Cornhill House

House. It was probably built in the late 16th or early 17th century, with significant remodelling and extensions in the early and mid-18th century. An early 19th-century nursery wing was added, later extended in the mid-19th century. The exterior is roughcast with painted stone surrounds to doors and windows, and has a Welsh slate roof with brick chimneys. The building has an irregular plan and three or two storeys, varying by section.

The east (garden) front is divided into three sections. At the centre is the gable end of the original building, with one 12-pane sash window on the ground floor and a small square window in the attic; it has a crow-stepped gable. The left section dates from the early 18th century, incorporating older masonry, and has two storeys and three bays with 19th-century 12-pane sash windows. The right section, also from the early 18th century, features irregular openings, including a Victorian canted bay window on the ground floor. Above this are three 12-pane sashes and one 6-pane sash window, all with thick glazing bars. The roofs are very steeply pitched, with raised coping and kneelers. 19th-century chimneys are present.

The right return shows an 18th-century wing projecting to the left. To the right of that is the three-bay south front of the original building, with 12-pane sash windows and thick glazing bars.

The rear facade has the gable end of the original building to the left, featuring a small square attic window and a crow-stepped gable. An early 19th-century nursery wing is to the right, featuring a tripartite doorway to the left of a recessed section with an elaborate iron balcony in front.

Inside the original house, the walls are approximately 3 feet thick. The dining room has mid-18th century panelling and a plaster modillion cornice, along with two doorways featuring pulvinated friezes and cornices. A smaller drawing room has 18th-century panelling and a stone fireplace with an eared architrave. A three-storey staircase rises around an oval well, with a cut string, shaped tread ends, turned balusters with square knops and a moulded, ramped handrail. In the attic, there’s an early 17th-century stone fireplace with geometric patterns in the lintel. A passageway on the first floor has two round arches with heavily moulded archivolts, imposts, and keystones.

Described as "the ancient seat of the Collingwoods" by Mackenzie, the building has a historical connection to that family.