Description

1804. 2-storey with attic, 3-bay rectangular former manse with single storey pavilions flanking, now with modern additions. Pointed and vermiculated sandstone to main elevation, coursed rubble to sides, pavilions and rear; projecting ashlar margins and cills. Skew-gabled. Banded with iron and tension screws at 1st floor, eaves and parapet level. (See Notes).

SW (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: stone step with low shaped walls flanking, slightly projecting architraved door surround with projecting rectangular pediment above to centre bay; heavy, ornately carved timber door deeply inset, rectangular fanlight with 7-lights and curved in-fills above; window to each flank with single window to right return; thick band course meeting side margins; 3-bays to 1st floor; eaves course with partially concealed low parapet containing iron gutter box above; 3 Carron lights to roof; stone chimney stack with projecting neck copes and 5 low cans to each gablehead. LEFT PAVILION: arch top window with projecting margins to centre; glazed, timber single-storey extension with flat roof to left. RIGHT PAVILION: arch top opening in-filled to allow for rectangular window, wall heightened to 1 ?-storeys with overhanging slab coping concealing roof terrace and orange flat-roofed extension.

NW ELEVATION: blind wall adjoining single storey pavilion and later wood and glazing flat-roofed extension.

NE (REAR) ELEVATION: not fully seen, 2000; although later flat-roofed single-storey extension to right, with boarded opening to left return; pair of gabled dormers with Carron light between to attic storey

SE ELEVATION: pavilion heightened to form garage and flat-roofed "terrace" extension above, harled and painted orange; metal rollered garage door with orange metal girder above, half glazed modern door to left at ground floor; blind storey above with window to upper right, concrete wall marked to resemble blockwork; irregular modern fenestration to left return.

10-pane (9-pane upper light with single pane lower light) sash and case windows to front elevation and right return; 12-pane arch top sash and case window to left pavilion, plain 12-pane window to right pavilion; mixed modern glazing to others. Piended slate roof to main house with piended dormers and Carron lights to rear, hipped slate roof with metal ridging to left pavilion, flat roof to heightened right pavilion. Metal rainwater goods to left of house and to concealed cast-iron gutter box.

INTERIOR: much altered, 2000.

Statement of Interest

Situated on a track named "The Backs" which is a right of way from The Cockatoo public house to Harelaw. It was built as a replacement for the original 1749 manse. The Minister, Reverend Thomas Scott, accepted it in 1803. It consisted of the house and its own 7-acre glebe valued at ?5 per acre. The minister started cultivating the glebe and discovered a coal seam, which he started to use. Mr Wauchope, who owned rights to coal in the area decided this rivalled his own business and took the minister to court so he could obtain rights to the manse's coal. The legal case, SCOTT V. WAUCHOPE, set a precedent in Scotland and was widely publicised for reference. The court found in favour of Scott, who eventually sold his rights to the coal to Wauchope for ?2,500 at 5% annual interest, giving the minister an annual income of ?125, which was nearly double his annual salary. Like the houses at nearby Millerhill, the manse has iron bands held together by tension screws at first floor and eaves level. This was to protect the structure when the coal seams were being extracted from under the properties in the late 1930's. The manse remained in use by the ministers of Newton Parish Church until 1968, when a newer replacement was built on land adjacent to the church itself. The older manse then became named Chalfont and passed into private hands. Since then, the original plan has been lost due to modern alterations and extensions to the single storey wings. The multi-faced sundial that stood near the entrance is no longer there.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17828333

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

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  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
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  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
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  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets