Description

Glen Estate masons and joiners, circa 1854 for Sir Charles Tennant. Single storey, 7-bay, rectangular-plan plain vernacular estate hall (formerly part of farm steading range). Coursed and random whinstone rubble with broached sandstone ashlar quoins. Skew gabled with plain putts.

SE (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: regularly fenestrated 7-bay elevation: altered central bay with timber boarded door (upper with 4-pane glazed section) and flanked by vertically placed 2-pane lights; 3 windows with ashlar dressings to left and right of door; to far right of elevation, large stone to protect lower angle from carts and later vehicles.

SW AND NE ELEVATIONS: blind rubble gable ends rising into squared ashlar stacks with projecting neck copes and single cans.

NW (REAR) ELEVATION: single storey blind wallhead to left; to right, much higher gable (denoting where now truncated arm of steading adjoined) with remnants of previous internal finish (harl and whitewash).

Pitched slate roof with lead ridging and flashing; piended slate roof to rear denoting join of former range with later catslide roofed ventilator to right. Plain stone skews with plain shaped putts. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods to principal elevation; overshot flashing in lieu of gutters to rear gable. Pair of squared sandstone ashlar gablehead stacks with projecting course leading to neck cope, each with single can.

INTERIOR: formerly stores or farm bothies, currently in use as renovated community hall.

Statement of Interest

Part of an A-Group with all other Glen estate buildings. Sited near the centre of the estate and built into a sloped site. The Glen estate can be traced as far back as 1296 when Sarra of the Glen swore allegiance to King Edward I of England. The estate remained in the family's hand until around 1512, when the grounds became fragmented and parts were sold to neighbouring landowners and families. By the 1700's, there were 2 main parts of the estate, Easter and Wester Glen. Easter Glen was sold to Alexander Allan (an Edinburgh banker) in 1796 for #10,500. At this point, the house was a fairly small plain farmhouse. His son, William Allan (Lord Provost of Edinburgh) was responsible for enlarging and extending the house, the architect being his friend William Playfair (see The Temple, listed separately); even after improvement it was still not regarded as being fit for a landowner's principal residence. The 3,500-acre estate was bought in 1852/3 by Sir Charles Tennant, owner of the chemical works of St. Rollox, Glasgow, for #33,140. The house was by then outdated and not suited to modern family life; he commissioned David Bryce to design a baronial style house, to which a tower (also by Bryce) was added in 1874. Tennant continually improved the estate landscape (1860-1890) and was responsible for the building of a school, farm, worker's and estate cottages, walled kitchen garden and kennels making The Glen virtually self-sufficient. In 1897, there were approximately 105 estate workers doing a range of jobs; including maids, cooks and servants within the house and gardeners, foresters, shepherds, carters, cattlemen and gamekeepers on the estate. The estate had its own masons and joiners, as well as its own whinstone quarries. The farm steading (of which this building was originally a part) is sited at the core of the estate in the part that resembles a village. This building was originally the road facing arm of a U-plan range, which extended W then N. The entrance to the inner court has always been to the N of the building's right gable (note the boulder to protect the angle). It has been partly demolished to rear and replaced by a large modern covered cattle court. The exposed rear of the gable shows whitewashed harl, which would suggest the rear building had been used for animals or their produce. This now rectangular building may have been store rooms or sheds, as the original entrance has been altered. The Glen has always had a hall. It is believed the original venue was an old barn used to hold dances and ceilidhs as documentation notes a "famously well-sprung floor for reeling, caved in, leaving a 30ft gap". The floor was never repaired, so it is likely this part of the steading was converted to form an alternative venue. The long flat nature of this hall also would lend itself well to carpet bowls matches, and The Glen did have its own team. The estate functioned like a community until the 1920s. The Tennants lost money during the Wall Street Crash and this had a knock on effect, as estate workers lost their job and tied housing. The numbers on the estate swelled again during World War II, when 48 landgirls came (4 married Glen men and never left). Listed as a good example of one of a pair of farm steading buildings within an intact later 19th century estate (other estate buildings are listed separately).

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77779308

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.

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