The Temple, Cally House Policies

This is a late 18th century ornamental cottage, originally designed as a mock Gothic tower with a square plan. Now roofless, the building is constructed of squared rubble with granite quoins and horizontal bands of stone over each floor. Angle buttresses feature on the ground floor.

The building has pointed arch openings, including a tripartite doorway framed by lancet sidelights, with Y-tracery above the door. There is a bipartite window above the doorway. An external flight of stone steps leads to a chamber on the first floor. Both the ground and first floor chambers contain plain fireplaces. A band course runs above the first floor, topped by an embattled parapet.

The Temple is part of the Cally Estate’s designed landscape and was noted on the first edition Ordnance Survey Map of 1854-8. These types of ornamental structures were popular during the Romantic movement of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, adding visual interest to the landscape. According to a journey through Scotland recorded in 1793, the Temple was originally used as an ornamental dwelling for a farmworker. The building is now owned by Forestry Commission Scotland.