Description

Circa 1855. 2-storey 3-bay simple Gothic former Parsonage. Squared and snecked tooled sandstone. Base course, some hoodmoulds, decorative carving, skewputts. Chamfered openings.

W (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: gabled near-central single bay section with Latin cross at apex. Trefoil arched stop-chamfered entrance with hoodmould with 'king' and 'queen' carved figureheads as label stops, door deeply recessed. Above, slim single light window with hoodmould. To right, gabled single bay section with fleur-de-lis at apex. 4-light canted bay at ground with carved heads of 'kings' and 'queens' at angles,

bipartite pointed arched window with stone mullion and hoodmould above To far left, deeply recessed single bay section with bipartite windows at ground and 1st floor with stone mullions, single bay in re-entrant angle.

S ELEVATION: blank gabled section with dominant advanced stepped chimney, to left single bay with bipartite windows to ground and 1st floor with stone mullions.

To right, recessed single storey 1-bay section with gabled dormer breaking eaves. Slightly lower single bay section to right. To far right, brick piended roof former laundry.

N ELEVATION: to right, blank section with dominant advanced stepped chimney.

To right, 2 recessed single bay gabled sections forming double pile roofline.

Predominantly timber sash and case plate glass windows with horns, excepting E elevation where lying panes dominate. Original cast-iron downpipe with hopper to W elevation with stone carved figurehead carrying shield with Latin cross above.

Graded grey slates, fishscale to canted bay. Impressive timber studded door with decorative iron hinges and lock.

INTERIOR: predominantly plain. Some decorative cornices.

GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALLS: to W, simple square gatepiers with pyramidal caps set into bowed sections of rubble wall with gabled coping. Low rubble coped wall to E, high rubble coped wall to N.

Statement of Interest

Important as a contribution to Cupar's religious history and as part of the beginning of the eastwards expansion of Cupar begun during the prosperity of the mid 19th century.

Built as the parsonage for the St James the Great Episcopal Church in nearby St Catherine Street (see separate list description).

Part of a group of houses constructed on land bought from the County Jail, previously situated to the North.

The feuing plan of 1850 for the strip of land by William Horne ('civil engineer and ordained surveyor') of Cupar shows 9 L-plan houses of which the parsonage is house 'C'. Three principal elevations are shown of 2-storey 3-bay houses, none conforming exactly to the houses actually built.

As yet an architect has not been attributed to the houses and it is possible that Horne followed designs from a patternbook. In the end, 5 houses were built, of which 3 remain. Castlefield and Castlefield Tower (taking up a double feu plot) were demolished in the second half of the 20th century. For the other houses Castlefield House, 3-5 East Road, and Castlebank, Castlebank Road, see separate list descriptions.

The modern bungalow in the grounds to the W, Suilven, is excluded from the listing.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77780936

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

• 
  Essex: Buildings of England Series (Buildings of England) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Devon (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Dorset (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)