Stable, Nether Horsburgh

Nether Horsburgh Farm House, Walled Garden and Farm Buildings

This is a farmstead of considerable historical depth, dating from around 1800 with a mid-19th century addition. The complex consists of a two-storey and attic, five-bay near L-plan farmhouse — the 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 joining it to the west — plus a later two-storey, flat-roofed extension filling the rear re-entrant angle, and an adjoining range of single and one-and-a-half-storey farm buildings to the rear. The farm buildings include a mill, kiln, granary and north range dating from around 1804, with a later 19th century byre and cattle court. The farmhouse is built from coursed rubble whinstone, concealed on its principal elevation by harling. It has plain offset quoins at the angles and window margins. The farm building range is constructed from coursed and random whinstone with whinstone and tooled ashlar dressings.

FARMHOUSE AND ADJOINING RANGE

South (principal) elevation: The older two-storey, three-bay section sits 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 to the right (with later multi-paned glazing and a timber door) and a window aligned above it on the first floor; to the left, tripartite windows appear on both floors. The entire elevation is harled and was re-roofed at the time the extension was built in order to conceal the join, though the differing first-floor window heights between the two building phases remain visible. A low garden wall adjoins at the south-east angle.

West elevation: Two-storey and three bays wide at the end of the house, with a modern timber conservatory at ground floor right and centre; three regularly placed bays to the first floor, with the centre and right windows blind. The rear of the adjoining office and farm range is recessed to the left.

North (rear) elevation: To the left, the blind rear elevation of the original house with the stair bay projecting to the centre; the ground floor centre and left are concealed by the adjoining range, and the right portion of the original house together with the entire west extension elevation is concealed by the two-storey, three-bay flat-roofed extension. An advanced blind wall end projects to the right.

East elevation: A gabled end with a later window to the centre of the ground floor; the rest of this elevation is blind. A one-and-a-half-storey outhouse adjoins the north-east angle of the rear stair, 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 sits on 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 over the door and rectangular windows; then a long blind building with a central timber-boarded door; then a pair of large, late rectangular cart openings with timber-boarded folding doors with small glazing panes at the top; and finally, to the right of the range, four stable entrances.

Windows and roof: 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-pane and twelve-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows appears to the rear. The pitched slate roof has lead ridging, flashing and valleys, with plain skews and putts to the farmhouse. Painted cast-iron rainwater goods are used throughout. The gablehead stacks are of coursed whinstone and ashlar (the west stack is now at roofline level due to 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: A central stone-flagged passage leads to a pine staircase with turned balusters — a single flight with an open well to the first floor and a closed flight to the attic. Some ceiling cornices survive. The east room has a stone bead-moulded fireplace surround. Some timber panelling remains within the later extension. The later south-west room contains a timber and gesso chimneypiece and also has a pilastered tripartite window.

WALLED GARDEN

A rectangular garden enclosed by whinstone rubble walls with plain ashlar flat copes to the south, west and north. A plain vehicular entrance cuts through the east side of the north wall and is aligned 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 comprises the west range adjoining the farmhouse (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 — cart shed, byre and stables: A single-storey cart shed to the west with three segmental-headed openings with whinstone voussoirs and piers, and blind returns. Facing north, a one-and-a-half-storey, five-bay byre with a single window (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. On the east elevation, the gable end of the byre appears to the right with a rectangular-headed cart opening (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: A one-and-a-half-storey, T-plan former water-powered threshing mill and granary. The west elevation has a symmetrical five-bay ground floor: small square windows with whinstone voussoir lintels and six-pane timber sash and case windows surviving to the first, third and fifth bays, with latched timber-boarded doors to the second and fourth bays; a boarded hayloft door with a piended roof breaks the eaves of the second bay. The left return has a gabled end with an arch-headed timber-boarded door to the upper floor; the right return formerly matched the left return, but its door has been infilled to form a small square window. The north elevation shows the granary return advanced to the right, with an infilled slot for the waterwheel 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; a central first-floor doorway with tooled ashlar quoins and remnants of an adjoining gable survive at upper level, and various joist holes are visible. The returns of the east elevation and west wing, both blind, form the south elevation.

Stable and byre range to the north: A single-storey, four-bay, symmetrical rectangular-plan range with segmental-headed cart openings to the first and fourth bays (each with a half-height timber-boarded gate) and doorways to the central bays. A small window appears to the right in the left return; the right return and its return 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 with 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 from the court; a slated ventilation roof survives.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

The ruin of 16th century Nether Horsburgh Castle, a scheduled monument, stands nearby and is listed separately. The estate had long connections with the Horsburgh family, who owned both Horsburgh and Nether Horsburgh Castle (both listed separately), before passing from the family around 1725. Earlier maps record the site as Nether Horsburgh Mill, and a thatched farmhouse existed here in 1754, though this was likely the ruin sited to the north of the castle (listed separately). The estate subsequently changed hands many times. The Earls of March and the Duke of Queensberry were among its owners; the fourth Duke sold it in 1788 to an Edinburgh candle maker, Thomas Bell. The water-powered threshing mill, kiln and granary were described as "newly built in 1804", as recorded in the Edinburgh Evening Courant of November 1804. The original farmhouse, walled garden, offices and servants' houses — comprising the adjoining range — were described at a similar date as "all built within these few years". By 1811, Alexander Campbell was the owner; 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 (listed separately).

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

The buildings are constructed from coursed whinstone, as are many others in the district. The complex is listed as a good example of a little-altered farm steading with its original buildings and layout surviving largely intact. The farmhouse, though altered, illustrates well how a building could evolve in response to changing finances, successive owners and shifting agricultural practices.