Nether Horsburgh

Nether Horsburgh Farmhouse, Walled Garden and Farm Buildings

This is a farmhouse, walled garden and farm steading dating from around 1800, with a significant mid-19th century addition. The farmhouse is a two-storey and attic building of near L-plan form, comprising an original three-bay, T-plan house to the east — with a central stair bay projecting to the rear — and a later two-bay by three-bay L-plan extension adjoining to the west. A further two-storey, flat-roofed extension occupies the rear re-entrant angle. An adjoining range of single and one-and-a-half-storey farm buildings lies to the rear. The farm steading includes a mill, kiln, granary and northern range dating from around 1804, with a later 19th century byre and cattle court added thereafter.

The farmhouse is built of coursed rubble whinstone, concealed on its principal elevation by harling. Plain offset quoins appear at the angles and around the window openings. The farm buildings are of coursed and random whinstone in the vernacular tradition, with whinstone and tooled ashlar dressings.

FARMHOUSE AND ADJOINING RANGE

The south (principal) elevation presents the older two-storey, three-bay section to the right, with a central entrance door — now replaced by French windows — and regular fenestration. To the left, the later two-storey, two-bay extension features a pilastered door surround on the right (with later multi-paned glazing and a timber door), a window aligned above at first floor level, and a tripartite window to both floors on the left. The entire elevation is harled and was re-roofed at the time of the extension's construction to conceal the change in the roofline, although the difference in first floor window heights between the two building phases remains visible. A low garden wall adjoins at the south-east angle.

The west elevation shows a two-storey, three-bay gable end with a modern timber conservatory at ground floor right and centre, and three regularly placed windows at first floor level, of which the centre and right are blind. The rear of the adjoining office and farm range is recessed to the left.

The north (rear) elevation is largely blind. The original house presents a blind elevation with the stair bay projecting at the centre; the ground floor centre and left are concealed by the adjoining range, and the right portion of the original house and all of the western extension's elevation are hidden behind the two-storey, three-bay flat-roofed extension. A blind wall end projects forward to the right.

The east elevation is a gabled end with a later window at ground floor centre; the remainder is blind. A one-and-a-half-storey outhouse adjoins the north-east angle of the rear stair bay, with a large window to the right and a small window to the upper left; a timber boarded door with a small glazed central pane is set in the left return. To the right return, a recessed continuous range of single-storey farm buildings runs from left to right: first a bothy-style building with a later gabled timber porch at the door and rectangular windows; then a long blind building with a central timber boarded door; then a pair of large, later rectangular cart openings with timber boarded folding doors with small glazing panes at the top; and to the far right of the range, four stable entrances.

The main elevations of the farmhouse have three-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows, with smaller plate glass upper sashes and two-pane lower sashes. Some four and twelve-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows survives to the rear. The roof is pitched slate with lead ridging, flashing and valleys, plain skews and putts to the farmhouse, and painted cast-iron rainwater goods. The gablehead chimney stacks are of coursed whinstone and ashlar — the west stack now sits at roofline level as a result of the later extension — with plain ashlar neck copes and a few surviving cans. The later extension has taller harled wallhead stacks with red sandstone quoins.

INTERIOR

The interior has a central stone-flagged passage leading to a pine staircase with turned balusters. This rises as a single flight with an open well to the first floor, then as a closed flight to the attic. Some ceiling cornices remain. The east room has a stone bead-moulded fireplace surround. Some timber panelling survives within the later extension. The later south-west room contains a timber and gesso chimneypiece and also has a pilastered tripartite window.

WALLED GARDEN

The walled garden is rectangular, formed from whinstone rubble walls with plain ashlar flat copes to the south, west and north sides. A plain vehicular entrance cuts through the east part of the north wall and aligns with a pedestrian entrance in the south wall, where the walls sweep down to form an inverted semicircle bisected by a path. The east wall and south-east angle boundary are formed by the rear of the single-storey farm building range and the farmhouse itself.

FARM BUILDINGS

The farm steading consists of the west range adjoining the farmhouse (as described above under the east elevation), a south block containing a cart shed, byre and stables, the former mill complex to the east, a byre and stable range to the north, and a central cattle court with an attached byre. The ground between the buildings is cobbled.

