Description

1822; later additions and alterations 1908-10, Mr Stevenson, architect. Large, 2-storey, basement and attic 3-bay manse with similar later bay to left. Stone stair (enclosed below) with iron railings leading to moulded doorpiece with panelled frieze and cornice over, part-glazed 2-leaf timber outer door and later decorative timber glazed inner door. Later canted oriel to left; 2 piended and canted later dormers. 2 windows to basement plus close to rear beneath later bay. Regular fenestration with raised, dressed margins and cills (painted); strip quoins and eaves cornice. Rendered.

NW (REAR) ELEVATION: irregular fenestration. Door to centre left; stair windows above; flanking single windows to basement, elevated ground and 1st floor; later bay to right with smaller slit windows. 2 piended dormers to attic; 2 skylights.

NE GABLE: windowless, bar small slit window to centre basement.

SW GABLE: ground raised; small slit window to ground left, window to right; 1st floor window to left.

Timber sash and case glazing throughout, predominantly 12-pane, windows to ground altered to form 4-pane plate glass sashes. Grey slates; coped end stacks, some original moulded clay cans; straight stone skews. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: part seen (2004). Hall with curved stone stair, plain cast-iron balustrade and mahogany handrail. Plain cornicing; Greek key pattern cornice. Timber panelled doors (6 fielded panels) in moulded surrounds, some corner roundels. Timber chimneypiece with tiled hearth in later wing.

ANCILLARY BUILDINGS AND BOUNDARY WALLS: detached single storey piend-roofed building with arched cart entrance to outer left; large rectangular opening; 2 small square windows and 3 timber boarded doors. Grey slates; catslide roof vents; end stacks. Coalhouse to rear of house with corrugated-iron roof; attached to high coped rubble wall. Similar walls enclosing courtyard.

Statement of Interest

This is a locally significant building, purpose-built as the manse for the adjacent Parish Church (separately listed). Located beyond the entrance to the churchyard, in large grounds overlooking the River Stinchar and the ruins of Craigneil Castle beyond, the size of the manse, even before its additions, and its attractive site indicate the important position held by the minister. The construction of the manse would have been funded by the heritors and although appropriately not a lavish house, it has the hallmarks of a good traditional building of the period. The decorative entrance doorpiece and the panelled doors and surrounds inside follow the fashion of the day. The outbuilding at the rear was likely used as a stable, carthouse and ancillary accommodation. The Ordnance Survey map of 1858 shows a formally laid out walled garden, probably a kitchen garden, to the north west of the manse, some of which survives. The additions to the manse of 1908-10 are in-keeping with the form, material and scale of the original building. The plate glass in the ground floor front windows, also from this date, is part of the history of the building and illustrates a change in technology and taste.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77780839

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 Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Historic Environment Law: Planning, Listed Buildings, Monuments, Conservation Areas and Objects, Supplement 2014
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  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)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Huddersfield in 50 Buildings