Stable With Sundial, Monkton House, Old Craighall Road, Old Craighall

Monkton House is a complex mansion of multiple periods, comprising a 16th century tower at its core with later 17th century L-plan additions forming a single-pile range, further additions in the re-entrant angle and at ground level to the northwest, and a 1625 stable range. The house was originally planned as a courtyard with an early 17th century single-storey and attic range on the northwest now standing free following the demolition of the northeast range.

The main house is built of rubble pink and grey sandstone with harl-pointing and ashlar dressings, featuring a moulded eaves course and relieving arches. The tower, whose position is marked by former quoins on the northwest and southeast elevations, has rounded arrises to blinded openings and connects to later work via a continuous cornice at eaves and shared roof. A ground-floor doorway with chamfered arrises opens to the tower, flanked by one of three gun loops. The first and second floors have blinded windows; the northeast elevation shows windows lighting the former circular stairwell. Later windows were inserted to the first and second floors of the southeast elevation in line with the late 17th century range.

The late 17th century additions comprise a longer range running southwest and a shorter range at right angles to the northwest, both featuring buckle quoins. A low two-storey 18th century porch with backing was added to the northwest, entered from the west through a late 17th century gateway with a wide semi-circular opening, buckle-quoined voussoirs and two-leaf studded doors beneath a moulded parapet with cornice.

The main west elevation displays three irregularly spaced bays with later inserted windows at first and second floor, their former positions marked by relieving arches. A tabular sundial of the later 17th century sits at first floor between the centre and south bays. Ground-floor windows appear by the re-entrant angle on the northwest range, with a blinded first-floor window above. The southeast (garden) elevation has six irregularly spaced bays, with a curved flight of stone steps bearing decorative cast-iron railings ascending to a Gibbsian doorway at first-floor level at the centre of the late 17th century bays. A vaulted ground-floor doorway sits to the left, with low cellar windows nearby. An 18th century canted stairblock and short passage addition in the re-entrant angle to the north introduced a fine Gibbsian doorway with boarded door and decorative bronze fittings, accompanied by windows to first and second floors above and further windows at first, second and attic levels on the stairblock, with second-floor windows notably smaller.

Roofing comprises grey slates to piend roofs, with ridge stacks and a corniced gablehead stack to the northwest. Sash and case windows feature small-pane glazing, barred at ground level.

The interior contains vaulted basements throughout. The 16th century newel stair was removed when a winding stone stair was inserted into the canted stairblock. The vaulted ground floor displays 18th century wainscot panelling and flagstones, with lugged architraves, classical marble chimneypieces, and a vast segmentally arched chimney recess to the kitchen. Decorative plaster cornices feature throughout, with tapestry panels in the Dining Room.

The stable range, dating to circa 1625, is constructed of rubble sandstone with harl-pointing and a moulded cill course to the courtyard side. Its southeast elevation features a rectangular stairblock projecting to the right of the courtyard elevation, with a chamfered doorway in a moulded surround surmounted by an inscribed and gilded sundial, small windows under the eaves flanking the stairblock, and garage doors with a small window inserted to the outer right. Two widely spaced bays to the left have a doorway flanked by a window and a segmentally arched carriage doorway to the outer left, each bay topped by stone mullioned and transomed tripartite attic windows in moulded surrounds with quasi-pedimented Renaissance dormerheads and square lead-paned glazing.

The northwest elevation displays five bays with timber lintels, a blocked door and window at ground level, one further blocked opening, and four low timber mullioned bipartites to the attic floor plus a single window. The southwest elevation appears later, with a tall upper opening containing a deep-set window with honeycombed lead-glazing pattern; a brick surround frames a triangular opening at the apex serving as a bellcote with bell, topped by a decorative wrought-iron weathervane bearing a gilded cockerel.

A later single-storey piend-roofed outbuilding adjoins the northwest gable, with casement windows in square-pane glazing. The stable range features crowstepped gables with beak skewputts, red pantiles, and grey slates to dormerheads.

Boundary features include a high rubble retaining wall to the northwest with buttressed piers by the drive entrance bearing urn finials. Square stone piers with ball finials flank the garden gate of a brick-lined kitchen garden to the southeast. A pointed arch gateway with chamfered reveal in the northeast wall, relocated from Hammer House, Prestonpans, is surmounted by a lion couchant. A series of decorative wrought-iron gates enclose the property.