Main Block, Stratheden

Main Block, Stratheden

Stratheden Hospital (formerly Fife and Kinross District Asylum) was designed by the architects Peddie & Kinnear and built between 1863 and 1870. The listed buildings comprise the main asylum block (1863–66 with later additions), a former workshop outbuilding (1866), a north lodge with gatepiers (1866), and a detached former female convalescent ward and refractory (1869–70). All are constructed from pale, squared and snecked, rock-faced sandstone with tooled ashlar dressings.

The main asylum block is a substantial two-storey structure built to a symmetrical, elongated T-plan. Former male and female ward blocks extend to the east and west, each terminating in H-plan double-gabled end pavilions. The building is distinguished by a battered base course that inclines inwards on all faces to the height of the window sills. Windows are round and segmental-arched with key-stoned hood-mouldings. The eaves feature moulded cast iron rainwater goods set on ornamental brackets, interrupted by wall-head gables. A levelled forecourt occupies the north (entrance) side. The central block was extended slightly to the south in 1888 following a fire. Between 1912 and 1914, two small advanced wings with pedimented dormers were added either side of the north elevation central block. Windows are a mix of timber sash and case and uPVC replacements, all with multi-pane glazing patterns. Some chimney stacks and decorative timber ventilators survive at the roof pitch and gable ends. The roof is covered with grey slate.

The north lodge is a single-storey, broadly rectangular gabled building at the hospital's north entrance. It has overhanging eaves with timber brackets and bargeboards, timber doors, timber sash and case windows, and cast-iron rainwater goods. The roof is covered with grey slates and coped ridge chimney stacks. To the west of the lodge stands a pair of square-plan stone gatepiers with rounded caps and a diamond motif to each face.

The former workshop outbuilding is a single-storey, square-plan structure sited on a raised levelled terrace to the northeast of the north entrance forecourt. It has timber sash and case windows and a piended roof with grey slates. A small outshot on the west elevation forms part of the initial 1863 design. Later store additions adjoining the east elevation are excluded from the listing.

The former female convalescent ward and refractory is a detached two-storey block located to the northwest of the main asylum block. It comprises thirteen bays in an I-plan, with slightly advanced asymmetric double gables to the outer bays. It features large timber sash and case windows and is roofed with grey overlapping slate tiles.

Excluded from the listing are all interiors, all post-1914 additions, and all other buildings on the hospital site.