Description

Probably James Thomson, late 19th century. 2-storey 3-bay Arts and Crafts former schoolhouse with good interior. Squared and snecked sandstone. Gables with half-timbering, canted bays. Stone mullions to windows.

N (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: symmetrical, central single bay gable with 2-leaf timber door with simple rectangular glazed fanlight above. Above, bipartite window. At outer bays, larger gables with 6-light canted bays at ground, tripartite windows above. At ground, continuous monopitch porch supported by decorative posts at entrance.

Timber sash and case windows with horns, 4-pane over plate glass. Grey slates. Cast-iron rainwater goods. Gable stacks to W and E, wallhead stack to S.

INTERIOR: good. Inner timber entrance door with glazed upper half with central stained glass panel, glazed sidelights and fanlight. High dado height timber panelled hall with timber staircase. Timber panelled dado to sitting room with glazed tiled fireplace with timber chimneypiece and overmantle. Further glazed fireplaces and timber chimneypieces. Predominantly 6-panel timber doors.

GATEPIERS AND BOUNDARY WALLS: to N, low rubble wall with gabled coping with pair of squat round gatepiers with rounded caps.

Statement of Interest

Probably by local architect James Thomson, this house contains many of the characteristic features of his work, including half-timbered gables and Arts and Crafts influences. It appears on the 2nd edition Ordnance Survey map and was probably constructed in the 1890s, some time before Grange School was built in 1906 (see separate listing). It seems likely that the house was bought separately later for the headteacher. It has a large garden and is situated some distance downhill from the school itself. Jacques lists the date of the house as 1906, but this is disproved by map evidence.

The quality of the interior elevates the interest of the property beyond its more moderate exterior. Providing further interest is the near-intact nature of the exterior and interior of the property. A good example of Arts and Crafts architecture and part of Bo'ness' social history.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77778953

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

• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Nottinghamshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  [(Cumberland and Westmorland)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1967)
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)