Estate School And School Master's House, The Glen, Traquair, Scottish Borders

Description

Circa 1869 for Sir Charles Tennant (constructed and designed by estate joiners and masons). 2-storey, multi-bayed, picturesque-style schoolmaster's house with attached single storey former schoolroom now forming asymmetric dwelling house with single storey extension in re-entrant angle. Locally quarried whinstone with tabbed ashlar quoins and dressings.

SE (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: stone steps leading to advanced gabled timber porch with heavy uprights to front, in-filled braced gablehead with king-post finial and exposed rafters to sides (formerly with timber balustraded in-fill to lower half); timber boarded door with ornate wrought-iron hinges and similarly styled hoop door handle on ornate backing; to left, 1 ?-storey gabled end with tripartite window to ground floor and slightly smaller tripartite window to ?-storey; timber purlins and plain boarding to gablehead. To right of entrance, paired tripartite windows denoting former school room with pair of pitched and gabled roof ventilators to attic with timber louvres to front (see NOTES).

SW ELEVATION: to left, 1?-storey gabled end with door to ground floor right and window (with modern glazing) to left, gablehead window to attic, exposed purlins; single storey wallhead to right with sliding tripartite window to centre of ground floor with much later, flat-roofed, slated box dormer (with modern 3-part glazing) to roof.

NE ELEVATION: set-back gabled end of former schoolroom to left now concealed by single storey, later flat-roofed extension; to right, further original gabled end, both gables with exposed timber purlins.

Unusual 3-part, sliding timber casement windows (to main elevation of school house), each with 3 vertically placed panes; some 4-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows to side and rear elevation; later modern glazing plan to lesser windows; tripartite timber windows with opening top hoppers to former school room. Pitched slate roof with lead ridging; exposed timber purlins and rafters; heavy timber king-post finials. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods. Gablehead and roofline ashlar stacks with projecting neck copes and plain cans (some now missing).

INTERIOR: schoolroom converted and in use as residential accommodation with the rest of the property.

Statement of Interest

Part of an A-Group with all other Glen Estate buildings. 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 the school, farm, workers' and estate cottages, walled kitchen garden and kennels making the Glen virtually self-sufficient. The children of workers on the estate used the Glen schoolroom, whilst the schoolmaster resided in comfortable adjoining accommodation. The schoolroom was SE facing which ensured it admitted plenty of light into it from early morning. It was also well ventilated (note the dormer roof-vents) for the health and well being of the estate children; it also had an open fire in the NE gable end of the schoolroom to heat it in winter. At its peak, the school provided education for 38 children. Its average attendance was usually 20 children of varying age. It received a grant of #35 from the education board and was one of 3 public schools within Traquair Parish (the others being at Traquair Village and Kirkburn). The majority of the windows of the former schoolmaster's house still contain the original sliding casement windows; originally these were painted a dark colour, as was the timber work (of the porch and at the gableheads). The building is one of the earlier estate buildings and follows a distinct style employed throughout the estate. There was a plentiful amount of whinstone on site in the nearby quarry and it is believed the estate masons followed a plan that was adapted to fit the needs of a specific building (for example most estate cottages follow the same general plan but are enlarged or minimised depending on how many they were to house). Listed as a good example of an estate building and for its importance as the former school of an intact later 19th century estate (other estate buildings are listed separately).

External Links

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