Kilspindie, Aberlady

This is a late 18th century building, with alterations made in the 19th century. Originally a two-storey, five-bay store and customs house, it has been converted for residential use, with modern lean-to additions to either side. The building is constructed of random rubble with ashlar dressings, some of which have been renewed in concrete. A central segmental archway, now blocked and containing a doorway, is a prominent feature. Above it, at the first floor level, is a hoist opening. There are windows at each floor to the two outer bays, with the first-floor windows set close under the eaves. A blocked archway also exists at the rear, centred with a broad wallhead stack, and has four windows at both the ground and first floors. The windows are sash and case, with a four-pane glazing pattern at the front and multi-pane glazing at the rear. The roof is covered with grey pantiles, with some red repairs, and features later, shouldered and rendered wallhead stacks on the side elevations.

Formerly known as the New House, it appears on William Forrest’s 1799 map of Haddingtonshire, an Ordnance Survey map from 1854, and is mentioned by J Martine in his 1890 book, Reminiscences and Notices of Fourteen Parishes of the County of Haddington. It served as a store and customs house for the port of Aberlady and was later converted into housing for fishermen by the Earl of Wemyss during the 19th century. The name Kilspindie is derived from a 16th-century religious house of that name, located between the village and the shore. The building may have been raised to two storeys in the 19th century, indicated by a faint masonry line, and adopted the name Kilspindie sometime between 1854 and 1892.