Laigh Whiteston Lodge, Culzean Castle

Laigh Whiteston Lodge, Culzean Castle Estate

This is an ensemble of a Gothick gate lodge, a bridge over a burn, and associated gatepiers, gates and railings, dating from around 1816. The design is attributed to Robert Lugar, with construction by James Thomson. Alterations to the interior were carried out by ARP Lorimer Architects in 2000–2002. The group sits at the junction of carriage drives within the Culzean Castle Estate in Ayrshire.

THE LODGE

The lodge is a single-storey, rectangular-plan Gothick gate lodge of one bay by two bays, with a lower outbuilding attached to its east elevation. It is built in ashlar, with squared rubble on the south elevation and to the outbuilding. The building sits on the south side of the driveway, to the west of the bridge over the burn, with its north gable as the principal elevation. Pepperpot corner turrets feature throughout.

The north elevation is the most decorative face. Its fenestration is set within a pointed arch recess flanked by pointed niches. Three ogee arched windows in moulded surrounds are arranged between four engaged clustered colonnettes, with a blind quatrefoil above the central window. Pepperpot turrets sit on the wallhead corners, and a fleur-de-lys finial rises from the apex of the skews.

The south elevation is blind, with a pair of doors leading to the outbuilding, and pepperpot turrets at the wallhead corners. The west elevation has a rectangular doorway to the left and an ogee arched window to the right. The east elevation has a blind window aperture to the right, with the outbuilding gable and a door to the left.

Windows are multi-paned and timber framed — fixed on the north elevation, sash and case on the west. The roofs are pitched and covered in grey slate. A corniced chimney stack with a single can sits on the apex of the south gable.

INTERIORS (as seen in 2010)

The interior comprises a small lobby giving onto two former cupboards — now converted to a lavatory and shower — and a door to the main room. To the south is a former kitchen, now used as a living room, with a doorway leading through to a former bedroom, now used as a kitchen, on the north. The lobby retains its stone flags. The former kitchen retains its original iron cooking range and fittings, hearthstone and timber mantelpiece. Vertically boarded timber doors are used throughout. The outhouse contains two brick-lined chambers, each with a separate door facing west.

THE BRIDGE

The bridge is a single-span road bridge over the burn, constructed with a pointed barrel vault of squared rubble with ashlar voussoirs, squared rubble spandrels and abutments. A dwarf parapet of squared rubble with saddleback coping is surmounted by an iron railing consisting of plain square-profile uprights set between cylindrical stone posts.

GATEPIERS, GATES AND RAILINGS

There are four ashlar piers, each formed as a cluster of four cylindrical columns. The iron carriage gates have hollow-headed spears to the upper bouts, pine cone finials, and cross-braced lower bouts with applied florettes. The fence consists of plain pointed iron uprights set between columnar stone posts mounted on dwarf walls. A garden gate repeats the cross-braced lower bout and applied florette detailing of the carriage gates.

HISTORICAL AND ARCHITECTURAL CONTEXT

The lodge and bridge at Laigh Whiteston — later known as Hoolity Ha' — were part of the substantial estate improvements carried out for the 12th Earl of Cassillis. They form an important and picturesque group of estate ancillaries with distinctive architectural detailing. The bridge spanning the Glenside Burn improved access to the centre of the estate from the policies further east, and a new south-to-north drive from Glenside to the Castle via Hoolity Ha' was completed at around the same time.

The construction work was likely carried out by James Thomson (c.1784–1832) of Dumfries, who was estate architect at the time. The designer was probably Robert Lugar, though other plausible architects — including James Gillespie Graham and Richard Crichton — were engaged by the estate during this period. The landscape designer Thomas White senior (1736–1811), a pupil of Capability Brown, and his son Thomas White junior (1764–1836), were also providing advice on estate improvement at the time.

Following Lugar's own principles, practical improvements and ornamental embellishment were seen as entirely compatible. In this spirit, the modest two-room accommodation required for a gatekeeper could simultaneously serve scenic purposes and advertise the refined taste of the commissioning gentleman.

Robert Lugar (1773–1855) was a successful architect to the gentry during the Picturesque era, specialising in the Gothick and Cottage Orné idioms. He published several volumes of his designs, which helped spread the Cottage Orné style across the British Isles. His works include Balloch (now Ardoch) Castle (1809) and Tullichewan Castle (1808), both in Dunbartonshire and in the castellated style. Several buildings at Culzean were either designed by him or drew on his published designs, including Swan Cottage and probably Swan Pond Bridge and the Pagoda, as well as the lodges at Morriston, Pennyglen and Glenside (the last three demolished in the 1950s).

Culzean Castle, together with the ornamental landscape of its estate, is acknowledged as the epitome of the Picturesque movement in Scotland and is a work of international importance. Culzean, at one time the largest estate in Ayrshire, has been associated with the Kennedy family since the Middle Ages. It was gifted by Gilbert, the 4th Earl of Cassillis, to his brother Thomas Kennedy in 1569. In the 1660s, the barmekin around the tower house was breached to create the terraced gardens, orchards and walled garden for which Culzean was notable, while the caves beneath the castle — a Scheduled Monument — were fortified to serve as secure stores. Culzean Castle became the principal family seat when Sir Thomas Kennedy (1726–75) became the 9th Earl of Cassillis in 1759. A continuing programme of improvements was undertaken by Sir Thomas and his successors during the 18th and 19th centuries. The 10th Earl began rebuilding the Castle to designs by Robert Adam, and this work was continued by Archibald (1770–1846), the 12th Earl and later the 1st Marquess of Ailsa. From about 1810 onwards, he commissioned numerous practical and ornamental structures, engaging several important architects and landscape designers to embellish the gardens and grounds with ponds, gates, lodges and pavilions — resulting in several key works of the Picturesque era. The 3rd Marquess undertook the modernisation and enlargement of the Castle in the 1870s. In 1945, the 5th Marquess of Ailsa divided the property, making over the Castle and the immediately surrounding policies to the National Trust for Scotland.

The interiors were converted in 2000–2002 by ARP Lorimer Architects, and the building was in use as a holiday cottage at the time of survey in 2010.

Hoolity Ha' Lodge and Hoolity Ha' Bridge were previously listed separately. This description was revised as part of the Culzean Castle Estate Review, 2010–11. The lodge and bridge form part of a group listing for the Culzean Castle Estate, which includes Culzean Castle; Castle Walls and associated structures; Fountain Court and associated structures; Ruined Arch and Viaduct; Stable Block and associated structures; Camellia House; Cat Gates; Home Farm; Powder House; Ardlochan Lodge; Dolphin House; Hoolity Ha'; Swan Pond Complex; Swan Pond Ice House; Walled Garden; Bathing Complex; Water Works; Shore Boat House; Battery and Mast House; Main Drive Walls and Piers; and Gas Works.