South block containing cart shed, byre and stables: The single-storey cart shed to the west has three segmental-headed openings with whinstone voussoirs and piers, and blind returns. The north-facing one-and-a-half-storey, five-bay byre has single windows with tabbed ashlar quoins to the first, third and fifth bays, and similarly styled doorways to the second and fourth bays — the left door now blind — with piend-roofed timber hayloft doors breaking the eaves. The east elevation shows the gable end of the byre to the right, with a rectangular-headed cart opening fitted with a sliding timber door, and to the left a lean-to return of the stables with a now-blind door abutting the byre. The south-facing stable has a catslide roof formed from the rear of the byre; it formerly had three rectangular-headed cart shed openings, now infilled with timber stable doors, and a separate pedestrian door to the left.

Former mill complex to the east: This is a one-and-a-half-storey, T-plan former water-powered threshing mill and granary. The west elevation is symmetrical across five bays at ground floor: the first, third and fifth bays have small square windows with whinstone voussoir lintels and surviving six-pane timber sash and case windows, while the second and fourth bays have latched timber boarded doors; a boarded hayloft door with a piended roof breaks the eaves at the second bay. The left return is a gabled end with an arch-headed timber boarded door to the upper floor; the right return formerly matched the left but the door has been infilled to form a small square window. The north elevation shows the granary return advanced to the right, an infilled slot for the water wheel in the re-entrant angle, and a door to the ground floor left of the east wing. The advanced centre of the east elevation formerly contained a partially demolished kiln and smithy, of which rough whinstone walling survives at ground floor level along with remnants of the kiln and an interior fireplace; at first floor level there is a central doorway — formerly an interior opening — with tooled ashlar quoins and remnants of the adjoining gable; various joist holes are also visible. The returns of the east elevation and the west wing, both blind, form the south elevation.

Stable and byre range to the north: This is a single-storey, four-bay, symmetrical rectangular-plan range. The first and fourth bays have segmental-headed cart openings, each with a half-height timber boarded gate; the central bays have doorways. A small window appears to the right in the left return; the right return and rear are concealed by a later modern barn.

Central cattle court and attached byre: Whinstone rubble walls to the north, west and south form the cattle court, with an entrance to the north-west now covered by a partially open timber gabled roof. Bounding the court to the east is a single-storey whinstone L-plan byre, mostly blind, with a door to the north and an entrance in the west wall from the court; a slated ventilation roof survives.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE

The ruin of the 16th century Nether Horsburgh Castle, a scheduled monument, is sited nearby and is listed separately. The estate had connections with the Horsburgh family, who owned both Horsburgh and Nether Horsburgh Castle, both listed separately; the estate passed from the family around 1725. Before the present farm was built, maps show the site as Nether Horsburgh Mill — it appears as such on W. Edgar's map of 1741. A thatched farmhouse existed here in 1754, but this was likely the ruins sited to the north of the castle, which is listed separately. The estate changed hands many times, with the Earls of March and the Duke of Queensberry among its owners. The fourth Duke sold it to an Edinburgh candle maker, Thomas Bell, in 1788. The water-powered threshing mill, kiln and granary were recorded as "newly built in 1804"; the mill was fed from a raised pipe running from the mill lade, just below the sluice. The original farmhouse, walled garden, offices and servants' houses in the adjoining range were described at around this time as "all built within these few years."

Alexander Campbell was the owner by 1811. The estate then passed to Robert Nutter Campbell of Kailzie, who was obliged to assign it to trustees; they sold it in 1841 to James Ballantyne of Holylee, which is listed separately.

It is believed the farmhouse began as a simple two-storey, three-bay, later 18th century building with sash windows and harled walls, to which a wing was later added to the west, incorporating triple windows and a new doorway. The farm buildings added to the back of the property were originally offices, stables and servants' quarters. An unusual and undated stone with a carved Latin cross contained within a circle has been built into the east elevation of this range. The site of the mill wheel and kiln can still be seen, as can a sluice on the mill lade.

The complex is listed as a good example of a little-altered farm steading in which the original buildings and plan survive largely intact. The farmhouse, though altered over time, is a good example of how a building changes in response to finances, new owners and evolving agricultural practices. Like many buildings in the district, the structures are built from coursed whinstone.