Description
Mid 18th century. Classical, symmetrical, 2-storey and full basement, 3-bay house with single bay, recessed single storey flanking wings. Red sandstone ashlar to front elevation; predominantly stugged and squared red sandstone rubble to rear and side elevations; harling to rear of N wing. Raised margins to ashlar quoins. Predominantly regular fenestration; to front elevation (excluding wings), lugged architraves with consoled cills; corniced architraves to basement, keystones to ground floor; to rear elevation, raised margins to openings.
PRINCIPAL (W) ELEVATION: lintel bands to basement and ground floor; eaves band, cornice, blocking course. Splayed stairs with cast iron railings overarching basement, leading to timber-panelled door with sunburst glazed rectangular fanlight in Roman Doric doorpiece with attached column shafts. To single storey wings, windows recessed in segmental overarches; coped screen walls above concealing roofs.
REAR (E) ELEVATION: 3-bay elevation with advanced single storey wings flanking; to centre, projecting piend-roofed stair bay with tall segmentally headed window; projecting bay flanked by small lean-to roofed additions, 2-storey to left, single storey to right. To single storey wings, blank elevation to left wing, to right wing, door to centre with windows to left and right.
S (SIDE) ELEVATION: to main block, small window to centre of gable-end. To single storey wing, windows to left and centre, door to right (openings altered from original form).
GLAZING etc: predominantly 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows; thicker 18th century glazing bars to basement windows. Graded slate pitched roof; stone skews and skewputts; skewputts to rear decoratively carved with gargoyle heads. Gablehead stacks with octangular cans; to wings, screen walls incorporate stacks to outer corners. Predominantly cast-iron rainwater goods.
INTERIOR: several early 19th century chimneypieces to ground and 1st floor rooms; 1st floor rooms with coved ceilings.
HENCOTE: 17th century; square-plan; red sandstone rubble; dressings and quoins with finely droved margins and widely droved tails. Doorway to centre of S elevation; to left of door, small window opening, subsequently blocked with rubble. 2 large structural cracks from ground level to wallhead to W and E elevations. Currently (2004) unroofed; slates from original pyramidal roof stored onsite. Interior: 2 tiers of stone nesting boxes along walls; remnants of limewash finish to walls.
STEADING: mid-late 18th century; U-plan steading with central courtyard. Predominantly red sandstone tooled random rubble; some quoins with finely droved margins and widely droved tails (see Notes). E range: single storey; lean-to car port attached to E elevation; timber-boarded stable door to N elevation, large door opening to S elevation; door opening to centre of W elevation; some other openings now blocked; remains of timber lean-to roof to W elevation. W range: 2-storey; to N elevation, large door opening to ground floor, opening to 1st floor; to W elevation, to ground floor door opening to left, 2 windows to centre, blocked altered opening to right, 2 openings to 1st floor; to S elevation, 2 windows to ground floor, opening to 1st floor; to E elevation, single storey open-sided lean-to structure with stone end walls. Connecting E and W ranges to N end, blind former gable-end wall; to right, half-pitch gable end with timber-boarded door. To ground floor predominantly timber-boarded sliding doors of varying sizes; to 1st floor, timber-boarded doors. Inside courtyard, 2 rubble walls with saddleback coping terminated by piers with pyramidal caps. Non-original corrugated iron roofs, piended end to N end of E range. Stone skews and skewputts; moulded to W range. Predominantly cast-iron rainwater goods.
Statement of Special Interest
NOTES:
Lawton House, Steading and hencote are listed as good examples of a small classical mid 18th century country house with an improved steading and a rare example of a hencote.
The lands of Lawton were owned for several centuries by the Gardyne family. However, circa 1756, the estate was divided into 2 parts and sold; the smaller part was bought by Carnegie of Boysack, the larger section by Provost Wallace of Arbroath. It is not clear which part included the land on which Lawton House now stands. However, there is likely to have been an earlier house on the present site or nearby, as there was once a doocot (now demolished), dated 1628, which stood near to the house. It is likely that the sale of the land in the mid 18th century was the catalyst for the construction of the present house soon afterwards. Much of the fabric of the hencote and steading suggests that they pre-date the present house, particularly the quoins and window margins, which have finely droved margins and widely droved tails, suggesting a 17th century date. At the time that the present house was built, there was a trend of agricultural improvement, and desire for neater, more rational steadings; it is likely that the steading was therefore to some extent 'improved? or rebuilt to bring it up to the standards of the new house.
By 1822, the lands and house of Lawton had been sold to William Henderson. They were subsequently sold to Alexander Johnston who was succeeded in 1853 by James Johnston. In 1880, the Lawton estate was purchased by Patrick Allan-Fraser of Hospitalfield, the artist, who added Lawton to his expanding number of estates. Allan-Fraser did not at any point live at Lawton; it was let to a succession of tenants. In the 1880?s, account books show that the stonework of the east elevation of Lawton was repaired with stone from the Hospitalfield quarry at Drumyellow.
Hencote and Steading Listed 02 April 2004.