Steading (South Range), Carstairs Mains

The steading, designed by William Burn in 1825, originally comprised four ranges of buildings arranged around a square courtyard, with a farmhouse attached to the south. The westernmost steading range has been demolished, but the remaining ranges are largely unaltered externally. The steading is constructed of stugged ashlar with droved and broached dressings, and has piended slate roofs.

The north range is a two-storey, near-symmetrical courtyard elevation, ten bays wide, featuring a central pediment with a clock face in the tympanum, and a bellcote to the apex. Stabling occupies the outer bays, with four cart arches centrally placed. The stables incorporate cast-iron columns for the stalls. A loft above has regular rectangular windows retaining the original three-pane glazing arrangement in sash windows, plus a timber sliding ventilator grille to the lower part.

The east range is two-storey and seven bays wide, with wide, opposing doors to the north end, possibly serving as a threshing barn. Most internal divisions were removed by 1989, and the openings remain mostly unaltered.

The south range is a single-storey, eight-bay structure with a stack to the west. It likely served as a dairy, calf houses, and feed stores. A doorway has been widened to the east, and the east half of the roof is now covered with corrugated sheet metal.

The L-plan, two-storey gabled farmhouse adjoins the south range via a passage. It has a narrow lean-to porch to the southwest re-entrant angle, supported by a single Doric column. The gabled ends have canted bay windows to the ground floor, and otherwise single-light windows with a hood moulding over the ground floor. Modern plate glass glazing has been installed, and there is a flat-roofed dormer over the porch. End coped skews with skew blocks are present, and tall diamond stacks remain only on the north side of the farmhouse. The roof is slate.

Although the western range has been lost, the steading remains largely original externally. The farmhouse has been altered by the removal of stacks and the installation of new glazing, but it remains an important component of the overall composition. Burn’s plans for the steadings are held in the National Monuments Record of Scotland.