Fairnielaw, Main Street, Athelstaneford

Fairnielaw is a circa 1780 former manse, with subsequent alterations, situated on Main Street, Athelstaneford. The building is an L-plan, two-storey structure, harled with raised margins and painted to the windows.

The north elevation features an entrance to the right of a later, flat-roofed porch addition with a cornice, and a window to the front. Ground floor windows flank the porch, with three windows on the first floor located close under the eaves. A lower, two-storey wing extends to the rear (south) and was likely added later. This wing has an irregular window pattern, and a very small light in the east gable wall is visible on the first floor, above a blocked attic window. Sash and case windows with plate glass are present on the north elevation, while some windows on the sides and rear retain 12-pane glazing. The steeply pitched roof is covered in grey slates, with straight skews and harled end stacks incorporating ashlar margins and a cornice.

To the northwest of the main building is a 19th-century carriage house and stables with a piend roof and rubble retaining walls.

The manse was built around the same time as a new parish church and school, circa 1780. George Goldie, minister from 1778 to 1805, compiled the parish record for the First Statistical Account. Planning consents were granted on 28 March 1990 for the conversion of the carriage house to residential use, and on 29 January 1991 for rooflights and astragalled windows in the main house.

Further information can be found in The Statistical Account (1799), page 175; The New Statistical Account (1835), page 51; T O Duncan’s Athelstaneford (1934); and C McWilliam’s Buildings of Scotland: Lothian (1978), page 83.