Steading building and attached horsemill and lean-to at Kinvaid Farm, Moneydie

Steading building and attached horsemill at Kinvaid Farm, Moneydie

This early 19th-century agricultural steading is a single-storey building with hayloft, constructed on a long rectangular plan. A circular horsemill, built in the later 19th century, is attached to its north elevation. The buildings form the north side of a courtyard steading arrangement and sit on elevated ground surrounded by farmland.

The steading walls are constructed in rubble stone with a steeply pitched, slated roof. Triangular ventilators sit close to the ridge, and traditional square rooflights with central glazing bars provide interior light. Door openings feature roughly squared stone surrounds with relieving arches above; some retain timber boarded doors, while those in the north elevation have been blocked with rubble stone. Window openings are very small. The south elevation contains later, enlarged openings with brick or concrete jambs, including a wide flat-arched cart opening fitted with a sliding metal door. Hayloft openings in both north and south elevations break the wallhead and are topped with piended roofs and slated sides.

The interior, inspected in 2019, is divided into two sections by a rubble wall. The roof comprises timber sarking boards, rafters and a cross beam. No traditional machinery, fixtures or fittings remain.

The horsemill is built in roughly coursed rubble stone with roughly squared stone surrounds to its openings. The conical, slated roof is supported on timber rafters, sarking boards and radiating cross beams. No machinery was visible in 2019.

The farm is believed to have been built between 1816 and 1829. An 1829 newspaper advertisement noted the buildings included a threshing and sawmill, a dwelling house and substantial offices. Captain James Stewart, who owned the farm, likely undertook improvements during this period. The farmhouse and steading ranges are first shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1864), arranged around a courtyard with associated mill buildings nearby. By the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1899), the water-powered mill lade had been removed and the circular horsemill added, indicating a shift to horse-driven threshing. A newspaper account from 1906 records that the steading was badly damaged by fire, originating in the granary; only the walls survived. The brick reveals visible in some openings suggest they were enlarged following this fire. The site continued in use as a farm until the late 20th century, with an agricultural shed added to the west side of the west range, probably around the mid-20th century.

A late 19th-century timber lean-to in the angle between the steading and horsemill is excluded from the listing, as are the farmhouse and other steading buildings to the south.