Wickham Place, Barholm Mains, Creetown (Former Stables)

This early 19th century stable block, originally arranged in a U-shape facing a now-demolished steading range, has been converted into dwellings and is partially demolished. The vaulted building is detached to the north and built into a bank.

The stables feature a symmetrical 7-bay front, with the end and centre bays projecting slightly and rising two stories, while the rest are single-story with an attic containing gablet attic dormerheads. The walls are constructed of rubble with long and short granite quoins, and windows have monolithic granite jambs. Large, depressed-arch openings are found in the end and centre bays. All windows are single-light sash windows with 12-pane or 9-pane glazing; there is a single round-arched window above a pend. The end and centre bays are pedimented, with an oculus set within the tympanum. The roofs are slate, with end skews.

The vaulted building is rectangular, two-stories high, and has gable walls facing southwest and northeast, built into a steep bank at the northeast gable. The ground floor is entered through a depressed-arch door in the southwest gable; the window above the door has been blocked. The first floor has sash and case windows, and is accessible via a widened opening in the northeast gable. The ground floor is barrel-vaulted, with no internal communication to the first floor, nor any other openings. The construction is squared rubble with squared granite quoins. A blind oculus is located in the center of the southwest gable, and the roof is slate with a straight skew and an apex stack. Curved retaining walls flank the southwest gable, the one on the left featuring a water trough.

The stables were originally part of Barholm House, built in 1788 for James McCulloch to designs by Robert Adam. Barholm House was demolished around 1960. Drawings by Robert Adam’s office, dating from around 1790, are held in the National Records of Scotland, although they do not precisely match the completed building.