Almondhill Steading, Kirkliston

Almondhill Steading, Kirkliston

A mid-19th-century steading of B-listed grade, built in stugged rubble sandstone with droved margins and raised cills. The complex is organised around a central passage with a rectangular-plan western section containing a granary and large cattle feeding sheds, and quadrangular-plan ranges to the east housing stables and storage around a small cattle court. Roofs are slate and pantile, with some corrugated asbestos and sheet metal; slate eaves easing courses border the cattle courts.

The southeast range comprises a 2-storey, 9-bay main range with a single-storey, 4-bay range of covered cattle courts to the outer left. A pend entrance in the second bay to the left features a segmental arch with droved voussoirs, framed by two tall, narrow arch pedestrian openings. Boarded side doors with plain letterbox fanlights provide access to upper floors and to the stable to the right. A paired window sits above the pend, with flanking windows at ground and first-floor level to left and right. Two boarded sliding doors to the right allow access; the penultimate bay door opens to the stable and has a wooden stair immediately within. The outer right door gives access to the stable, which has a cobbled floor, corner wooden stall, and cast-iron fittings, with a boarded wooden roof. Two small exterior windows sit between the doors. A boarded hoist door at first-floor level stands to the left of centre between the doors; a blinded window sits above the end door. Lower single-storey cattle courts to the west originally had seven feeding doors, now blocked, with droved margins in three sheds to the right.

Within the southeast range, the main entrance to the yard passes through the arched pend. A small door to the left leads into a small room containing a circular brick furnace and square chimney. Single-storey stables to the right retain the original upswept wooden stable trevis and cast-iron columns, with a cobbled floor. A 2-storey grain storage shed at the north end of the stable range connects via a roofed upper-level gangway to the granary spanning the left side. A cast-iron cattle crush is positioned against the east wall of the granary. A long granary store features a wooden conveyor system along the roof connected to the granary proper, now incorporating more modern machinery.

The northeast range includes the end wall of the stables, marked by four decorative segmental-headed, cast-iron, quaterfoil ventilation grids. A 3-bay bothy stands to the right, with a 2-leaf boarded door at the centre fitted with a 4-pane letterbox fanlight and flanking windows of 3-pane fixed glazing. A 6-bay range to the right comprises a boarded door with 4-pane letterbox fanlight, a pend into the cattle court, two centre boarded half-doors with fanlights, an outer boarded door, and an opening to a covered storage area at the rear of the feeding shed at the north end of the court.

The northeast cattle court features a central area with covered feeding sheds on north and south sides, the roof supported on central cast-iron columns. Rubble and lime-washed feeding troughs line the walls, with wooden hay-hecks suspended from the roof. Three half-doors on the east side are partially blocked; two doors on the west side at higher level connect to the stables. All walls are lime-washed.

The north range includes an implement shed to the left and the end wall of the granary store, with a 2-leaf boarded door and window (boarded lower and glazed upper) at ground level and a boarded hoist door at upper level. The end wall of the 2-storey granary and end walls of the cattle court stand to the outer right, with a doorway at the junction between the two blocks and a sliding door at the outer right.

The southwest range comprises the west wall of the cattle feeding sheds, with five boarded sliding doors concentrated to the right of the elevation.

The west cattle court contains very large cattle wintering sheds, originally covered but now unroofed in parts. The roof is supported by cast-iron columns and is divided into six main feeding areas by a central gangway and side access. Doors in the east wall lead into the grain store; boarded sliding doors in the west wall open to the exterior. Rubble, lime-washed feeding troughs run the length of the building, with suspended wooden hay-hecks overhead.

Some alterations date to the mid-19th century.