Walled Garden And Outbuildings, St Catherine's House, Howdenhall Road, Edinburgh

Early walled garden to E of St Catherine's house, with range of outbuildings against NW brick lined garden wall. Outbuildings incorporate at centre an 18th century lecturn dovecote, linked by later (?earlier 19th century) outbuildings to laundry to right and horse mill and gardener's cottage to left.

LAUNDRY: built probably circa 1835 at time of second scheme of extensions to house, perhaps as coach house, subsequently altered as laundry building; rectangular-plan; rubble-built with rusticated ashlar quoins (long and short); handsome classical SW and NW elevations, blind/blocked 3-centred arched opening at front (NW) and arcade to SW (3 arches, 2 with recessed margins). Slated piended roof with louvered gabletted ridge vent at centre flanked by pair axial steel vents. NE re-entrant elevation altered.

INTERIOR: subivided, with timber-panelled ceiling introduced at time of change to use as laundry.

DOVECOTE: lectern tupe; re-roofed; brick-blocked flight holes at centre in NW wall above rarcourse (on interior substantial stone brackets at flight holes, with 4 tiers of nesting boxes either side). Plain earlier 19th century rubble built lean-to LINKING RANGES: with alterations to ope nings. Octagonal HORSE MILL: red tiled roof; weather vane, mill machinery lost (horse mill drive shaft originally powered saw in building to NE). Gardener's cottage at end of range.

WALLED GARDEN: probably 17th century in origin (see note), altered and heightened in early 19th century: distinctive round/circular turret surviving at NW angle probably answered NE angle (where now only concave wall section remains) in original 17th century walled garden. Finials at NE and openings in SE wall introduced aerly 19th century.