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

PRESTON, PRESTON TOWERLB17530

Status: Removed

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Group Category Details
100000019 - see notes
Date Added
05/02/1971
Date Removed:
26/10/2015
Local Authority
East Lothian
Planning Authority
East Lothian
Parish
Prestonpans
NGR
NT 39026 74064
Coordinates
339026, 674064

Removal Reason

Dual designation

Description

15th century, with early 17th century additions, and later alterations. 4-storey L-plan tower house; surmounted by 2 storeys from 1626 with Renaissance detailing, including triangular and segmental pedimented windows with engaged obelisk finials, and decorative swept-up merlons. Random red sandstone rubble, with grey sandstone dressings. Bartizans to external angles. Long and short quoins. Lip corbelled parapet.

E (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: 3-bay, comprising round-arched opening to left of centre at ground; former doorway to left at 1st floor with raggle of former platform and roof evident above and below; window to right, between 1st and 2nd floor; window centred at 3rd floor; large corbel of former box machicolation projecting to left at parapet; 17th century addition with window centred at 1st floor, windows at centre and left of centre at 2nd floor.

N ELEVATION: 2-bay, predominantly blank; arrowslit opening centred at ground, 17th century addition with window to left at 1st floor, window centred at 2nd floor.

W ELEVATION: 2-bay, with bay to right advanced, comprising arrowslit opening to left of centre at ground, windows to left and right of centre at 1st floor; small window at re-entrant angle to return at 1st floor; 17th century addition with doorway to left of centre at parapet, window to right of centre at 2nd floor; single windows centred at both floor to return; circular entrance turret with square base in re-entrant angle, with door facing N, single small windows at base, and centred above.

S ELEVATION: 3-bay, irregularly fenestrated, comprising pairs of narrow stair lights to left at 1st floor, between 2nd and 3rd floors, and at 3rd floor; single windows to right of centre at 2nd and 3rd floors; 17th century addition with 3 evenly spaced windows to both floors.

INTERIOR: not seen, 2000. Barrel-vaulted basement. Semi-circular barrel-vaulted Hall. Remains of 15th century fireplace in N gable of Hall.

Statement of Special Interest

Scheduled Monument (scheduled with the dovecot 13.12.2000). A Group with Preston Tower Walls and Gatepiers and Preston Tower Dovecot (see separate listings). Home of the Hamiltons of Preston from the mid 15th century. Burnt in 1544 by the Earl of Hertford as part of Henry VIII's so-called 'Rough Wooing', and burnt again in 1650 by Cromwell's troops, after the battle of Dunbar. Unusually, the tower house was extended upwards by Sir John Hamilton (1565-1644), from 1626, and the initials on the upper storey pediments read 'SIDKH' for Sir John and his wife Dame Katherine Hamilton. The tower was burned for a third time in 1663, by accident, and afterwards ceased to be occupied. The last male of the direct line of Hamiltons of Preston was the Robert Hamilton who led the covenanters at Bothwell Bridge and Drumclog, and who died in 1701. Although ruinous, Preston Tower is in good condition, and the detailing of the 17th century addition contrasts with the massiveness of 15th century building below.

References

Bibliography

RCAHMS, INVENTORY OF MONUMENTS AND CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE COUNTY OF EAST LOTHIAN (1924), pp101-3; D MacGibbon and T Ross, THE CASTELLATED AND DOMESTIC ARCHITECTURE OF SCOTLAND, Vol I (1971), pp225, 317; C McWilliam, LOTHIAN (1978), pp393-4; N Tranter, THE FORTIFIED HOUSE IN SCOTLAND (1986), pp52-53; D Howard, SCOTTISH ARCHITECTURE FROM REFORMATION TO RESTORATION 1560-1660 (1995), p82.

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 00:37