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

TORQUHAN HOUSE INCLUDING GATE LODGE AND GATEPIERS, WALLED GARDEN AND STABLE BLOCKLB17402

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
22/01/1971
Local Authority
Scottish Borders
Planning Authority
Scottish Borders
Parish
Stow
NGR
NT 44707 47740
Coordinates
344707, 647740

Description

1823. 2-storey, 9-bay country house with Classical details comprising 5-bay principal block with advanced pedimented section to centre and single-storey wings with Venetian windows to slightly advanced outer bays. Coursed, squared whinstone with pale sandstone dressings to principal (W) elevation; whinstone rubble elsewhere. Band course and blocking course. Long and short quoins, rusticated to outer corners of principal block. Regular fenestration with ashlar margins and projecting cills. Steps to timber-panelled front door with sidelights and fanlight within engaged Doric portico. 2-window bow to right.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: wings extend back to E forming courtyard to rear, enclosed by coped rubble wall. Single-storey piended outshot to centre of rear elevation; round-arched stair window above; canted bay to left and pair of segmental-arched dormers to attic. Lean-to timber conservatory adjoins S wing.

12-pane glazing to timber sash and case windows. Blind boxes to some windows. Broad, coped wallhead stacks with clay cans. Grey slate. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: panelled entrance hall with pilastered corner angles and parquet flooring; pair of fluted supporting columns on plinth and open stair with turned balusters and serpentine handrail; decorative fire surround with fluted columns, garlanded entablature and beveled mirror. Former dining room in S wing with basket-arched inglenook with elaborate pedimented overmantle flanked by arcarded alcoves. Fine marble and plasterwork Classical-revival fireplaces elsewhere. Timber-panelled doors and moulded cornicing.

OUTBUILDING, WALLED GARDEN AND STABLE BLOCK, GATE LODGE AND GATEPIERS: to N of house: 3-bay, gabled, rubble outbuilding with lean-to forming secondary courtyard; small square windows to upper floor.

Large rectangular walled garden situated on sloping ground to NE of house with potting shed to N corner.

Long stepped-roofed stable and coach house adjoins E corner of walled garden; whinstone rubble with ashlar dressings and timber bargeboarding.

Principal entrance drives running North and South. Diminuitive gate lodge to N drive beside Galashiels Road (A7). Square-capped gatepiers and cast-iron gates.

Statement of Special Interest

Torquhan House is an attractively proportioned Classical country house with single-storey pavilion wings occupying a fine hill-side setting overlooking the Gala valley. The compact massing and use of Neo-Palladian details is indicative of the late Georgian period with advanced pediment, Doric doorpiece and Venetian windows. The finely dressed and coursed local whinstone to the principal elevation is of note. The house was built for William Colvin, formerly of Mitchelston (see separate listing).

The principal elevation is symmetrical save for the bow window to ground floor right and lean-to timber conservatory/greenhouse adjoining the S wing to far right. The form of Torquhan House shares elements with nearby Burn House (see separate listing) situated a short distance to the N, following the Classical style of eminent Scottish architect John Smith. The Edinburgh architects, Dick Peddie and Kinnear carried out a number of alterations to the property between 1885 and 1889 including the addition of the bow window to front left and may have been responsible for some of the interior details.

The single-storey wings at Torquhan are given a Palladian treatment. Andreas Palladio, the foremost Italian architect of the 16th century, re-introduced the proportions and style of ancient Rome into his buildings. His influence on the neo-classicism of the contemporary country house reached its high watermark by the end of the 18th century.

List description updated at resurvey (2009).

References

Bibliography

1st edition Ordnance Survey map (1853). T Wilson, Stow of Wedale, 1924 (ill). Charles Alexander Strang, Borders and Berwick: An Illustrated Architectural Guide (1994) p193. Kitty Cruft, John Dunbar and Richard Fawcett, The Buildings of Scotland: Borders (2006), p725.

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: 29/03/2024 13:06