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

DURIE HOUSE WITH COURT OF OFFICES, SUNDIAL AND WALLED GARDENLB16699

Status: Designated

Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Category
A
Date Added
11/12/1972
Local Authority
Fife
Planning Authority
Fife
Parish
Scoonie
NGR
NO 37324 2598
Coordinates
337324, 702598

Description

1762. 3-storey, 7-bay, classical mansion with tall piano nobile on low square-windowed raised basement, dominant centre bay with urn-finialled pediment and heraldic design in tympanum. Rear office court with E wing converted to accommodation, France Smoor, late 20th century. Late 19th century N wing with crenellated parapet. Polished ashlar with rusticated quoins above basement. Deep droved base course and eaves cornice. Keystoned, Venetian doorcase with pilastered and corniced outer lights; architraved windows above basement, those to ground floor centre S and W pedimented.

S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: centre 3 bays advanced with Venetian doorpiece, panelled timber door, decoratively-astragalled fanlight and flanking windows to basement; 3 tall windows to piano nobile, centre window with semicircular pediment and flanking windows with triangular pediments; 3 windows to 1st floor giving way to pediment. Regular fenestration to recessed outer bays.

W ELEVATION: 3 bay elevation as 3 centre bays above but with window instead of door to centre at basement, without pediment and with 2 slate-hung dormer windows. Screen wall of rear court adjoining to outer left.

E ELEVATION: regularly fenestrated 5-bay elevation. Lower (2-storey) set-back 19th century wing to outer right, with 2 windows to each floor and crenellated wallhead. Single storey offices adjoining to outer right.

N ELEVATION: full-height advanced pedimented bay to centre with basement largely obscured by ancillaries and timber staircase, 2 windows to each floor above; bay to right similar, but ground floor window blocked; bay to left with advanced 19th century wing.

6- and 12-pane glazing patterns in timber sash and case windows. Grey slates. Coped ashlar stacks and ashlar-coped skews. Piend-and-platform roof.

INTERIOR: decorative and plain plasterwork cornices; panelled timber shutters; dado rails; chimneypieces mostly 1820s replacements. Entrance hall with keystoned segmental-arched opening and fluted pilasters giving way to big square stone stair with serpentine balusters, rising to full-height of house. Piano nobile rooms with coved angles, that to SW enriched with plasterwork rococo garlands; dining room to SE with black marble fireplace and timber dado. Library to centre of 1st floor with deep-coved ceiling, carved timber and gesso fire surround with marble lintel and slips, and iron grate; timber, mesh-fronted bookcases to E. Timber-balustered oval service stair. Box beds to attic room.

OFFICE COURT: single and 2-storey, rubble office court with pedimented, bell-towered archway to centre of W screen wall, further flanking pedestrian entrances, that to right segmental-headed, that to left with swagged lintel carving taken from Melville House, Fife. N range (now 2-storey) housed bake-house, coach-house and stabling converted to accommodation. E range, late 20th century conversion.

SUNDIAL: sundial situated immediately E of house. Probably 18th century, with stepped octagonal base, square plinth, raked shaft and square top.

WALLED GARDEN: Rectangular-plan walled garden to SW of Durie House. Flat-coped, brick-lined rubble walls, breached to E.

Statement of Special Interest

The lands of Durie were given, in 1260, to Gilbert son of Robert of Strathearn. The estate passed through marriage to Sir Alexander Kemp in the first half of the sixteenth century, and was acquired by Sir Alexander Gibson of Liberton in 1614. This gentleman became Lord Durie in 1621. The house was destroyed by fire in 1641, at which time the parish minister lodged there and all Kirk Session records were burned. History repeated itself in 1762 when Durie again burned down. The present house was taken over by Mr Peter Christie in the later 18th century, and has since remained in the Christie family. Coal produced in the estate collieries was of such high quality that according to Groome "even in Holland any prime coal was known as 'Durie coal' ". The office court formerly housed bake house, coach house and stabling to the N, and brew house to the E. The S range was raised to two storeys during the 19th century. Both main and service stairs were formerly lit by cast-iron cupolas. Durie Home Farm is sited to SW of Durie House, and the nearby dovecote is listed separately.

References

Bibliography

OSA. NSA. Millar FIFE PICTORIAL AND HISTORICAL (1895), p39. Groome's GAZETTEER VOL II, p451. George Dingwall TOURIST GUIDE TO THE VICINITY OF LARGO BAY (1946).

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: 28/03/2024 13:27