Description

Possibly Lewis Wyatt; early 19th century and later work. Single and 2-storey, rectangular-plan, castellated home farm around central courtyard. SE front with octagonal tower, round-headed portcullis/drawbridge-type carriage entrance and rectangular outer towers. Sandstone rubble, some squared with ashlar dressings. Dividing and band courses. Segmental-headed cart arch; round-headed windows with voussoirs; Diocletian windows; stone mullions.

SE (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 11-bays (grouped 1-3-3-3-1). Carriage entrance to centre with Diocletian window below broken (folly-style?) wallhead, 3-stage crenellated tower to left with arrowslits to 1st and 3rd stages, and cross-loop to 2nd, corbelled crenellated parapet above; bay to right with 1st stage of tower as above, but giving way to pantiled catslide roof. 3 single storey bays to left of centre, each with small round-headed window and crenellated parapet. Slightly advanced, 2-stage, rectangular-plan crenellated tower to outer left with outer pilasters (each with arrowslit to 1st stage and cross-loop to 2nd) flanking window at 1st stage and Diocletian window above framed in full-height segmental panel. 3 small round-headed windows to right of centre with 2 catslide-roofed dormer windows breaking eaves above; further tower-like bay to outer right detailed as that to outer left but crowstepped with pantiled pitch-roof.

NE ELEVATION: variety of elements to crenellated elevation advancing in steps to right of keystoned segmental arch below carved heraldic stone with virgin and unicorn (with 2 horns) flanking shield; crowstepped gable to outer left. Broad ashlar gatepiers to outer

right, each with broken apex pediments and stone heraldic lion finials.

SW ELEVATION: 5-bay elevation with crenellated tower to outer right, asymmetrical fenestration in bays to left below 4 regularly disposed windows breaking eaves into stone dormerheads. Gatepiers to outer left as above but with heraldic swan finials.

COURTYARD ELEVATIONS:

NW ELEVATION: segmental-headed cart arch to centre with 2 blocked windows in bays to right, taller bays to left with door and flanking windows to ground, and 3 catslide-roofed dormer windows breaking eaves above.

SW ELEVATION: low segmental arch to outer right with window to left and 2 large garage doors (altered) to centre, 2 further garage doors (altered) to left.

NE ELEVATION: door with flanking windows to right of centre, asymmetrical openings to left and 6 regularly disposed bipartite piended dormer windows above.

SE (STABLE) ELEVATION: rectangular-plan range isolated from U-plan courtyard, with round-headed arch to centre and broad sliding timber doors in flanking bays, blank outer bays.

12-pane glazing pattern in timber sash and case windows. Pantiles to SE range, grey slates elsewhere. Coped ashlar stacks with cans. Ashlar skews.

STABLES INTERIOR: (not seen 1998). glazed tile-lined walls, herringbone-tiled floor and fine timber looseboxes with ball finials.

Statement of Interest

Group with Wemyss Castle. Property of Wemyss Estate Trustees. Lewis Wyatt prepared drawings for William Wemyss, of a 'Gothic gate', and exhibited these at the 1808 RA Exhibition. Earlier, in 1800, he had published a pattern book of model estate buildings entitled "A Collection of Architectural Designs Rural and Ornamental". This leads to the reasonable assumption that he was involved with 'the Courtyard' design. The RCAHMS Inventory Ref 543 refers to an 'armorial panel from Macduff's Castle' above the 'western archway of the stable buildings' but this was not seen 1998.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17810362

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

• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Listed Buildings: The Law and Practice of Historic Buildings, Ancient Monuments and Conservation Areas
• 
  [(Shropshire)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1958)
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)