Description

1756, with early 19th century alteration. 2-storey and attic manse comprising principal range oriented E-W with 2-storey range projecting at centre of S elevation forming T-plan with single storey wing projecting from N (rear) elevation. Harled walls with painted margins to windows.

E (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: asymmetrical, 2-bay gable of principal range at right; regular fenestration in right bay and blank in left bay at ground and 1st floors; attic window to left in gablehead. 2-bay E elevation of S range recessed to left; glazed timber entrance porch in re-entrant angle; regular fenestration in bay to left and at 1st floor.

S ELEVATION: near-symmetrical; 2-bay gable of S range advanced at centre with windows at ground and 1st floor in bay to left, blank in bay to right; regular fenestration in flanking bays with piend-roofed, slate-hung timber dormers breaking eaves.

N (REAR) ELEVATION: asymmetrical, modern window to right of centre at ground; window at 1st floor centred above; single storey wing advanced at outer left with single window in N gable.

W ELEVATION: asymmetrical, 2-bay gable of principal range at left with windows to each floor in left bay, blank in right bay. S range recessed at right; stair window only to left of centre.

Plate glass and 4-pane timber sash and case windows. Purple-grey slate roof; harled gablehead stacks to principal gables and wing, all coped with circular cans.

STEADING: 2 single storey random rubble ranges, to NE of house disposed at right angles, forming approximate T-plan. Corrugated-iron clad roof to S range, slate and asbestos sheet cladding to roof of partly-ruinous N range.

WALLS, RAILINGS AND GATEPIERS: random rubble walls enclosing garden to S, wallhead of S wall raised with infilled gateway at centre; dwarf wall to E of house surmounted by decorative cast-iron railing with pyramidal caps to gatepiers at centre. Random rubble walls enclosing ground to N and E of steading.

Statement of Interest

The Glebe was formerly the manse to Fetlar Kirk. A photograph by Charles Spence of the early 1870s shows the house with 12-pane timber sash and case windows and a smaller, corniced, entrance porch. The S wing appears to be an early 19th century addition, altering the original haa-like appearance. John Tudor, a traveller who visited around 1880, noted: ?The Manse of Tresta is, with the exception of Tingwall, the most beautifully situated parsonage in the islands, and covered as it is in the summertime with wild trailing honey-suckle, and surrounded by small elderberry trees, has a very south of Pentland Firth feel about it?.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56619446

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 green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings
• 
  This Old House: Restoring, Rehabilitating, and Renovating an Older House
• 
  London 6: Westminster (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England): Westminster v. 6
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)