floor (similarly styled to those on NW elevation).

Assortment of glazing plans: 4, 6 and 12-pane glazing in timber fixed and sash and case windows in former stables and tack room. Multi-paned glazing in timber sash and case window in former grain bothy and Bachelor's Hall with 2-pane cast-iron Carron roof lights to rest of elevations. Single pane fixed lights with iron bars to upper storey of Beer Barn with 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case window at side. Pitched slate roofs with replacement ridging and tiles cemented at gables in lieu of skews. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods to former stables, tack room and Beer Barn, other buildings with slightly overhanging eaves. Single whinstone rubble gablehead stacks (of varying height) on Bachelor's Hall, former Tack Room (both with single can remaining) and former Grain Bothy (no cans).

INTERIOR: most retaining plain stone interiors renovated to form modern workshops or retail outlets.'

Statement of Interest

A-Group with Traquair House, Exedra, Bridge on East Drive, East Lodge, Walled Garden, Office, Tea Room, Summerhouse, Garden Cottage, Bear Gates and Avenuehead Cottages. The walled garden, former gardeners' cottages and selection of outbuildings were added during the tenure of the Charles Stuart, 5th Earl of Traquair. He was a Jacobite and was imprisoned in Tower of London following the 1745 uprising. He was released in 1748 and undertook substantial improvements on the Estate. He redecorated the main House and was responsible for the construction of many of the small estate buildings adjacent to the garden, as well as the lodges flanking the bear gates. He was also Factor of Traquair Estate during the latter years of his father, the 4th Earl's life and may have commissioned some of the work that was done in the earlier period. The garden was constructed to the south of the formal drive and was well used and had already been remodelled by the beginning of the 19th century; it is now open to the public with its former Head Gardener's Cottage now in use as the Brewer's private house (Traquair House has its own successful brewery) and the Under-Gardener and Coachman's house as a tea room. These smaller buildings were used to service the main house and estate. They are near each other and placed irregularly around a now grassed neat rectangular courtyard with a wall and small drive at each flank. A cart-arched barn (larger and of better quality than the other buildings) dominates the E of the group. It would have been used for estate carts and storage as the horses and carriages utilised by the main house were housed in the lower level of the West Wing service buildings (adjacent to Traquair House). Estate carts would have been used for the movement of produce and stock for the garden and even to move goods to the nearby farms. The old stables and tack room would have been used to house the nags that pulled the carts (the more refined carriage horses residing nearer the house); it was originally a much larger near T-plan rang extending to the SW, but these buildings are all that now remain. A grain bothy stood nearby. The Bachelor's hall would have been used by single male estate workers and journeymen; it is rather small but it would probably only have been used for sleeping. All these structures are still in use as craft workshops and craft shops. These buildings are listed due to their important role as an integral part of the development of Traquair Estate as well as being vivid reminders of the social history of the workers on the estate.

External Links

Historic Environment Scotland Listing

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