Description

Dating from the mid to later 19^th century, Compton House is a two-storey, three-bay, rectangular-plan former manse. It is constructed in dressed, squared and snecked rubble with long and short ashlar quoins. It has an eaves course, Tudor-style hoodmoulds and stone mullions and chamfered reveals.

The west (entrance) elevation has a central, panelled timber door with a plate glass fanlight below a stone canopy with block brackets and a window at the first floor. There is a slightly advanced, finialled gabled bay to the right with a full height canted bay window surmounted by a raked blocking course. There is a hoodmoulded, bipartite window to the left of centre at ground floor level and a window at first floor level with a finialled and pedimented dormer gablet breaking the roof eaves.

The south elevation has a window to the right at ground floor level (bay to left not visible). First floor has a shouldered chimneystack breaking the roof eaves, off centre to the left and flanked by windows with finialled, curvilinear dormerheads breaking the roof eaves.

The east elevation has a single-storey, pitch-roofed extension to the left and a window to the right at ground floor level, stair window at the centre with border glazing and a window to the right at first floor level. Blank gable to left and three traditional rooflights. The north elevation has a blank face with a small lean-to extension to the left.

Four-pane glazing pattern in timber sash and case frames to east, uPVC glazing to west. Stair window with coloured margin. Coped ashlar chimneystacks with some polygonal cans, ashlar coped skews, moulded skewputts and finials.

The property is enclosed by high, semi-circular, coped rubble boundary walls. There is an entrance opening in the west wall from Coaltown Road.

Statement of Interest

The scale and architectural details of the building indicate it was a house of some status in the parish, such as a manse. Manses were often large to accommodate the family and staff of the minister. Compton House retains its late-19^th century footprint and appears to have been little altered externally since its construction. The plan form is typical for its building type with large reception rooms arranged around a central hallway and stair on the ground floor.

The immediate setting of Compton House has not changed significantly from that shown on the 2^nd Edition map of 1893. The former manse sits within its own enclosed garden ground and in a raised position overlooking Coaltown Road. Manses are not rare building types as every parish was required to provide a house for its minister, however they are an integral part of Scotland's ecclesiastical built heritage. Compton House survives as a well-detailed and largely unaltered late-19^th century former manse.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2022. Previously listed as 'Coaltown Road, Former United Presbyterian Manse with Boundary Walls'.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56647946

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

• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of History Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
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  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Georgian Style and Design for Contemporary Living
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  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)