Boghall Farmhouse, Biggar Road, Lasswade, Lasswade, Midlothian

Description

Circa 1830 with later alterations, large farmhouse in Scots Baronial Style consisting of a 2-storey, T-plan, crowstepped gabled farmhouse linked to a single storey ancillary wing to the rear together forming a U-plan group around an open courtyard.

The east (entrance) elevation is 4 bays with an advanced gable to the right with a later canted bay window at the ground floor. The entrance has a decorative hoodmould. There are blind windows to the first floor of the advanced gabled bay and the centre window of the main block. The first floor windows have coped gablet-headed dormers with bird, thistle, and crescent moon and florate finials. There is a deep base course to the principal elevation. The south gabled elevation is plain. There are corniced gable chimney stacks.

The windows are predominantly 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case frames and there are replacement windows to the ground floor of the east (entrance) elevation.

The interior was seen in 2015 and is largely unaltered, with some later partitions to the room layouts. There is a turned stair with plain cast iron bannisters. There are marble fire surrounds to the principal rooms with some later 19th century style fire surrounds to the first floor. There are 6-panel timber doors throughout with a decorative pen light over the front door. There is tongue and grooved panelling to a first floor room. The main room in the rear single storey ancillary wing has a flag stone floor.

Statement of Interest

Boghall Farmhouse is an early example of a rural farmhouse and associated ancillary wing to have been designed and built in a Scots Baronial style. The farmhouse has some good stone detailing to the exterior including crowstepped gables and gabletted dormers with various decorative stone carved finials. The building is largely unaltered in plan form and retains some early 19th century interior details. Because of his association with the farm owner, it is possible that this building is an early work of the prominent Scottish architect William Burn.

There is believed to have been a farm at Boghall from as early as 1773 as Boghall is noted on Armstrong's map of that date. The current Boghall Farmhouse is thought to date from the around the 1830s and it first appears in its current form on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1852. Boghall was one of three neighbouring farms called 'Pentland Palaces' which were improved by Sir John Gibson of Pentland around 1830, the others were Hillend (see separate listing) and Damhead. It is possible that the well-known Scottish architect William Burn (1789-1870) was involved in the design of Boghall as he is noted as having been involved in the design of Hillend Farmhouse which is very similarly detailed. Burn also made alterations to Riccarton House in the 1820s for the client Sir William Gibson Craig whose family was connected through marriage to the Gibsons of Pentland, so this connection also means it is likely he had some involvement with Boghall.

The "Caledonian Mercury" of the 19 March 1810 carried an advertisement for the letting of Boghall and Damhead farms by 'Mrs Gibsone of Pentland', and the Berwickshire Advertiser of 14 July 1838 describes damage done by a flood which affected the stackyard, stables, byres and barns at Boghall. The Post-Office Annual Directory for 1837-38 notes James Stedman as the farmer at Boghall providing further evidence it was being farmed at the time and that the current house was in situ by then. Mr Stedman is still noted as resident in the 1841 Directory.

Boghall Farmhouse has crowstepped gables and stone gabletted dormers with various styles of decorative stone finials, all of which are characteristics of the Scots Baronial architectural style. Almost all the decorative detail in the building is confined to the principal east and north elevations with the rear section of the building proportionately very plain in design and embellishment. The architect of the farmhouse is not documented, although it maybe a very early example of work by the architect William Burn. Burn was responsible for the reintroduction of the Scots Baronial style from its earlier 17th century incarnations, a movement which he is recognised as instigating around 1830. Burn had developed his business on the back of designing country houses for his contacts and by the 1830s his was the largest practice in Scotland; by 1840 he is thought to have designed or altered over 90 country houses.

As the building dates to around 1830 it is a very early example of a building to be designed in the Scots Baronial style. Burn was involved in remodelling one of the most well-known Scots Baronial houses, Abbotsford, in the Scottish Borders from 1850-55. However, Boghall Farmhouse predates this by two decades and if it is attributed to Burn it could be seen as an early study in the style.

There are two blind windows designed into the principal elevation of the farmhouse and there is a noticeable lack of windows to the rear elevation and south gable. Window tax was levied on properties in Scotland in the period between 1748 and 1851 and from 1766 onwards it was for buildings with more than 7 windows. Boghall Farmhouse is thought to have been built towards the end of this period and the reduced number of windows in the design and the prioritising of the front elevation suggests the design of the building was clearly influenced by the window tax at the time.

External Links

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