Manse, Kirkton Of Auchterhouse

Manse, Kirkton Of Auchterhouse

This is a 2-storey and attic, 3-bay, T-plan former manse built in 1789, with a south wing and entrance porch added in 1868 by John Carver. The main structure is constructed of coursed rubble (redressed in 1991), snecked to the south elevation, with ashlar dressings and a grey slate roof. Windows are predominantly 12- and multi-pane sash and case, with plate-glass and 4-pane examples to the south; the deep-eaved gables display exposed purlin ends with plain, narrow bargeboards and ridge stacks.

The south elevation features a door with triangular fanlight under a deep-eaved angled porch at the right re-entrant, alongside a bipartite projecting window on the main elevation to the right, a single window at first floor, and a smaller bipartite window to the left over the porch. A quadrant projects at the far right with a doorway extending to the steading gable, while a wing advanced to the left displays a tripartite window at ground floor and bipartite at first floor.

The east gable has a lean-to shed at ground floor and a small attic window. The north elevation contains an elongated transomed stair window at centre, an unsympathetic modern pivot-window at ground floor left, an original window at first floor, and two small windows 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 centre with two ground floor windows, one at first floor and one in the attic; the stone is inscribed 'ar' at ground floor. A lower service wing extends to the left with a projecting porch (featuring a door, window and half-piended roof) and a modern garage door at the far left. The 1868 bay at the far right has a dormer-headed window breaking through the eaves, and an advanced wall abutting the Old Manse bears a lintel inscribed 'MDCCLXXXIX'.

Interior Features

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

Old Manse

The Old Manse is a single-storey rectangular-plan building, probably the predecessor manse, bearing a marriage stone dated 1726. It is rubble-built with stone slates and ridge tiles. The east elevation has various doors and windows; the north gable has a window with security bars; the west elevation displays an arrow-slit ventilator and a barred window; and the south gable has garage doors and a gable stack. An interior wall bears a stone inscribed 'PI AD 1726' over its lintel.

Steading

The steading dates from 1784 with a slightly later addition to the north. It is a single-storey rectangular-plan building of rubble construction with ashlar dressings and a purple and grey slate roof (half-piended at the north with stack, coped skew and skewblock at the south). The west elevation has a window and various doors; the east elevation has a door and various small, mostly blocked windows. The interior shows some sign of habitation to the south, with some timber hecks and stalls surviving.

Setting and Significance

Rubble boundary walls extend to the north, south and east. Although the manse underwent alteration and extension in 1868, it retains substantial original interior work, particularly the two servants' rooms with box bed. The Old Manse probably formed all or part of an earlier manse house, its marriage stone likely relating to Patrick Johnstone, the minister from 1702–40, and his wife; this building is a major factor in the Grade B listing of the entire former manse property. The steading is probably the "offices" referred to in the Old Statistical Account of 1795.