Walled Garden, Ballencrieff

The site comprises the ruined remains of a mansion house, a walled garden, and a surviving west pavilion. The core of the mansion is a long, rectangular tower, likely begun around 1625, evidenced by a dormer head on its exposed south face. A stone found nearby is inscribed with a possible date, 1596, suggesting early work on the tower, which was reputedly built by John Murray, 1st Lord Elibank. The tower is three storeys high, with a vaulted basement, and features regularly spaced openings. A kitchen fireplace gable is asymmetrically placed on the plan. The south front of the tower was extended to the right (east) by a narrower, slightly taller wing; the tower’s gables are crow-stepped, and the wing formerly had an 18th-century Venetian window, of which only the arch remains. The tower’s exterior is constructed of rubble with ashlar dressings, including window and chimney margins, and cornices, with some brickwork also present.

Later, in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, additional ranges were added, creating a double-pile structure. The north front was rendered symmetrical and features a tripartite facade with recessed ends, and the surviving left end remains gabled. The south front originally extended further, with a five-bay, advanced, corniced and pedimented central section flanked by gabled wings and four-bay pavilions, all linked by screen walls.

The mansion house burned down in 1868 and was subsequently abandoned.

To the west of the mansion stands an extensive walled garden, constructed of rubble and ashlar. The West Pavilion, dating to around 1730, is a two-storey, four-bay structure with a central door. Originally a laundry, it now serves as a farmhouse. The pavilion is white harled with ashlar dressings, plate glass sash windows, a grey-slated and swept-eaved roof, and two wallhead stacks.