Howietoun Fish Farm

Howietoun Fish Farm

Dating from 1875 to 1879, Howietoun Fish Farm is an internationally renowned fishery situated on raised ground and comprising a complex of fish ponds and structures dedicated to the breeding, feeding, transporting and management of fish.

The Hatching House is a single-storey building constructed of bull-faced rubble with long and short ashlar dressings. It features a low coped parapet with a flat roof behind and is positioned at the head of the site to the south. The building was disused as of 2003.

The ponds are arranged in a symmetrical layout. Twelve graded timber-lined ponds are linked by a series of brick-lined channels and culverts running on a south-south-east to north-north-west axis, with the linear ponds increasing in size and culminating in the broodstock pond, which is oriented west to east. A summer house sits at the centre, with two further ponds to the north. A series of sixteen ponds arranged in a herring-bone plan lies to the west of the broodstock pond, with a triangular-shaped pond to the south and two further ponds to the west of these.

The Summer House dates to 1886 and is centrally placed within the broodstock pond to the north of the complex. It is an elongated octagonal-plan timber-framed structure resting on an ashlar band course and plinth of alternating red and yellow brick headers and supported on six octagonal brick piers linked by arches. The timber is laid in diamond and herring-bone patterns and painted white, with green-painted timber uprights providing separation. The building features a piended central hexagonal-plan roof with a flat top and pitched gables to east and west, all slated. Leaded ladders are built into the roof. The east side has a tripartite window, the south angle a canted window, and the west side an entrance door with flanking windows set within a porch. The windows were originally leaded casement, top-hung and fixed types, though some have been replaced by plate glass. The interior features pine-lined walls and a hexagonal roof. Original furniture designed by Wylie & Lochead remains in place, including a desk within the east bay, chairs and a chaise longue with a back angled to fit the room's shape. Framed certificates fixed to the ceiling display gold medals awarded to Maitland at the International Fisheries Exhibitions in London. A central trapdoor originally led to a glass cylinder below the summer house. A modern timber-plank bridge supported by an iron beam has been added to the west.

The Mincing House is a rectangular-plan, single-storey feed building (formerly a mincing house) located to the south-east of the site. It is constructed of yellow brick with white glazed brick used for window and door surrounds and quoins, similar detailing found at Milnholm Hatchery. The entrance to the west comprises a two-leaf plank door, with leaded bipartite windows to the north and a window to the east gable. The building has a pitched slate roof with a flattened apex and timber-boarded gables. The interior features a timber-lined mansard roof. At the farm's peak production, four to five horses were killed weekly to feed the fish.

The Dispatch House is a flat-roofed structure built into the slope of land to the north-east of the site. It is constructed of rockfaced ashlar, the same material used at Milnholm Hatchery Footbridge. A door opens to the north with the main entrance to the east. A loading bay stands in front of the door, with steps, a low wall and a retaining wall. A series of platforms within the interior are equipped with drains and pipes to supply fresh water to fish held in tanks awaiting transport. The roof is supported on cast-iron columns and beams. An ashlar wall runs opposite the dispatch house beside Canglour Burn.

A number of square brick-lined wells surround the site. Pipes lead into the wells from the farm and out into Canglour Burn. Iron grilles prevent the escape of fish, whilst brick steps built into the well walls allow access. The brick walls are finished with rockfaced ashlar coping. The wells were used to collect fish when the ponds were emptied for cleaning.

Plain cast-iron railings with gates surround the majority of the site.