Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

CRAIGCAFFIE TOWERLB10164

Status: Designated

Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Category
A
Date Added
20/07/1972
Local Authority
Dumfries And Galloway
Planning Authority
Dumfries And Galloway
Parish
Inch
NGR
NX 08863 64124
Coordinates
208863, 564124

Description

Circa 1570, with later additions; repaired France Smoor, 1983. 3-storey and attic (ground floor vaulted), rectangular-plan tower, measuring 30 feet 9 inches from E to W, and 19 feet 9 inches from N to S. Harled sandstone; polished ashlar dressings. Corbelled parapets to E and W gable elevations; spout holes; terminating angle bartizans; circular gunloops; moulded eaves course to N and S elevations merges with corbelling. Moulded surrounds to windows at upper floors (some renewed).

N (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: 2-bay. Roll-moulded doorpiece to outer right; timber door; gunloop to left of door; remains of a rectangular panel frame aligned above entrance; square panel frame between 1st and 2nd floors; small opening (non-aligned) above; 2 moulded corbels to shute at eaves. Regular (non-aligned) fenestration to bay to left; dogtooth enrichment to 2nd floor window; carved stone of hands holding a head to NE angle bartizan.

S (REAR) ELEVATION: 3-bay. Central timber door (later insertion) at ground; single window at 1st floor (non-aligned); single windows at 1st and 2nd floors to flanking bays (windows to right non-aligned); small round-headed opening to left of centre at 2nd floor; 2 swept dormers at attic (later insertion).

E (SIDE) ELEVATION: single window at 2nd floor to right; openings to gablehead.

W (SIDE) ELEVATION: 3 small openings to left at ground, 1st and 2nd floor; openings to gablehead.

Plate glass, 6 and 12-pane timber windows. Steep grey slate roof; rooflights; crowstepped stone skews; gablehead stacks, wallhead stack to N; circular cans.

INTERIOR: not seen 1999.

Statement of Special Interest

Craigcaffie, or Kellechaffe, as it was anciently called, was granted by Robert the Bruce to John, son of Neil, Earl of Carrick, and from him the Neilsons, who built the castle, claimed their descent. The initials and arms of John Neilson and his wife, Margaret Strang (now indistinguishable) resided in the square panel to the N elevation (D MacGibbon and T Ross, p390). Also now indistinguishable are the inscribed skewputts to the N; one bearing the date 1-5-7 (indicating 1570 as the decade for the building's erection), the other repeating the initials IN, MS, with the skewputts to the S bearing heraldic roses (RCAHMS INVENTORY, p18). Previously surrounded by a fosse, the tower's ground floor windows and attic dormers are later insertions, when it was changed from a disused tower to a dwelling house in the 1980s.

References

Bibliography

J Blaeu's Galbvidiae Pars Occidentalior map, 1654 (evident); THE NEW STATISTICAL ACCOUNT OF SCOTLAND (1845), p89; W McIlwraith THE VISITORS GUIDE TO WIGTOWNSHIRE (1875), p105; FH Groome ORDNANCE GAZETTEER OF SCOTLAND, Vol II (1892), p293; D MacGibbon and T Ross THE CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND (1892), pp388-390; RCAHMS INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS IN GALLOWAY, Vol I, COUNTY OF WIGTOWN (1912), p18-20; Sir AN Agnew WIGTOWNSHIRE: ILLUSTRATED GUIDE FOR VISITORS (1928), p142; John Gifford DUMFRIES AND GALLOWAY (1996), p469.

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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Printed: 20/04/2024 02:06