Signal House, Pierhead, North Queensferry

Signal House, Pierhead, North Queensferry

Built in 1810, this is a 2-storey octagonal-plan tower signal house, now residential. It features a projecting 3-stage stair tower to the southwest. A substantial 2-storey rendered and slated rectangular-plan addition was added in the late 19th century, encapsulating half of the tower house to the north. A small, flat-roofed single-storey extension was added to the southwest in the mid-20th century.

The main tower is built of droved and coursed ashlar with a moulded string course above the windows to the ground floor and to the first and second stages of the stair tower. It has a coped and crenellated parapet and diagonal buttresses (three of these buttresses were later transposed to the north elevation of the later addition).

The signal house windows are pointed segmental 4-pane timber lights, though modern replacements exist at ground floor level; the astragals were formerly of double lancet design. Larger openings appear at first-floor level. The stair tower has arrow slit windows, blind at the second stage facing south and at the third stage facing west. The later addition has plate glass sash and case windows with timber frames at ground floor, with a replacement at first-floor level. The tower is capped with a flat lead roof, though it formerly had a spire.

Interior features include exposed masonry within the signal house, with a pointed segmental arch opening (a former blind window) into the sitting room, flanked by two blind and painted pointed segmental windows. A pointed arched opening leads to the stair tower where a stone spiral staircase survives. A pointed arched panelled timber door with tracery glazing pattern serves the first-floor press, which was formerly used as a meeting room.

The entrance gates and boundary wall to the east are built of coped random rubble, set above the Town Pier (listed separately). Double swing cast-iron gates with fleche finials are present, with stone steps leading up to the east entrance of the dwelling.

The Signal House forms part of a historic group with the Lantern Tower, Town Pier, East Battery Pier and West Battery Pier. All these structures are linked to the contemporary development of harbour facilities at North Queensferry. In 1809, the Forth Ferry Trustee Company was established, and an Act of Parliament passed in 1810 compelled the former proprietors of the Ferry Passage to sell their rights to the Government for £10,000. Engineer John Rennie was commissioned to improve the existing slip landings and piers at North and South Queensferry at a total cost of £33,825, which included a light-house and this signal house. The Signal House alone cost £406 9 shillings 1 penny and was designed with a room for boat crews in waiting on the ground floor and a room for the superintendent's accommodation and ferry business on the first floor. The building also served as a light-house. The first ferry superintendent was Captain John Scott (1767–1850) of Seabank Cottage, appointed in 1810 and retiring in 1838. The tower originally had a spire, as confirmed by old photographs and a 1969 article by Graham, but this was removed sometime between 1969 and 1988. Discarded stone from the crenellated parapet is now used in the garden as part of a flowerbed.