Description

Late 18th century. 2-storey, 3-bay, rectangular-plan, gabled former farmhouse (currently unoccupied and in partial state of disrepair 2008). Rubble with red sandstone dressings. Raised cills. Principal elevation to W with doorway to centre; windows flanking. 3 windows to 1st floor abutting eaves. Raised door to S elevation. Five window openings in cross formation to E (rear) elevation. Blind N elevation. Complete to wallhead with corrugated iron roof. All openings to long elevations currently blocked. End stacks no longer in place.

INTERIOR: little interior surviving, evidence of fireplace at 1st floor N gable.

Statement of Interest

This intact shell of an 18th century house is a prominent and striking feature within the Lauder landscape, clearly visible from a number of viewpoints on the A697. Local knowledge and literature suggests the building was a coaching inn during the 19th century. Formerly part of the Thirlestane Castle estate, its solitary survival is a valuable remnant and reminder of the earlier land use in the area with the principal (S) elevation originally overlooking the now disused old coach road from Kelso to Edinburgh. Its tall, thick rubble walls, steeply pitched roof and window openings abutting the eaves level, all point to a late 18th century building date and adopt the form of a traditional farmhouse of the period. The iron roofing covering the remaining timbers has been repaired to inhibit further decay and water ingress. The 1857 Ordnance Survey map shows a walled garden located directly to the SE of the house, of which little evidence now remains.

The old coach road (which also takes in the nearby Drummonds Hall Bridge to the S - see separate listing) was bypassed by the A697 in the early 19th century. In the 18th century, a track continued from the W end of The Row in Lauder to Norton, past Thirlestane Castle. This also became disused in 1810, probably as a result of the establishment of the large tree plantation at Norton.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77781255

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

• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  England's Post-War Listed Buildings
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Central Leinster: Kildare, Laois and Offaly (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings