Description

John Kinross, dated 1895. Single storey and attic Scottish sevententh century cottage with service court and dovecot. Rake jointed sandstone with ashlar dressings; roll-moulded surrounds to doors and windows; attic floor partly jettied on corbel course; roll-moulded eaves course.

SE ELEVATION: 3-bay. Tall, lop-sided gable slightly advanced to right with corner to left chamfered at ground with small window, corbelled above with blank panel, swept to square at attic; attic window in gablehead with moulded cill and cornice and slender pilasters flanking, urn finialled (after example at JohnKnox?s hosue, Edinburgh) with wreath at centre flanked by initials ?IM? and EC? (James Miller and Eveline Mary Curzon). Door to recessed centre in railed surround with cornice and open pedimented, scroll-flanked armorial panel above (after that at Redhouse Castle, East Lothian), bearing Miller crest with ?Omne Bonum Superne? and date, 1895, (after armorial at Craighouse, Edinburgh), baluster-finial flanked; boarded door with fretted cast-and wrought-iron knocker, dated 1895, with hunting dog; window under corbel course in bay to left.

NE ELEVATION: broad bay to left with window off-centre right at ground and attic window above breaking eaves iwth gabled dormerhead, carved with rose above date panel, 1895; small window in re-entrant angle on return to right with weasel(?)-carved label-stop to hoodmould above. Lower narrow bay recessed to right with small window and wallhead corbelled. Screen wall enclosing service court to outer right with wide, roll-moulded gateway with strapwork cartouche to lintel, gablet cope wallhead. Dovecot to outer right.

SW ELEVATION: gabled bay, blank at ground, with rounded corner, corbelled to square above; large attic window in corbelled panel with sawtooth coping (after type at Council House, Leith). Recessed single storey bay to left with window and gablet coped screen wall to outer left.

NW ELEVATION: rear of taller block with small attic window at centre, large ground floor window to right; projecting, gabled single storey block to left with door at ground, flanked by small window, and small window in gablehead in ogee-panel with blind shield above lintel.

DOVECOT: small, rectangular-plan gabled dovecot at NW end of service court, adjoined to cottage by screen walls of service court. Rounded corner to E and N, corbelled to square under battered alighting course which encircles dovecot; oval panels in gableheads with flight-holes and ledges, that to SW over narrow window, over-stepped by alighting course; small window at centre to NW; 3 doors to SE elevation, that to centre deep-set, leading to dovecot, flanking doors to store cupboards.

Small-pane glazing pattern to timber sash and case windows, larger windows with larger upper sash; lead-pane glazing to hoodmoulded window. Grey slates. Crowstepped skews with beak skewputts. Ashlar ridges each with carved ashlar floreate finial(s). Gablehead stack to rear and to ridge of taller block, both ashlar with billet-moulding to battered ashlar coping. Decorative lead rainwater hoppers.

INTERIOR: fine original decorative details. Ashlar screen wall to stair with rounded angles and corbel above; short wrought-iron balustrade; roll-moulded edges to timber stair treads. Billetted mantlepieces to roll-moulded fire surrounds with cast-iron grates, 1 rose-studded, 1 with embossed lattice pattern. Corbelled mantlepiece to timber roll-moulded surround (later grate and cheeks). Billeted-cornice to large attic window. Fine panelled, built-in linen cupboards, seventeenth century, with carved moulding in flutes of pilasters framing upper stage and fleuron studs to each panel, upper panels round-headed, fluted frieze and cornice. Recessed, painted timber wall cupboard with fluted pilasters, scroll-flanked and flower-studded, fluted frieze and cornice. Wrought-iron door handles of fleuron and drop-heart handle.

GATEPIER: remaining railed gatepier in wrought-iron with stylised finial, probably by Thomas Hadden. Timber fence replacing railing.

Statement of Interest

The academic nature of Kinross?s design process can be seen clearly here in comparing the details cited at Redhouse, Craighouse, John Knox?s House and the Council House. Details of the interior, are similar to those in Kinross?s Croft Street Manse, Penicuik. The Kennels to E, are listed separately.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17571564

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

• 
  Old House Care and Repair
• 
  Derbyshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)