Description

Farmhouse and farm buildings arranged around a cobbled farm yard. 19th century buildings, including 18th century and possibly earlier build (i.e. barns to E and W and cartshed and granary). Sandstone rubble.

Early to mid 19th century 3-bay, 2 storey farmhouse with contemporary lean-to. Later (?1870s) corniced, ashlar porch with panelled and margined door with fanlight (heightened later) and rear lean-to addition. Tooled rubble, droved ashlar to quoins and window surrounds. Unevenly placed windows to rear including 16 pane timber sash and case window with red sandstone surround (possibly re-used from elsewhere). 4-pane timber sash and case windows to front (S), 4-, 12- and 16 panes to rear. Pitched slate roof; rendered replacement stacks, stone skews.

Probably the earliest building on the farm is the 2-storey barn attached to the farmhouse to the west. Rubble walls; raised wallhead with small vaulted structure to S (possible fire/furnace?) and 3-bay, 2-storey cottage attached to N. Cottage has also been heightened including 2 dormer windows breaking eaves to front (W). Gable apex stone stacks to cottage, brick stack to S barn gable. Timber sash and case windows to cottage. Pitched slate roof to cottage, corrugated asbestos to barn.

Byre (currently stables, 2003) to N range of courtyard; tooled rubble, stone skews, pitched slate roof, later brick addition to part of S elevation. Threshing barn to W range incorporating early stonework including doorpiece. Stonework indicates 2 changes in roof height. Corrugated asbestos roof. Roofless cartshed and granary added to S gable of threshing barn, with cartshed and granary openings to S; relieving arches above doors in W elevation.

Stone rubble wall to front of W barn and cottage continues in front of farmhouse and southwards along entrance driveway.

Statement of Interest

Cockpen Farm is a neatly arranged and compact steading which probably underwent early improvements in the 18th century and again in the 19th century. The early stonework in the W range

indicates that this may have been a long, low range incorporating a barn, byre and the earliest farmhouse. Early stonework is also evident in the threshing barn and cartshed and granary. The current farmhouse is likely to have been a 19th century addition to the farm.

The 1861 plan of the farm depicts the steading complete with garden to the N of the stables, tree-lined boundaries to named fields with acreage, some of which still remain, a trackway leading westwards from the steading and a circular horse engine house (now gone, 2003) to the E of the threshing barn.

Cockpen House is referred to in the traditional song 'The Laird o'Cockpen'. The Laird was Mark Carse/Cass [H Meikle (Ed.) The Diary of Sir William Drummond of Hawthornden in Miscellany of the Scottish History Society, Vol 7 (1941) p.43]. Cockpen House was a mansion house which stood to the W of Cockpen Farm and was ruinous by 1792. Stone from Cockpen House could have been re-used in some of the farm buildings, or the farm may have served the house. The later 18th century tower (which is separately listed), stands in the field to the W of the farm and was most likely associated with Cockpen House.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77780194

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

• 
  The Victorian House Manual (2nd Edition): How They Were Built, Improvements & Refurbishment, Solutions to All Common Defects - Includes Relevant ... ... Properties (Haynes Manual) (Haynes Manuals)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets