Description

A Hunter Crawford, dated 1908. 2-storey and attic L-plan large Arts and Crafts house now sympathetically subdivided to form 2 dwellings. Harled with moulded ashlar door and window margins. Bipartite and tripartite stone mullioned windows. Bow windows. Large stacks. Multi-gabled with mosaic detail at gable apexes.

W (GARDEN) ELEVATION: 6-bay. Large, wide slightly advanced stack rises from ground and separates bays 5 and 6. To left, advanced 2-storey and attic gable with 5-light canted bow window to ground and 1st floors. Single bay in re-entrant angle. Near-central entrance with side lights and semicircular-shaped cornice above. Timber door, upper part leaded pane glazing.

E ELEVATION: to left, 2-storey wing with contemporary timber conservatory with apsidal end to outer left. To right, 2-storey and attic wing set at right angles with M-pile gable. Flat-roofed single storey entrance in re-entrant angle.

S ELEVATION: cast-iron rainwater head dated 1908.

Predominantly 15-pane leaded pane casement windows. Red tiles. Large stack to W elevation with tall polygonal corniced cans. Large stack to N elevation. Further ridge stacks. Good cast-iron rainwater goods, some downpipes with decorative hoppers.

INTERIOR: excellent, largely intact. Long timber panelled drawing room with timber beamed ceiling. Wide timber floorboards. Large timber ingleneuk with carved motto, 'ANE'S AIN HEARTH IS GOWD'S WORTH'. Very good quality joinerywork, 12-panel timber doors. Former dining room now converted to kitchen. Many surviving fireplaces and chimneypieces. On 1st floor, 2 timber panelled bathrooms with original baths and predominantly original fittings.

ANCILLARY STRUCTURES: to N, combined glasshouse and potting shed. Timber glasshouse to W, harled potting shed to E with asymmetrical gable and pantiles. To S, later garage. Harled with red tile roof, swept low to E. Entrance to S.

GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALLS: gatepiers to SE, pair of massive circular coursed rubble piers with rounded caps. Cast-iron gates. Pair of gatepiers to SW similar but more slender. Boundary wall to S and E, high rubble wall with long and short rubble coping. Wall recently breached to SW to form entrance to new house (2004).

Statement of Interest

An excellent example of Arts and Crafts architecture. Multi-gabled, harled with leaded casement windows and tall chimneystacks, it displays many characteristics associated with the style. However, they are perhaps best displayed in the long wood panelled drawing with its timber ingleneuk and quaint motto. A good illustration of the work of Hunter Crawford. The house was sympathetically divided into two properties in 1976.

Situated on an elevated site, known as Tidings Hill, it takes it unusual name from the whale oil industry. The hill proved to be a good spot to look out over the Forth and to be the first to discover when the whaling ships were near to returning to Bo'ness and to spread the tidings. The steeply sloping large garden to the NW was carved out during its former use as a quarry.

Built for the local Denholm Shipping family. George Denholm, the renowned Battle of Britain pilot, was born in and occupied the house. The house was requisitioned for the use of WRENS during the Second World War.

The Dean of Guild plans dated March 1908 show that a 'photo room' was planned for the attic floor.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17810499

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

• 
  Farrow & Ball How to Decorate: Transform your home with paint & paper
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings