Old Manse, Kirkton Of Auchterhouse

Old Manse, Kirkton of Auchterhouse

The main house is a 2-storey building with attic, comprising 3 bays in a T-plan form. Built in 1789, it was substantially altered and extended in 1868 with a south wing and entrance porch designed by John Carver. The building is constructed of coursed rubble (redressed in 1991), snecked to the south elevation, with ashlar dressings and a grey slate roof. The windows are 12- and multi-pane sash and case windows, with plate-glass and 4-pane examples to the south. The roof features exposed purlin ends at the deep-eaved gables with plain, narrow bargeboards and ridge stacks.

The south elevation displays a door with triangular fanlight beneath a deep-eaved angled porch at the right re-entrant. A bipartite projecting window adjoins the main elevation to the right, with a single window at first-floor level and a smaller bipartite window to the left above the porch. A quadrant structure at the far right contains a doorway extending to the gable of the steading. The left wing projects forward with a tripartite window at ground floor and bipartite window at first floor.

The east gable has a lean-to shed at ground floor and a small window at attic level. The north elevation features an elongated transomed stair window at the centre, an unsympathetic modern pivot-window at ground floor left, and an original window at first floor. Two small windows are positioned at first-floor right. A lower 2-storey service wing projects to the right, with a lean-to featuring two blocked doors converted to windows and a cat-slide roof at the left return, and a 9-pane window to the attic gable.

The west elevation shows the gable of the original house at the centre with two windows at ground floor, one at first floor, and one at attic level. A stone at ground floor bears the inscription 'ar'. A lower service wing projects to the left with a porch at the right featuring a door, window, and half-piended roof. A modern garage door occupies the far left. The 1868 bay to the far right contains a dormer-headed window breaking through the eaves, with a wall advanced at right abutting the Old Manse. A lintel inscribed 'MDCCLXXXIX' marks the south edge of this wall.

The interior retains some original 18th-century fielded panelling to doors. Two attic bedrooms in the service wing preserve a box bed and ledged doors. The 1868 extension contains a decorative cornice, original shutters, and period joinery.

The Old Manse is a single-storey, rectangular-plan building, probably the original manse, bearing a marriage stone dated 1726. It is constructed of rubble with stone slate roof and ridge tiles. The east elevation has various doors and windows; the north gable has a window with security bars and an arrow-slit ventilator; the west elevation has a window with security bars; the south gable features garage doors and a gable stack. A stone inscribed 'PI AD 1726' marks a lintel on the interior wall. This marriage stone probably relates to Patrick Johnstone, minister from 1702 to 1740, and his wife.

The Steading dates to 1784 with a slightly later addition to the north. It is a single-storey, rectangular-plan structure with rubble construction and ashlar dressings. The roof is laid in purple and grey slate, half-piended to the north with a gabled and stacked southern end featuring coped skew and skewblock. The west elevation has a window and various doors; the east elevation has a door and various small, mostly blocked windows. The interior shows evidence of former habitation at the south and retains some timber hecks and stalls. The steading is probably that referred to as 'offices' in the Old Statistical Account.

Rubble boundary walls enclose the property to the north, south, and east.

The retention of original interior work, particularly the two servants' rooms with box bed, and the significance of the Old Manse—evidenced by its marriage stone and its role as part of a historic manse complex—make this property of considerable historical interest. The group value of these associated buildings justifies the Grade B listing.