Torrance House, East Kilbride, East Kilbride, South Lanarkshire

Description

1605 L-plan 5-stage Tower House; William Adam, late 18th century 4-bay, 2-storey wing to left with 1879 alterations; William Adam, 1740 stable court attached to SW; 1879 single storey entrance porch in re-entrant angle; 1879 Scots Baronial additions in centre; modern garage to NE. Rubble sandstone tower-house; dressed stone to wing.

17th CENTURY TOWER HOUSE

NW (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: projecting blind gable end to right; angled buttress at right; single window at upper floor of left return; irregular fenestration to left bay of right return; attic window with gable dormer and thistle finial; crowstepped gable end at right of return; adjoining later additions. Recessed tower to left; single windows at 3rd, 4th and 5th stages; 3 slit windows to right at upper floors; crenellated parapet. 2-storey Scots Baronial entrance porch in re-entrant angle; round arched doorway; mock-machicolations; crowstepped gable with window; bartizans; 2 windows to returns of bartizans.

NE ELEVATION: single windows to 1st 4 stages of tower to right; gable-end to left; modern garage extension at ground; single windows at 2 stages above.

SE (REAR) ELEVATION: 3-storey and attic, 3-bay elevation; single windows in outer bays at 1st and 3rd floor; 3 single windows at 2nd floor; 2 attic windows with gable dormers with thistle finials; coats-of-arms carved on gablehead. 1879 2-storey and attic addition to left.

1879 ADDITIONS TO TOWER HOUSE

NW (PRINCIPLE) ELEVATION: single storey crenellated entrance attached to ground floor of tower house with central 4-centred arch; shouldered arched doorway; 4-centred arched hoodmould above. 2-storey, 2-bay gable-end behind, adjoining centre bay of tower house; single window in left bay with stone mullions; single window at 2nd floor on right return. 2-storey and attic, 3 bay range attached behind, adjoining end bay of tower house: 2-storey tourelle to right with 3 slit windows at upper stage and one at lower stage; lancet window in attic to right.

SE (REAR) ELEVATION: 2-storey and attic, 3-bay range adjoining tower house at right and stable court at left; door in right bay at ground floor; single windows in centre and left bay; 3 single windows at 1st floor; 2 attic windows with stone mullions and crowstepped gable dormers in outer bays; stylised floral motif carved in gablehead; gabled left return; machicolations at attic floor; 3 slit windows in gablehead.

18th CENTURY WING

NE (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 2-storey, 4-bay 18th century wing to right; base course; single windows in 3-bays from left at ground; 2 attic windows with stone mullions and crowstepped gable dormers; stepped hoodmoulds with carving beneath; blind slit window in gableheads; tourelles with slit windows; parapet of stair tower seen to left, incorporated into 1879 addition. Single storey and attic, 3-bay 1879 range to right; deep base course; narrow door in right bay; single windows with stone mullions in centre and left bays; crenellated parapet with central dormer attic window with crowstepped gable; 2 lancet windows with stone mullions in gablehead; bartizan at left; gabled left return.

NW ELEVATION (18th Century Wing): 2 single windows at ground; central bipartite window with stone mullions above; string course.

SW (STABLE COURT) ELEVATION: 4 single windows at ground floor of 18th century wing; 2 attic windows with stone mullions and crowstepped gables above; hoodmoulds; blind slit windows in gablehead; tourelles. 1879 range to right; central door with window above; large arch with door and windows to right; 2 windows to left; bipartite to upper stage of stair tower; modern extension to right.

Modern glazing. Slate roofs; crowstepped skews to all gables; central stack to wing.

STABLECOURT: William Adam, 1740. L-plan courtyard

SE RANGE: attached to 1879 house; 3 round arched openings with keystones in 3 bays from left; 2 flat arched openings (now glazed) to right; door, pair of windows, window and door, 2 pairs of windows and single window on rear from left.

SW RANGE: single window, arched door, 2 single windows, arched door, window, arched door from left all with timber shutters; bipartite window on right return with raised cill; pairs of windows on rear with raised cills.

NW WALL: later addition; castellated wall with Stuarts of Castlemilk Coat-of-Arms on SE elevation at centre.

Statement of Interest

A-Group with Calderglen Country Park Ranger's Office, Calderglen Country Park Bridge, Calderglen Country Park Lodge, Sir John Falstaff and Calderglen Country Park Gatepiers. Roger Hamilton built Torrance House in 1605, on the site of Torrance Castle. In 1650, James Hamilton of Shields inherited the estate and sold the house and accompanying lands to James Stuart of Castlemilk. It was during the Stuarts' occupancy that the house metamorphosed from the original L-plan tower house into a sprawling mansion house. Sadly, the west pavilion and link were destroyed by fire in 1966, resulting in the present lop-sided plan of the house. In 1740, William Adam drew up plans for alterations and additions to the mansion house, which are included in VITRUVIUS SCOTICUS, plates 139 and 140. These designs were unexecuted. Alterations were made to the house in the late 18th century and seem to follow Adam's designs. Drawings in the National Library of Scotland closely resemble the alterations that were made at Torrance House during the 18th century and an engraving survives showing the house at the end of the century. In 1879 Colonel Harrington Stuart remodelled the 18th century additions in the Scots Baronial style. Colonel Harrington Stuart also erected an entrance porch and colonnades to the house, as well as building a gate lodge and baronialising the approach road. Between 1948 and 1966 the house became the office of the East Kilbride Development Corporation. The property remained empty during the 1970s and fell into disrepair. In 1979, East Kilbride District Council saved the house, restoring and converting it into two private dwelling houses. The estate remained in the ownership of the council and was opened to the public as a country park. The tower house and 19th additions are in private ownership. The 18th wing and stable court are part of the Calderglen Country Park.

External Links

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