Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

William Atkinson, 1806, 1815 and circa 1821. Castellated mansion consisting of 2-storey keep, with long single storey Tudor Gothic range to S and kitchen and office range concealed behind Gothic screen walls to NE and SE. Asymmetrical; rambling-plan. Ashlar. Battlemented parapet; hoodmoulds.

KEEP: 1806, 2-storey over raised (now blinded) basement.

N ELEVATION: 3-bay, entrance bay at centre; window at ground (former door); window at 1st floor; hipped hoodmoulds. Pentangular, battlemented corner towers; Tudor-arched windows at ground and 1st floor; platform top; blind arrowslit openings. Parapet between towers supported on 3 deeply-moulded corbels. Low crenellated wall runs along court area to N; low, single storey storage block against N wall of court.

W ELEVATION: 5-bay over raised basement; giant order pilaster at centre with roll-moulded arrises; segmental- headed windows regularly disposed to left and right. Broad angle pilasters. S return; 3-bays, window at 1st floor outer left; blind window at outer right; jettied, corbelled chimneybreast and stack at centre. Square ashlar entrance porch advanced to right; roll-moulded arrises; segmental-headed door; bolection moulding. Sculpted owl finials in flight at either end of parapet. Single storey, long Tudor Gothic range (1815) to SE; 3-bay block with centre canted bay; tripartite pointed arch windows; hoodmoulds. Plain 3-bay screen wall of kitchen court beyond this; projecting porch at centre (door now blocked as window); segmental-headed door; arrowloop above; bipartite pointed arch window to outer right. Segmental arch into kitchen court; stugged voussoirs; chamfered arrises; shaped parapet above. Screen wall abuts onto wall of garden to S.

S ELEVATION: U-plan kitchen court set behind ashlar screen wall on W and E elevations. Single storey; stugged squared, honey-coloured sandstone. 2-bay ashlar on E return; bipartite pointed arch windows (horizontal glazing). Single round headed window at outer right (casement window).

E (GARDEN) ELEVATION: near-symmetrical; 3-bay main block to left of centre; low single storey kitchen and office blocks advanced to left and right respectively; keep rises behind right block. Centre block slightly recessed; 3 windows divided by thin gabletted pilasters; quatrefoil frieze. Tripartite narrow Tudor Gothic arched window to left block; 3, broader Tudor-arched windows to right. Link block with entrance recessed to right; segmental- headed door. Office range to outer right (1821); squared honey-coloured sandstone on E elevation; stugged ashlar parapet; 3-bay symmetrical to garden; tripartite, pointed- arch windows. Armorial panel in parapet above centre bay. 2-bay to SE return; tripartite window to outer right; jettied parapet at centre; paired, octagonal ashlar stacks rise above. Segmental headed window to outer right.

Modern diamond-pane casement windows to keep; 5-pane sash and case windows to linear range; Tudor-arch windows at rear 12-pane sash and case windows. Grey slate piended roof concealed behind parapet. Paired, octagonal ridge stacks.

INTERIOR: house was completely refurbished in 1980s. Original plasterwork, with some remodelling in the main S room; panels divided by fluted reeding; raised diamond moulding in centre; trefoils in corners; palmette stop at juction of each panel. Rib moulding in curved ceiling of bay. Quatrefoil wooden frieze above main windows. In room to N original floral ceiling cornice and rosette. No other original features.

GARDEN STORE: canted, single-storey shed in re-entrant angle between main range and garden wall; boarded door on NW facet; fleur-de-lis side hinges; bolection moulding; set between 2 stugged pilasters with angle nook-shafts; blind segmental-headed door on SW facet.

WALLED GARDEN: located immediately to S of house. Irregular D-shaped plan; approx. 50 x 60 metres. Brick wall with ashlar slab coping. Bothy and boiler house remain to S; originally part of wall could be heated. Wall now open to kitchen court.

Statement of Special Interest

Millburn Tower was designed by William Atkinson for Robert Liston who was British Ambassador in several countries including the USA. Liston lived at Millburn in his retirement from 1821-1836. In 1804 Captain George Parkyns designed an American garden for Lady Liston, complete with lochs, this is all now almost completely gone. The house has many fine chimneypieces but none are original features of the house and all were installed during the refurbishment in the 1980s.

References

Bibliography

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.