Steading, Oxenfoord Mains

This is a later 18th century steading, consisting of two blocks linked by a segmental archway, originally part of Oxenfoord Mains. It was originally the Home Farm for the Oxenfoord Estate, with connections to the MacGill family’s 16th-century Oxenfoord Castle. The steading’s former farmhouse is situated opposite, while a later Oxenfoord Castle has its own stables and Home Farm across the A68.

The steading is constructed of random rubble with ashlar long and short quoins, sills and voussoirs. The south-east elevation features a central segmental arch with ashlar voussoirs, flanked by short rubble walls and a plain flat top cope. The south-west block to the left has a ground floor entrance door in the second bay from the left, a single window with a projecting sill to the left, and three open segmental arched bays to the right. The first floor has a window to the extreme left and two small, irregularly placed square windows to the right, with a flight of stone stairs and metal handrail leading to a first-floor timber door on the return. The north-east block to the right has 2-leaf timber boarded doors on the ground floor, a segmental arch with a later garage door to the centre left, and a pair of squared sliding timber doors to the right. The first floor has a pair of regularly placed square windows, with a flight of stone stairs and metal handrail leading to a first-floor timber door on the return.

The south-west elevation has a single bay on both storeys, with a wallhead brick stack in the centre and a single chimney can. The north-east elevation was not visible in 2000, and the north-west rear elevation is adjoined by a later cattle shed to the centre.

Eight-pane timber sash and cash windows are present in the south-west block, while other windows have 2-leaf timber shuttering. The roofs were formerly pantiled, but are now clad in corrugated asbestos with opaque roof panels. Later rainwater goods are located to the rear of the blocks. The interior was not seen in 2000. References to the steading can be found in Rev J Dickson’s "Cranstoun: A Parish History" (1907), page 170.