Dairy Tower With Unicorn Stair, Buxley, Manderston House

This is a dairy tower with an attached unicorn stair, built in 1900 by John Kinross as part of Manderston House, near Buxley. The tower is a two-stage Border pele tower design, incorporating a forestair, stair tower, and cap house, and is adjoined to the southeastern corner of the dairy court (listed separately). It is constructed from sandstone rubble with dressed ashlar and partially harled exterior. A base course is present, and window openings have roll-moulded surrounds. The parapet is deeply corbelled, with gablet coping and decorative waterspouts.

The forestair encircles the tower from the south to the west, rising over an arcaded recess to the west, which has gablet coping on the stone stair and a carved armorial panel on the halfway platform. This recess features two openings with squat columns and ‘quasi-cushion’ relief carving on their capitals, alongside ornate cornucopia carving to the central spandrel, with heavy carving between the columns on the side wall. Two decorative timber benches are also present. The west elevation has a door at the head of the forestair leading to the upper stage, with a shouldered surround containing fleuron studs and a carved rose at the center. The Miller family crest is carved to the left of the door, and a window is located above to the right. The south elevation is largely blank, with a window in the upper stage at its center. The north elevation faces the dairy court and features a door under a cloister garth, within an ornate ogee surround, with carved fleuron and the Miller family motto carved on a stone ribbon above. A stair tower projects to the left, topped with a gabled cap house, and has narrow windows, one corniced and one ogee-arched, with slab roofing and a ridge finial. The east elevation includes a deep base course, a large window to the lower stage at the center, and a smaller window to the left above. An ashlar buttress on the right is carved with a heraldic plaque.

The windows are fitted with small-pane glazing in timber sash and case frames, and there are decorative lead hoppers and square downpipes. Boarded doors have decorative bronze handles. A leaded viewing platform is also present.

Inside the dairy tower, the milk house features a three-by-three bay, vaulted gothic interior resembling a chapter house, with decorative inlay using marbles and alabaster sourced from seven different countries for the floor, walls, and bench, which is made of green marble. The stone groin-vault has a carved boss at its center depicting a maid milking. The tea room has a Tudor-gothic interior, featuring built-in wall cupboards made of Spanish oak and a ribbed geometric ceiling.

The unicorn stair, reminiscent of the design of the stair at Old College, Glasgow University (except for the substitution of unicorns for lions and unicorns), leads to the south of the dairy tower. It is lined with a decorative ashlar balustrade, and panelled, ball-finialled dies at the foot, along with dies at the head of the steps displaying statues of a lion and unicorn, with lead horns and chains contained within cartouches.