Description

Circa 1820-23. 2-storey, 3-bay traditional L-plan cottage. (Now 2 properties.) White painted harl. Situated in SE corner of main square in Ballater Village. Asymmetrical E (Square) elevation with single storey 20th century addition to left. Off-centre timber entrance door, upper glazed panel.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: S elevation, to left gable of Gordon Cottage. To right, 2-bay, 2-storey section with entrance door. White painted harled wall with round arch opening and ironwork gate to far right.

Predominantly plate glass timber sash and case windows. Gable stacks. Grey graded slate.

INTERIOR: extensively modernised.

ANCILLARY BUILDINGS: 2 single storey outbuildings to W (rear). White painted harl.

One to far W; central timber door with 9-panel glazing to upper half. 2, 12-pane fixed timber windows.

Other: corrugated iron roof, wallhead stack.

BOUNDARY WALLS: random rubble with rubble coping to N and E.

Statement of Interest

Providing a good example of a traditional harled cottage, Gordon Cottage forms an L-plan unit which provides essential symmetry and balance to 2 and 4 Church Square (see separate listing) at the opposing diagonal corner of this central open square. Ballater was a planned town and these buildings help to define and understand the grid of the original design. They are therefore a vital element to the streetscape. Ballater was instigated by the local laird, Francis Farquharson of Monaltrie at the end of the nineteenth century to provide accommodation for the increasing numbers of tourists to the nearby Pannanich Wells. The town was planned on a grid system and early maps show Church Square as the principal square, with other streets forming a grid pattern around it. The buildings around the square are an important aspect to the town, both visually and historically and both this, and 2 and 4 Church Square, are shown on the 1866 map as the corner points which provide coherence for the whole.

The feu charter dated 1820 gives the feu of this plot of land to Donald Cumming on condition that he build a dwelling house within the next three years. This house should be 'in a straight line with the other houses in the street', and that no 'outstairs, outshots or buildings' should encroach on the line of the street.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56626407

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

• 
  For the Record
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Development and Design of Heritage Sensitive Sites: Strategies for Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)