Description

Adams Cottage is an early 19th century, 2-storey, 3-bay rectangular plan house on the main road through the village of Marykirk. In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following is excluded from the listing: the single storey outbuilding to the rear (east).

The entrance door, which is to the left of the centre, has a moulded doorpiece with three masonic symbols to the lintel. There is a central nepus gable (wallhead gable with chimneystack). The building is harled with painted margins. The openings to the rear elevation are irregular. The windows are 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case frames. There is a pitched roof with grey slates and straight skews with moulded skewputts. The end and central chimney stacks have been replaced in brick. The central stack has polychromatic brickwork.

The interior, seen in 2015, has been altered. There are some panelled windows shutters and panelled timber doors.

Statement of Interest

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following is excluded from the listing: the single storey outbuilding to the rear (east).

Adams Cottage is as a good survival of a traditionally constructed, early 19th century domestic building, with a distinctly Scottish street frontage because of the nepus gable (a Scots term for a wallhead gable and chimneystack also known as a tympany gable). The classically proportioned street elevation is largely unaltered and the moulded doorpiece and gable are good stonework details that add grandeur and interest to the building and are suggestive of a house of some status. Located in a central position within the village and of the main road this property contributes to the historic architectural streetscape of Marykirk.

The Old Statistical Account of 1791-99 states that the population of the village of Marykirk at this time was 208 and there were 49 dwelling house. It describes the streets as "narrow and irregular". Although it notes that a few houses have been built recently, these houses "do not appear to add to the regularity of the place". Adams Cottage is part of row of similarly dated buildings and the regularity of this row suggests that these buildings were constructed after this account.

The row of buildings which includes Adams cottage is not shown on the Thomson map of 1822, but is shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1863 and would likely have been constructed between these dates. It is also likely based on stylistic evidence that the architecture of Adams cottage, with evenly spaced windows and first floor windows set close to the eaves, dates to around the first half of the 19th century and probably before 1840.

In the 18th and 19th centuries Marykirk was an agricultural parish, with much of the population employed in farming and its associated industries, including saw mills, a flax spinning mill and weaving although the latter was largely confined to the village of Luthermuir. The masonic symbols to the door lintel suggest that Adams Cottage may have been built by or first occupied by a mason.

Category changed from B to C, statutory address and listed building record revised in 2016. Previously listed as 'Adams Building (J Gourlay) Marykirk Village'.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17775534

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)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Somerset: North and Bristol: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire: York and the East Riding (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)