Spital Mains

Spital Mains

Possibly 18th century in origin with later additions and alterations including a porch dated 1856. The building comprises a symmetrical 2-storey, 3-bay rectangular-plan farmhouse with Tudor details, flanked by single and 2-storey ranges, with a separate cottage and steading forming a courtyard complex to the rear and side.

FARMHOUSE

The principal block is rendered and painted to the front with cream sandstone ashlar dressings (rendered in part) and harled to the sides and rear. The southeast entrance elevation features a projecting flat-roofed porch with corniced coping and coped parapet, centred on the front. The door is a 2-leaf panelled type with an embossed panel reading 'W.C.L. 1856' and narrow side-lights. Bipartite windows with sandstone mullions flank the porch at ground floor, with single windows in all bays at first floor. Windows have tabbed surrounds to chamfered openings and chamfered cills. A single storey, 2-bay wing with painted rubble exterior adjoins to the left, featuring a 2-leaf multi-pane door and a gable end with a single ground-floor window and a pointed arrowslit above.

The northeast side elevation shows a gable end with a single ground-floor window and the porch recessed to the outer left. A projecting single storey, 4-bay wing (the cottage) is recessed to the outer right. The northwest rear elevation has the principal block with single windows at both floors offset left of centre, and adjoining single storey ranges with a taller cottage wing projecting to the front. The southwest side elevation presents a single storey, 2-bay block to the right with a glazed door and single window, with the principal gable set behind and a taller single storey, 3-bay cottage adjoined to the left, with the steading adjoined to the outer left.

Windows throughout display 4-, 6- and 12-pane glazing in timber sash-and-case frames, though modern windows are fitted to the single storey wing. The roof is steeply pitched grey slate with gablet-coped sandstone skews, block skewputts, coped and painted apex stacks, and various circular cans. The interior was not seen in 1999.

COTTAGE

A single storey, 3-bay structure of heavily-pointed sandstone rubble with rendered margins. The southwest entrance elevation has a 2-leaf multi-pane door offset left of centre with flanking windows; the steading adjoins to the outer left. The northeast rear elevation is 4-bay with a multi-pane door offset right of centre, a squat window to the outer right, and single windows in the remaining bays to the left. Modern timber glazing is throughout. The roof is pantiled. The interior was not seen in 1999.

STEADING

Various single and 2-storey ranges in tooled sandstone rubble with tooled quoins and long and short surrounds to openings enclose a near rectangular-plan courtyard. Features include an implement shed to the east, a cartshed with arched openings and stone forestair to the north, and an L-plan range adjoining the threshing mill and cottage to the west, with various sheds and byres within the courtyard. Openings are boarded timber with missing glazing. Roofs are predominantly pantiled pitched and piended (missing in part) with a grey slate roof to the 2-storey range to the east and stone-coped skews throughout. Interiors were not seen in 1999.

THRESHING MILL

Remains of an octagonal-plan threshing mill to the northwest, constructed of heavily-pointed sandstone rubble with tooled dressings at the corners. Large square-headed openings are partly blocked. The pantiled roof is missing in part. The interior features an open timber ceiling; machinery was not seen in 1999.

BOUNDARY WALLS AND GATEPIERS

The site to the front is enclosed by squared coping to rubble sandstone walls with modern railings above. Stop-chamfered, square-plan sandstone gatepiers flank the pedestrian entrance, featuring platformed pyramidal caps and a modern gate.