No 9 Cottage, Crichton

No. 9 Cottage is one of a group of six farm-worker’s cottages built in 1885, designed by Sir Robert Rowand Anderson. A mid-20th century extension was also added. The cottages, numbered 10 to 14 inclusive, are situated in Crichton village. They were originally built to house workers from Crichton Mains farmhouse, also designed by Anderson and constructed between 1885 and 1887, and located along the road.

The cottages are a single storey range, symmetrical in design, with advanced gabled ends that flank a central arch. They are constructed of coursed sandstone rubble with ashlar dressings. The principal (SE) elevation features a central gable with a pointed-arched pend, built with rubble voussoirs and a hood mould. An inset architraved date stone is located below the gablehead, and plain stone skews are visible. The roof is slate-covered, with small stone stacks flanking the ridge. Four cottages flank the archway, each with a flush surround tripartite window to the right of its doorway and a bipartite window to the left. Two stone stacks are present to each row, and the end cottages each have an entrance doorway and window in the re-entrant angles, with gabled ends and a window with a circular window above.

The SW elevation shows a single-storey, flat-roofed extension that returns from the main building. A high rubble chimney stack with a stone neck cope is also present. The NW (rear) elevation has three cottages flanking the arch; however, the original elevation is largely obscured by single-storey, flat-roofed extensions to the central four cottages and additional extensions to the rear of No. 13. On the NE elevation, another single-storey, flat-roofed extension returns from the building, with a high rubble chimney stack and a stone neck cope.

The windows are 6-pane, slightly bowed bipartite and tripartite casement windows. The roof is slate-piended, with some modern Velux roof lights to the rear pitch. The chimneys incorporate single or triple cans to the stacks.

The interior was not inspected in 2000.

Later alterations involved the addition of small, flat-roofed kitchen/bathroom extensions to the rear or side of each cottage; however, these have since been replaced with larger additions, which has softened the original simplicity of the rear elevations. The front elevation and gardens are now surrounded by a hedge and a low rubble wall. The cottages were originally designed with small front gardens which were shared with the drive and a drying green to the rear, along with a small outhouse and toilet for each. Records and photographs relating to the design of the farmhouse and cottages were found in the Rowand Anderson Collection at the University of Edinburgh.