Heckhill Steading, Heck

Heckhill Steading is a row of single-storey farmstead buildings arranged on a gently curved plan, sitting directly beside the road through the small hamlet of Heck, near Lochmaben. The row dates from the mid-18th century, with later alterations, and forms one of the earliest surviving groups of buildings in the settlement. It comprises two cottages at either end with two steading buildings between them, all constructed from mixed sandstone rubble with predominantly slate roofing; one section of the steading range has been re-covered in cement tiles at a later date.

Heck is one of four settlements — Greenhill, Heck, Hightae, and Smallholm — known locally as the Royal Four Towns of Lochmaben, situated to the south of Lochmaben Castle. Roy's military map of around 1750 shows the hamlet as a small, irregular cluster of buildings with a square enclosure near its centre. By 1856, the Ordnance Survey Namebook described Heck as irregularly built with several good houses occupied by working people, with a population of around 70. Three names are recorded in connection with ownership of Heckhill at that time, including William Harkness. The row appears on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1856) with the same footprint it occupies today.

The slightly curved, linear plan form suggests the row was laid out to follow an already-established road and settlement pattern. The two cottages face the road while the two central steading ranges turn their backs to it, a deliberate arrangement that separates the domestic and working aspects of the farm. This combination of cottages and steading blocks within a single continuous row is distinctive and contributes significantly to the building's interest.

The former cottage at the south end is three bays wide and built on protruding boulder footings. It has a central door flanked by small single windows. The ashlar margins are droved and bevelled, and the initials J.K.H. together with the date 1749 are inscribed above the door. The internal roof structure, inspected in 2019, retains timber pegged and hand-sawn roof joists of 18th or early 19th century character — an unusual survival that adds considerably to the special interest of the building. The interior has been partly modified for use as a store, and the south gable has been rebuilt in red brick.

Ryecroft, the three-bay cottage at the north end of the row, has a central door flanked by single windows and is dressed in red sandstone. Three courses of red sandstone at the eaves level indicate that the building was raised slightly in height, probably during the earlier 19th century to provide more living space. The windows are timber sash and case with a four-pane glazing pattern. Ryecroft is in separate ownership and its interior had not been inspected at the time of the 2019 survey.

The two steading ranges at the centre of the row present blank walls to the roadside, with doorways and openings to the rear. The interiors retain remnants of timber stalls.

The surviving details across the row — the inscribed and dated lintel, the bevelled ashlar margins, the pegged timber roof structure, and the boulder footings to the south cottage — are evidence of vernacular building techniques and reflect lowland Scottish farming practice during the era of agricultural improvement, roughly 1750 to 1850. During this period, centralised farms increasingly replaced the scattered arrangement of joint-tenancy farm towns, and stone-built cottages for farmers and farm labourers became established within existing settlement patterns. The Heckhill steading row is of interest in this context, representing a former way of life and methods of farming within an historic settlement that retains its relationship with the road.

The 19th century settlement pattern shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map largely survives at Heck, and the steading row sits prominently at the centre of the hamlet, contributing to its historic character. Two cottages on the opposite side of the road have since been demolished, and the large stone barn known as Barn Hill has been converted to a private house.

The following are excluded from the listing under Section 1(4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997: the addition to the rear of the steading block and the detached buildings to the south. The rear outshot is largely of cinder-block construction with one fragment of rubble walling. To the south of the steading row stands the remains of a detached cottage that was previously included in the listing but has since been substantially altered and is now roofless (as of 2019); the extent of these alterations and the loss of historic fabric have reduced its authenticity and completeness to the point where it no longer meets the criteria for listing. Further to the south is a plain, mid-20th century farmhouse. Neither of these structures is considered to be of special interest.