Description

David King, 1796; altered and extended 1820-1830. 7-bay, 2-storey with upper breaking eaves, irregular-plan Tudor style mansion house linked to 3-storey, 7-bay 1936 dormitory block to right and single storey chapel to left, 1943 by Thomas Cordiner.

HOUSE: advanced gabled entrance bay with stone cross finial and prominent pitched roofed and arcaded timber and glazed porch; wide canted 5-light window with castellated parapet to right; advanced gabled bay further right. Pedimented breaking eaves dormers with fleur-de-lys finials and scroll decoration; tall, Tudor diamond-shafted chimneystacks. Advanced and recessed gables to S (side) and rear elevations with blind windows, pedimented and box dormers. Stugged, squared and snecked yellow sandstone rubble; raised ashlar margins and dressings; base course; banded eaves course. Coped sandstone skews; moulded skewputts

Predominantly 12-pane timber sash and case windows, some plate glass in sash and case windows. Pitched grey slates; lead flashings and ridge mouldings. Irregular ridge and gable end chimneystacks, Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: fine plasterwork cornices and ceiling roses to principle ground floor interiors. Dog-leg stair with cast iron, ornamental balusters and mahogany hand-rail.

CHAPEL: Thomas Smith Cordiner, 1943. 6-bay, single storey, buff brick Roman Catholic chapel on E-W axis accessed via 3 bay, 2 storey brick wing linked to house to W. Central circular apse with conical roof to E; relief sculpture of Saint Joseph by John Mortimer flanking stained glass windows. External door at E end of S wall. Metal casement windows with glazing bars and hoppers; four spoked, circular wheel-window to gabled rear (W) elevation; slated roofs. Barrel vaulted interior; six side chapels; Art Deco pink and black marble altar pieces with mosaic panels; wooden pews.

DORMITORY BLOCK TO N: 8-bay, 3-storey, rectangular-plan hospital ward block and plain Art-Deco style. Prominent entrance and stair tower with long multi-paned window; 1st and 2nd storeys recessed. Coursed red sandstone rubble with ashlar margins; coursed polished red sandstone ashlar at advanced ground floor level. Large, multi-paned metal casement windows. Bonded brick wall to far left adjoining house at ground floor.

ANCILLARY STRUCTURES: 19th century workshop building adjoining house to rear, with walled garden and associated ancillary structures occupying ground to immediate West.

Statement of Interest

A good example of an early 19th century Tudor mansion featuring prominent, multiple diamond shafted, coped chimney stacks. The layout and detailing of the 19th century house is relatively unaltered, since later additions have not compromised any of the original fabric of the house which, although linked, remains separate. Known originally as Barr House, St Joseph's was built by David King in 1796 for James Adam, who sold it in 1820 to William Macdowall, 20th of Garthland and one time Provost of Glasgow. William had completed the sale of ancestral lands of Garthland in Wigtonshire in 1811. He renamed the building Garpel, and then Gathland, extending it northwards (1820-1935). Henry Macdowall, 26th of Garthland, sold the building to the Mill Hill Foreign Missionary Society at which time it became the St Joseph's College for Missionaries (1935-1985), and then St Joseph's Nursing Home (1985-2004). Thomas Cordiner (1902-1965) completed a number of Roman Catholic church commissions in Glasgow later in his career including the Immaculate Heart of Mary, St Margaret Mary's RC Church and Presbytery and St Thomas the Apostle (all listed category B). He was elected FRIBA on 11 January 1949. John Mortimer (1912-1961) collaborated with Cordiner on a similar project at the Convent of the Good Shepard, Bishopton, 1952.

The house was demolished around 2023, only the dormitory block and chapel remain (2024). Listed building record and map information updated 2024.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77778949

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

• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Wiltshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Northamptonshire: Buildings of England Series (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
• 
  Kent: North East and East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)