Bellgrove, High Askomill Walk, Campbeltown

Bellgrove, High Askomill Walk, Campbeltown

A substantial house of circa 1820, comprising a main 2-storey residence over a raised basement with a symmetrical 3-bay front, built to a double pile plan. A single-storey rear wing with attic was added in the later 19th century, flanked by contemporary laundry and stable pavilions. The principal south elevation is finished in smooth cement render, while the sides, rear wing, and pavilions are harled. Windows throughout feature raised margins and projecting cills; those on the rear and side elevations are droved. The windows at first floor level are square.

The south elevation is composed of three bays, with the outer bays slightly advanced and wider than the centre. A band course runs above the basement, and an eaves course with ashlar margins tops the elevation. Access to the basement is gained via a sandstone ashlar staircase with decorative cast-iron railings, which oversails the basement and leads to a semicircular recess at principal floor level. This recess is sheltered behind a distyle screen of Tuscan columns and pilasters, positioned flush with the first floor. The entrance door is centred within this recess and features a decorative rectangular fanlight above. Above the entrance, a frieze and cornice support a blind balustrade that serves as an apron to the first-floor pilaster-flanked window.

The west elevation is 2-bay and symmetrical, containing a single window only at the centre of the first floor. The east elevation has 2 bays to the left of centre, with a blind window at first floor in the outer left bay and a single barred window at basement level. The north (rear) elevation displays 3 bays, though the centre bay is obscured by the rear wing. A lean-to addition with a door to the left and small windows flanks the ground floor of the right bay.

The rear wing comprises a single-storey and attic section, connecting to a 2-storey section and gabled to the south. The single-storey section has a single window in its west wall and a double-height east wall with a bipartite window at upper level. The 2-storey section features a single door at the right of centre on the north wall, which provides access to a terrace, and a pend at ground floor to the south. A single bipartite window appears at first floor on the west elevation, with a 2-bay east elevation at first-floor level.

The main house is roofed with grey slate in an M-profile with piended ends. Timber sash and case windows predominate: those of the principal and side elevations are 4-pane, while original 9-pane windows survive at first floor of the rear and east elevations. The rear wing incorporates a mixture of plate glass, 4-pane, and 16-pane windows. Two panelled ashlar stacks with margins occupy the corners, each capped with an octagonal can at the ridge of the M-roof. The wing features a rendered apex stack at its gable and a brick wallhead stack centring the north elevation. Cast-iron gutters and downpipes serve the entire structure.

The rear wing roof is piended at the north end, partially piended over the single-storey section, and includes a slate-hung, piend-roofed timber dormer window to the west pitch.

The interior preserves most of its original fittings, including marble chimneypieces, 6-panel doors, and a staircase with cast-iron balusters and timber handrail. The porch floor is laid in mosaic.

The laundry wing (to the east) is harled and presents a 3-bay symmetrical south elevation. The ground floor features segmental-arched recesses with wide window openings, and rectangular blind windows sit below the eaves. The centre bay is slightly recessed and contains an entrance door at ground floor. The roof is grey slate with a piended profile, incorporating piend-roofed, slate-hung timber dormers with multi-pane sash and case windows that break the eaves at the bay to the outer left and at the centre of the east and west elevations. A 3-flue harled stack with decorative octagonal cans centres the ridge.

The stable wing (to the west) matches the laundry in most respects, but lacks a dormer to the south front. Garage doors have been inserted at the first and second bays, and a segmental cart arch occupies the bay to the outer right. Vertically-boarded 2-leaf timber doors with wrought-iron hinges close the cart arch. No stack or dormer appears on the south front.

The rear courtyard also contains a 2-storey hen house and corn store connected by a single-storey dog kennel and pigsty. The hen house is built of random rubble and brick, with doors centring both levels of the north elevation and a small window at ground floor to the left; a chamfered corner occurs to the right. The structure is roofed in grey slate and features vertically-boarded timber doors. A roofless random rubble cow shed stands immediately to the west.

The boundary walls are of random rubble. A matching pair of gates to High Askomill features stugged squared and snecked square ashlar gatepiers, corniced and capped with domes, flanked by quadrant walls. Cast and wrought-iron 2-leaf gates complete the composition.