Carsebridge House, Carsebridge Road, Alloa, Alloa, Clackmannanshire

Description

Dating from around 1799, Carsebridge House is a detached, two-storey and attic, three-bay, classical-style country house, with mid to late-19^th century additions and alterations. The house is constructed in coursed and droved sandstone blocks with contrasting smooth margins and quoins, and a moulded cornice with centre panel above. There is a central, corniced, Roman Doric-style porch with an arched opening and scroll detailing and sidelights. The house is set within its own grounds, set back from Carsebridge Road and is accessed via a tree-lined drive from the main road. The entrance gateway and low boundary wall to the main road are excluded from the listing.

The window and door openings are covered by exterior metal security panels (at the time of 2021 visit). The gabled roof is slated with end ashlar chimneystacks. There are three dormer windows in the south roof pitch, the centre one is arched and the two pedimented outer dormers are bipartite. There is a central, pedimented dormer in the north roof pitch.

The interior was not seen (2021).

A walled garden, including garden house (listed at category B, LB21023) and a commemorative Doric column or 'Napoleon Pillar' (listed at category B, LB21024) are both located west of the house. The detached stables, dated 1911, are located east of the house (and are excluded from the listing).

Historical development

In 1798 John Francis Erskine, Earl of Mar (1741-1825) granted the lease of a field to John Bald Esquire to build and operate a distillery near the Carse Bridge in Alloa (The Scotch Malt Whisky Society). Carsebridge Distillery opened in 1799.

The design and style of Carsebridge House indicates it was built in the late-18^th century, probably around 1799, and is largely contemporary with the former distillery. Stobie's map of Perth and Clackmannan of 1783 shows a structure in roughly the correct location, named 'Carsbridge'. While the scale of the map is not detailed enough to determine if this is the same building, it does indicate Carsebridge House and estate may pre-date the distillery and may have already been an established country estate when the Earl of Mar leased the Carsebridge lands to John Bald in 1799. The house was used as a distillery manager's home throughout the 19^th century and first half of the 20^th century.

The house and estate appear to have leased to the Bald family throughout much of the 19^th century while remaining in the ownership of the Earl of Mar (OS1/8/1/31). John Bald and his family is recorded as living at Carsebridge House in the 1841 census record. Following John's death in 1844, his widow, Janet, continued to live at Carsebridge House until her death in 1863 (Caledonian Mercury; Stirling Observer).

The Ordnance Survey Name Book of 1861-62 describes Carsebridge House as a neat and substantially built two-storey house with single-storey offices attached and the property of the Earl of Mar (OS1/8/1/31). The 1^st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1861-62 shows the house with a largely symmetrical footprint with a projecting entrance porch and service buildings to the rear (north) of the house. A substantial walled garden is shown to the west of the house, set within a belt of woodland that stretches southwards, largely shielding Carsebridge Distillery from the south-facing views of the house. The 2^nd Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1899 shows an addition was added to the northeast elevation of the house sometime in the late-19^th century, thereby making the footprint more irregular on plan. It is unclear whether this later addition survives because there is significant tree cover. Comparisons between recent aerial photographs to those taken in 1928 suggest this addition on the northeast elevation no longer survives (Canmore).

Two rectangular-plan stable buildings, at right angles to one another, were constructed to the east of the house in 1911 and these are first shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1920. Aerial photographs taken in 1928 show the main stable range (oriented east to west) with a two-storey section to the east and a single-storey section to the west, accessed by a short drive off the main tree-lined driveway (Historic Environment Scotland).

The 1881 and 1901 census records, historic newspapers and electoral rolls record members of the Bald and Bald-Harvey families as living at Carsebridge House into at least the late 1930s, including a brief sale of the house in 1890 (Glasgow Herald; see Perth and Kinross Electoral Register, 1934). The footprint of Carsebridge House today (2023) is largely the same as that shown on the 2^nd Edition map of 1899.

Carsebridge Distillery continued in the production of grain whisky throughout the 20^th century with the addition of new buildings, including a new still house and cooperage to the distillery site in the 1970s. The distillery closed in 1983 and most of its buildings were demolished in the early 1990s (The Scotch Malt Whisky Society). The cooperage remained in operation by Diageo as a Spirit Supply Centre until 2011. Carsebridge House, stables and walled garden have been unused since the 1980s (information from the owner). The remaining distillery structures and bonded warehouses fronting the north and south sides of Carsebridge Road were demolished around 2021 (as shown on Buildings at Risk Register photos and aerial photos of the site taken in 2023). 19^th century distillery offices have been retained on the south side of Carsebridge Road. The area is proposed for residential and commercial development and an application for planning permission in principle has been submitted to Clackmannanshire Council (2021 and ongoing).

Statement of Interest

Carsebridge House meets the criteria of special architectural or historic interest for the following reasons:

It is a late-18^th century small country house with 19^th century classical-style additions which retains much of its historic character and form, particularly to its principal elevation.

