Description

Probably earlier to mid 19th century. Interesting and unusual group of single storey cottages. S range with pointed arch windows and decorative astragals, single storey and attic former schoolhouse to E and plainer range to W forming U-plan around communal courtyard garden. Squared red sandstone rubble with some Aberdeen bond to Nos 1 and 6. Ashlar and squared rubble quoins, some droved. Voussoirs.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION:

NO 1: 6-bay former schoolmaster's house to E (probably converted from 2 cottages) with courtyard elevation comprising panelled timber door in bay to left of centre, 2 windows to left and 3 to right, 2 slate-hung canted dormer windows over outer bays and small modern rooflight to centre.

NOS 3, 4 AND 5: piend-roofed S range with asymmetrical pointed arch openings; doors to courtyard elevation all boarded timber with decoratively-astragalled fanlights; some window openings blocked.

NO 6: long, slightly lower range to W with square-headed openings; 3-bay courtyard elevation with door to left and windows to right.

Multi-pane glazing patterns in timber sash and case windows. Grey slates and traditional small cast iron rooflights. Coped brick and harl stacks with cans; ashlar-coped skews with square skewputts. Cast iron downpipes.

Statement of Interest

The cottages at Old Mains are an interesting survival of rural vernacular and designed estate dwellings sited at the eastern edge of Fasque Estate policies. The different styles and stone colouring suggest different build dates but all appear on the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map, and the group forms an integral and important part of the estate. The pointed arch windows with decorative astragals are a particularly notable feature of the group. The former school which was commissioned by Thomas Gladstone after he inherited the estate in 1851 is sited across the drive to the north of the courtyard garden. It is likely, however, that the cottages pre-date the building of the school and that the schoolmaster's house, which forms part of this group, was converted from two cottages.

Fasque House was built in 1809 for Sir Alexander Ramsay of Balmain to replace an 18th century building. It was purchased about 1828 by John Gladstone who was created a baronet in 1846. A wealthy Liverpool grain merchant and MP, Sir John was the father of William Ewart Gladstone, 1809-1898, Britain's longest-serving prime minister. By 1881 land from 'Fettercairn village to within less than miles of Banchory on Deeside' was Fasque property (Groome).

Also listed on the Fasque Estate are Fasque House, Stable Block, Apple House and Walled Garden, South Lodge and Gates, Octagon, Home Farm Bothy, Mains of Fasque House and Bogendollo.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q77781479

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

• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  London 1: The City of London: City of London v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Period Property Manual (New Ed)