Service Block, Aikenshaw, Shore Road, Rahane

Service Block, Aikenshaw, Shore Road, Rahane

A mid 19th century villa and associated service wing, set in an asymmetrical composition of gabled forms. The main building is a 2-storey structure linked to a rectangular-plan gabled service wing. Construction is of whinstone and sandstone rubble with harl-pointing, featuring ashlar margins and dressings throughout. A harled stair tower with ashlar margins is a prominent feature. The base course is defined by strip quoins, and the eaves are advanced with exposed rafters. The gables display cusped, filigreed bargeboarding.

The south elevation features a 2-bay entrance block advanced to the right, with a circular stair tower positioned in a re-entrant angle to the left. A bargeboarded gabled stone porch is advanced at ground level, with a pointed-arch door surmounted by a large keystone and blank escutcheon. Windows with hoodmoulds are distributed across this elevation. The circular stair tower rises one stage taller than the roof ridges and displays a bipartite window at ground level with 10-pane glazing, a large 8-pane sash and case window at centre with stained border glazing, narrow arrowslit windows, and regularly disposed small quatrefoil lights beneath the eaves. A small sandstone plaque with shell motif in the angles sits above the central window. The tower is finished with an eaves moulding and conical roof.

The east elevation presents matching gables, the righthand one being the broader. A modern plate glass picture window with painted lintel appears at ground level outer right, with console bracket remains visible. A blank shield ornaments the gablehead. An advanced square bay window to the outer left features a cornice with fielded frieze and a hoodmouled window above.

The north elevation shows a bargeboarded gable breaking the eaves over an attic window at centre. A projecting tripartite bay window to the outer right abuts a gabled jamb. Modern French doors sit at centre ground. A broad gable breaks the eaves over a bipartite window, with a stepped tripartite window in the gablehead.

Windows throughout the main block are 4-pane and plate glass timber sash and case types. The roof is of grey slate with lead flashings. Tall grouped diamond yellow brick ridge stacks sit on red sandstone pedestal bases, with a broad ashlar wallhead stack. Square cast-iron rainwater heads and decorative fixtures serve square downpipes. The interior was not seen at the time of survey in 1994.

The service wing is a single-storey and attic rectangular structure attached via a slate-hung bridge connecting at attic level. Construction matches the main block in whinstone with harl-pointing and ashlar margins and dressings, with bargeboarded gables.

The south elevation of the service wing shows a broad gable with a lower gabled block advanced at left of centre. A boarded garage door sits at ground level, with a window above. A blocked door at ground right of the broad gable is flanked by oculi symmetrically disposed to the right and in the gablehead.

The east elevation features a piend-roofed dormer at centre and a broad gable to the outer right with a window in the gablehead.

The north elevation is cement rendered with a gable breaking the eaves at centre and two windows in the gablehead. Raggle lines indicate former lean-tos or outbuildings at ground level. The service wing windows are uPVC 2-pane top-hopper and casement types. The interior was not seen at the time of survey in 1993.

A pend door at the north elevation links the main house and service wing. The square-headed door has chamfered reveals set into a coped wall. Its most distinctive feature is a decorative sculpted overdoor depicting a lion mask with radiating petals, possibly salvaged from an earlier house.