Old Manse And Walled Garden, Craggan

The Old Manse at Craggan, along with its walled garden and former steading, dates from 1854 and was designed by A & W Reid of Elgin. The manse is a two-storey and attic house, facing south, constructed with rubble and dressed with tooled rubble. The design is symmetrical, presenting three storeys to the front. A later glazed porch now obscures the original front door; it is flanked by tripartite windows with wooden mullions. Two later piended dormers have been added to the outer bays. Windows are arranged symmetrically in the east and west gables of the ground and first floors, featuring lying-pane glazing. The rear kitchen wing also retains original glazing, with twelve panes in the dormers. The roof is covered with graded Banffshire slate, and the ends have coped stacks.

The walled garden extends to the west of the manse and is constructed of rubble. The former steading is a long, single-storey and loft building, also of rubble construction. It has been converted to provide garages and storage on the ground floor and first-floor accommodation and retains its original east-facing elevation and graded Banffshire slate roof. A Free Church, originally located to the rear of the manse, was demolished around 1940. The manse retains a remarkable survival of its original windows. The steading was converted to its present use in 1975. Records at the Moray District Record Office (DAWP 87) and W Ewing’s Annals of the Free Church (1914) provide further details.