Mansefield, Manse Road, Markinch

Mansefield is a 17th-century former manse, substantially reconstructed in the late 1780s by Thomas Barclay and extended in the early 20th century. It is a 2-storey, 3-bay building, arranged in a “T” shape. The exterior is harled with quoin strips and raised stone margins.

The south elevation features a central, flat-roofed extension with a round-headed stair window to the right and a window to the left, both at ground and first floor levels. A boarded timber door is set back to the left, with a window above and a window to each floor in the outer left bay. A recessed bay to the right of centre contains a part-glazed timber door and a window below a low, lean-to porch. A projecting, piended timber window, serving as the stair window for Mansefield Cottage, is located in the re-entrant angle to the right. Mansefield Cottage adjoins the main building at the outer right.

The north elevation has a window at centre to both floors, with a further window to the left at ground level. Boundary walls run along the outer edges.

The east elevation has a lower, 2-storey wing, now Mansefield Cottage, projecting across the centre and left. It has a window to both floors at the outer right and a small window at the gablehead to the left. Mansefield Cottage was likely constructed in 1808 and has a piend roof.

The west elevation has two windows at ground level, with a window to the left at first floor and an off-centre right window at the gablehead.

The flat-roofed extension features a decorative stair window with etched glass, leaf detail, coloured margins and two further windows with coloured margins. Plate glass glazing is found in a timber sash and case window on the outer left at first floor, while a casement window is present to the right at ground level. Louvred glazing is elsewhere. The roof is covered with graded grey slates. The chimney stacks are coped, harled, and cement-rendered, with some cans and thackstanes. Ashlar coped skewes are present, along with ropework scroll skewputts.

The interior retains plain cornicing, timber doors, and shutters. Timber fireplaces are found at ground level on the right and at first floor level on the right, with lozenge detailing. A cast-iron fireplace with tile slips is located at first floor level on the left. A stone staircase has cast-iron balusters.

An outbuilding and boundary wall are included. The outbuilding is piended and gabled, rectangular in plan and has a pantiled roof and rubble construction, with a stable and apple store. It has four single door openings and a window to the south, a two-leaf timber door, a window and a garage door to the west, and two long, narrow rooflights to the north. Semicircular-coped rubble boundary walls form a particularly fine enclosure south of the walled garden.