Front Lodge And Gateway, Barjarg Tower

Probably dating to around 1810, Front Lodge and Gateway form a distinctive roadside feature at Barjarg Tower. The lodge is a single-story, three-bay building, originally designed to adjoin a tall, arched gateway. A cottage was added in the second half of the 19th century, with a later attic story. The building is constructed of rubble with ashlar dressings, incorporating hood-moulds and roll-moulded pointed-arched openings.

The east-facing elevation of the lodge has a central door, with two ground floor windows and a single window in the gable of each crow-stepped gable. The windows have a distinctive diagonal glazing pattern. Corniced end stacks rise from the roof, which is covered in slate. A rear section projects outwards. The gateway features a tall main gate with a lion mask as its keystone, alongside a smaller pedestrian gate positioned beside the lodge. The enclosing walls step down to the east and are decorated with carved animal heads, linked to the main policies wall. The iron gates are designed to resemble traditional ‘yett’ gates.

According to local accounts, the iron gates originated from the old Dumfries jail, constructed around 1579 and demolished around 1802. Given the reuse of stonework in the ground floor openings, it is conceivable that some of this material also came from the demolished jail. Information provided by the owner supplements these details.