Its principal elevation is largely unaltered and has good stonework and classical architectural detailing. This includes a moulded cornice with centre panel and a cavetto doorpiece under a Doric-pilastered porch.

It remains a distinctive building within the landscape and is visible from the road. Much of its estate setting is still readable, including the tree-lined drive from the road up to the house.

Whilst not rare, it is an early surviving example of a classical style villa which survives largely in its original form externally.

The building retains an important association with the former Carsebridge distillery, a significant historic industrial site for the area.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: excluding stables, stable boundary walls and gatepiers, and entrance gateway and low boundary wall to Carsebridge Road.

Architectural interest:

Design

Carsebridge House is a modest and well-proportioned, detached house dating from the late-18^th century. It has a classical design which is evident in its symmetrical front elevation, and it retains its distinctive and good quality classical detailing, including a moulded cornice with centre panel and a cavetto doorpiece under a Doric-pilastered porch on the principal elevation. The scale and architectural detailing of the house indicates it was a residence of some importance and which included a contemporary walled garden set within its own grounds.

Carsebridge Distillery is roughly contemporary with Carsebridge House and historically formed a prominent part of the wider Carsebridge landscape. The house, a property of the Earl of Mar in the mid-19^th century, was lived in by distillery owners and their families from the late-18^th/early-19^th century until the first half of the 20^th century. The tree-lined avenue leading from the road to the house and the belts of woodland to the north, west and south would have afforded some privacy and separation from the workings of the distillery to the south and Keilarsbrae woollen mill to the west.

The footprint of Carsebridge House remains largely unchanged since that shown on the 1^st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1861-62. The late-19^th century alterations and additions have minimally altered the rear (north) and northeast elevations of the house. These changes, however, have had little impact on the principal elevation and, overall, the house has been little altered externally. The house has some good stonework and is built of the regionally prominent sandstone, and which may have been locally sourced.

We have not seen the interior and do not know the level of survival of fixtures or fittings dating to the late 18^th and 19^th centuries. We consider that the building still demonstrates special design interest whether or not it retains an intact plan form and original fixtures and fittings.

Carsebridge House continues to demonstrate quality of design and construction in a well-proportioned, classical style which retains much of its late-18^th century architectural interest, detailing and historic character.

Setting

Carsebridge House remains within its own parkland and is located to the north of the site of the former Carsebridge Distillery and the later Diageo cooperage complex (all now demolished). The house is in an elevated, south-facing position and is set back from Carsebridge Road. It remains a distinctive building within the landscape and is visible from the road. Much of its estate setting is still readable, including the tree-lined drive from the road up to the house which follows the same path as that shown on the 1^st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1861-62.

Other surviving estate buildings, including the walled garden, garden walls and garden house (listed at category B, LB21023), are contemporary with the house. An antique column, the Napoleon Pillar was probably erected at Carsebridge sometime in the 1890s or early-20^th century (listed at category B, LB21024). An inscription plate on the pillar describes it as being presented to John Bald Harvey (1831-1917). He was a distiller, joint-tenant and occupant of Carsebridge Distillery and a tenant of Schawpark House (Scottish Post Office Directories). His sons, John Bald Harvey Junior (1865-?) and James Harvey (1867-1957), were a distiller and brewer respectively, and are recorded as living at Carsebridge House in the 1901 census and 1934 electoral register. It is unclear when the pillar was erected at Carsebridge. The stables (excluded from the listing) are a later addition to Carsebridge, but their survival continues to show the historic and functional relationship between it and the house.

The immediate setting of Carsebridge House and its contemporary ancillaries is largely unchanged since that shown on the 1^st Edition map of 1861-62. The later addition of the stables has not adversely affected the overall setting of the estate because the building was added within an existing bounded plot of land. The wider setting of the historic landscape has been altered by the demolition of Carsebridge Distillery and the loss of some trees north of the former distillery site, which has subsequently opened up views to and from the house from Carsebridge Road.

Historic interest:

Age and rarity

The older a building is, and the fewer of its type that survive, the more likely it is to be of special interest. Carsebridge House largely dating to the late-18^th century is a house that was the main residence of a minor country estate. Whilst not rare, it is an early surviving example of a classical style villa which survives largely in its original form externally.

Social historical interest

Social historical interest is the way a building contributes to our understanding of how people lived in the past, and how our social and economic history is shown in a building and/or in its setting.

As a small-scale country house there is no special interest under this heading. However, Carsebridge House was historically associated with Carsebridge Distillery and the house was lived in by several generations of the Bald family who founded the distillery. The house was ideal for use as a distillery manager's house because of its close proximity to the distillery and bonded warehouses along Carsebridge Road (now demolished).

Carsebridge Distillery began producing malt whisky in 1799 but switched to grain whisky production in 1850. By the 1960s it was one of the biggest grain distilleries in Scotland (The Scotch Malt Whisky Society; Scotch Whisky).

Association with people or events of national importance

There is no association with a person or event of national importance.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2023. Previously listed as 'Carsebridge House, Carsebridge Road (excluding stables built in 1911)'.

External Links

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