Old Post Office, High Street, Ecclefechan, Annandale North, Dumfries and Galloway

Entry Name: Old Post Office, High Street, Ecclefechan

Listing Name: Bramley House (Former Old Post Office) High Street, Ecclefechan Village

Listing Date: 3 August 1971

Category: B

Source: Historic Scotland

Source ID: 342458

Historic Scotland Designation Reference: LB10061

Building Class: Cultural

ID on this website: 200342458

Location: Hoddom

County: Dumfries and Galloway

Electoral Ward: Annandale North

Parish: Hoddom

Traditional County: Dumfriesshire

Tagged with: Architectural structure

Description

Circa 1780-1800. 2-storey and attic, 3-bay, rectangular-plan classical house with substantial early 19th century off-set, 2-storey extension to rear forming double-pitched roof arrangement, set on prominent corner site in village. Long narrow late 18th century single storey rubble outbuilding range linked to rear, possibly remodelled in the early 19th century.

Painted and rendered rubble with painted red sandstone dressings. Rusticated quoins, stone cills, projecting cornice and scrolled skewputts to late 18th century range. Pilastered central doorpiece and flanking bipartite windows all under continuous corniced entablature, blocking course above doorway.

Predominantly 4-pane timber in sash and case windows. Pitched roofs, graded grey slates, raised straight skews, coped sandstone gable end stacks with circular clay cans.

The interior was seen in 2013. Internally the building retains much of its plan form with many architectural details extant, likely dating from early 19th century. Doric columns to main entrance, dogleg staircase to rear comprising a large round headed stair window with ogee tracery, fireplaces including range to former kitchen, cornices to former principal rooms, timber panelled doors, some timber panelling and working shutters to some windows.

Statement of Interest

Bramley House is an important example of a late 18th century domestic building, located in a central position within the village of Ecclefechan. The building has a significant streetscape presence and retains a number of distinctive original 18th and 19th century details.

The house was used for a time as The Post Office for the village and the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map (1898) marks the building in use as such. There is a void for a post-box which is evident on the east flank of the building. The symmetrical appearance of the building, and the scrolled skewputts and rusticated quoins, creates a strong and distinctive classical design. As noted by Gifford, the shop frontage may be a mid or later 19th century alteration to the property but its restrained classical arrangement is in keeping with the late 18th century classical proportion of the building.

There are two single storey ranges within the partially cobbled courtyard to the rear of the paired house. One range is adjoined to the house by the north, and the second to the east of the garden. The property is enclosed to the rear and west by a rubble sandstone wall forming the boundary of the property.

The village of Ecclefechan, known as the birthplace of Thomas Carlyle, is at the centre of the medieval parish of Hoddom. In the 18th century, weaving was the town's main economic activity and weekly markets were held. However this activity declined by 1815 and weaving abandoned by the 1870s as it was in competition with nearby Annan. Ecclefechan High Street has a number of late 18th and early 19th century houses, including Bramley House, which were built during a period of prosperity for the town.

Listed building record and statutory address updated (2014). Former statutory address: 'Ecclefechan Village, High Street, Old Post Office'.

External Links

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