Old Brig Inn, Beattock

Old Brig Inn, Beattock

This is a former coaching inn designed by Thomas Telford and built in 1821. It was constructed at government expense in association with the development of the Glasgow to Carlisle road, following a proposal by Telford requesting £1,800 or £2,000 for the building. The total cost of construction was £4,520:2:10. The building was formerly known as Beattock Inn.

The main inn is a two-storey building with an irregular U-plan, positioned on a slope with a basement opening to the courtyard. The principal east elevation is symmetrical across five bays and features a central doorway flanked by two baseless Tuscan columns in antis supporting an entablature, with a blind tripartite window above. The remaining bays contain sash windows with 12-pane glazing, corniced and aproned at ground level with margins linked to the base course. The three-bay flanks also feature aprons that continue the design, with the wider north flank containing tripartite windows to the inner bay.

The walls are constructed of coursed and partly cherry-caulked squared whin rubble with contrasting painted ashlar margins and long and short worked dressings. All elevations are unified by an eaves course, cornice and blocking course, with the blocking course raised centrally above the main door. Symmetrically placed chimney stacks, arranged in pairs linked by arches, rise from the roof. The roof is piended slate with a leaded platform. A round-headed window facing west lights the stair between the rear wings.

The interior contains hallways with arched openings, a cantilevered stone stair with cast-iron balustrade, a vestibule with Tuscan-columned screens, and a reception area with key-safe. The main reception features moulded cornice plasterwork. A vaulted cellar in the basement contains cast-iron ovens in the kitchen.

To the rear and west, below road level, is a stable courtyard. The stable ranges are two storeys in height, constructed of whitewashed whin rubble and ashlar dressings, with upper openings serving lofts. Originally two adjoining ranges enclosed the court; the south end was closed in the mid-19th century by a plain skewed range. The north range features a wide depressed-arched pend. The five-bay west range contains a three-bay carriage house with tall square-headed openings and a narrow pend to the midden with depressed archway on the west wall. A full-height wing, added later, returns west from the south end. All ranges are roofed with graded slates.