Thorn Cottage Including Outhouse, Main Street, Gartmore

Possibly dating to the late 18th century, Thorn Cottage is a traditional single-storey, four-bay cottage with a small, detached outhouse to the rear. It is situated directly on Main Street in Gartmore and groups well with the neighbouring Murray House, contributing to the streetscape and possessing local historical value. Gartmore is a planned village, laid out in the 18th century by Nicol Graham of Gartmore House and his descendants. Despite likely having been thatched originally, Thorn Cottage is one of the best-preserved, relatively unaltered cottages in the planned village.

The principal, or southeast, elevation has four bays with a front door positioned off-centre, flanked by two single windows to the left and one window to the right. It is attached to Murray House on the southwest side. The northeast gable is blank, with a narrow passage providing access to the rear garden. A single-storey extension, advanced to the right, projects to the rear, featuring a small porch, and two single windows to the left.

The interior of the cottage has been modernised, but it retains very thick walls and its original layout. The main bedroom, located at the northeast end, is at a slightly lower level. According to the tenant in 2004, a thick sandstone wall exists between this room and the rest of the cottage, rising to the roof and topped with a stack. This suggests that Thorn Cottage may have originally been a three-bay cottage with an adjoining, separate room in the northeast end, perhaps used as a workroom.

The exterior is constructed of exposed random rubble with painted margins around the openings on the front and northeast elevations, with roughcast to the rear. The front and northeast elevations feature a modern timber and half-glazed front door. Predominantly four-pane timber sash and case windows are present, with those to the rear having horns, and a variety of modern glazing in the rear extension. The pitched roof is covered with graded grey slates, with one rendered gablehead stack to the northeast and one ridge stack on the line of the inner stone wall. Some cast-iron rainwater goods are also present.

The outhouse, situated in the garden to the northwest of the cottage, is a small, single-storey building with a low wallhead and broad gable. Constructed of partly whitewashed random rubble with a pitched slated roof and various openings, it is accessed by a timber boarded door on the southeast side. It has a gablehead stack and internally features a fireplace, currently concealed behind plasterboard walls. The outhouse comprises two rooms with a concrete floor and timber boarded ceiling. The original function of the outhouse is unknown.