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

339-343 (ODD NOS) HIGH STREET WITH BOUNDARY WALLSLB36354

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Date Added
08/05/1975
Local Authority
Fife
Planning Authority
Fife
Burgh
Kirkcaldy
NGR
NT 28306 91801
Coordinates
328306, 691801

Description

17th century, incorporating 16th century fabric; late 18th century turnpike stair; under restoration 1995-6, Simpson and Brown for SHBT. 3-storey and attic, steep-roofed merchants house in irregular terrace. Painted ashlar, lime harl and random rubble. Moulded corbel course over 1st floor; corbelled stack. Raised margin at pend entrance and moulded surrounds above ground.

S (HIGH STREET) ELEVATION: pend entrance to centre at ground, shop to left with in-canted centre door and corniced fascia, shop to right also with in-canted centre door but unsympathetic oversize fascia abutting small blinded window off-centre right at 1st floor, further window to outer right and 4 windows (grouped 1-3) to left; 2nd floor with further (slightly larger) blinded window off-centre right, 2 windows to right and 3 windows to left all close to eaves; tiny timber catslide dormer windows in steeply pitched roof to right of centre, to outer left and 3-part window off-centre left.

N ELEVATION: dominant chimney breast to centre corbelled over pend entrance and intaken before reaching wallhead stack; window to right at ground and further window over at 1st floor; bay to outer right with 2-storey lean-to rubble projection, 2 small windows close to eaves at 2nd floor and 2 tiny catslide dormer windows above. Turnpike stair clasping left side of stack with window to each floor, that to ground blocked, and small window and door on return to right. Advanced 2-storey and attic gabled wing to outer left with asymmetrical fenestration altered in brick.

12- and 24-pane glazing patterns in timber sash and case windows; 4-pane glazing in fixed timber frames to dormers. Grey slates. Coped ashlar and harled stacks with full complement of cans.

INTERIOR: deeply moulded cornices and tripartite divisions to 1st and 2nd floors with principal apartments to E and W. 1st floor W with plain late 17th century coved ceilings in two compartments (inner large and outer smaller) dividing beam marking position of main structure of 16th century timber-framed frontage. E apartment with timber panelling and richer ceiling (see Notes) also divided into 2 compartments by 16th century structure, larger inner compartment with richly modelled oval, flanking cherubs and thistle with rose angle mouldings; concave diamond of enriched strapwork at front section of ceiling. 16th century mural painting of ship in full sail to N wall. 2nd floor panelling survives complete, the best to front W room which has deeply moulded overmantel panel in the Restoration style. Angle to N wall of attic with stone chimneypiece and small inset range, and further timber fireplace.

BOUNDARY WALLS: coped rubble boundary walls; pair of projecting rectangular bee boles with lintel slopes at E facing wall to rear.

Statement of Special Interest

Now (1996) in the care of The Scottish Historic Buildings Trust, the building almost certainly dates from the 1590's, the home of a rich merchant or shipowner with business chambers on the ground floor. Originally a timber-framed house with jettied upper floors to which stone frontages were applied in the 17th century, David Walker states "the extent of the projection suggests that there may have been a columned ground floor piazza". There was also an internal spiral stone staircase to the front, probably with a kitchen to the E and large central halls with flanking chambers on the upper floors. Mural paintings on plastered walls included the surviving ship (see above); and the soffits of 2nd floor joists and boards were decorated with tempera paintings. Interior modernisation, possibly 1670s, included wooden panelling on partitions, lath-and-plaster ceilings and cornices. The decorated oval is repeated at Sir William Bruce's Balcaskie (20 miles away) executed by William Lindores; the strapwork, and cherubs are similar to work at Moray House in Edinburgh of 1628; and the thistle and rose angle ornaments similar to vase designs at Castle Menzies. A date of 1672 is suggested by a plain version of the oval at a nearby house of this date (Nos 225-229 High Street, destroyed by fire). Around the year 1800 it was divided into flats with ground floor shops, and remained thus until 1986. Ruddock says of the roof structure that "Changes had occurred ..., but the primary system and most of the timbers existing in 1992 were those of the original construction".

A chimney gablet added in the late 18th century was removed, and the tiny dormer windows added during the 1995 restoration.

References

Bibliography

Torrie and Coleman SCOTTISH BURGH SURVEY, HISTORIC KIRKCALDY (1994). Historic Scotland Inspector's Report (1985). Ted Ruddock REPAIR OF TWO IMPORTANT EARLY SCOTTISH ROOF STRUCTURES (1995). Gifford FIFE (1992), p286.

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 14:07