Crossway House, Torthorwald

Crossway House is a two-storey, three-bay, gabled house of 18th-19th century date with a central triangular wall-head pediment and corniced doorway. It is located prominently on the bend in the A709 near Torthorwald Castle (SM731), Torthorwald, Dumfries. The house is of rubble construction (squared and stugged at the second storey) with ashlar dressings and is whitewashed. There is a single-storey outshot, with a gable wall-head stack and pitched slate roof, adjoining the rear (south) elevation. There is also a later, flat-roofed sunroom addition to the rear.

The windows are predominantly timber sash and case windows with a 12-pane glazing pattern. The roof has straight skews, end chimney stacks with clay cans, and a grey slate roof covering. The house is set within a large triangular garden plot. A small section of low boundary wall with castellated coping fronts the A709.

Historical Background

The long-established village of Torthorwald is situated on the main road between Dumfries and Lochmaben. A single storey building on the site of Crossway House was possibly part the parish school in the 18th century. This building was raised a storey during the early to mid- 19th century as lodgings for the adjoining school, known then as 'Torthorwald Classical and Commercial Boarding Academy'. A newspaper article from 1850 describes the boarding school as 'spacious and stately' (Dumfries and Galloway Standard, 1850). The building is shown as a school on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1856) through to the 3rd Edition (revised 1947). When the adjoining schoolroom was demolished, material from the building may have been used to extend the single storey outshot at the rear of Crossway House.