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

DUNNIKIER WAY, DUNNIKIER HOUSE HOTELLB36442

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
28/01/1971
Local Authority
Fife
Planning Authority
Fife
Burgh
Kirkcaldy
NGR
NT 27866 94309
Coordinates
327866, 694309

Description

Alexander Laing of Edinburgh, 1791-3; mason Roger Blane; wrights Robert Kilgour and Peter Nicoll. Entrance moved to N when porch and pedimented gablets added circa 1885: converted to hotel 1971. Large pedimented classical mansion house with piend-and-platform roof and pavilions. Droved ashlar with dressed quoins, and harl with rusticated quoins and raised stone margins. Base course, fluted frieze with paterae and cornice; deep cornice with iron brattishing to N. Pedimented porch with moulded frieze, cornice and paired Ionic columns; corniced Venetian windows; voussoirs; stone transoms and mullions.

S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 9-bay (grouped 1-1-2-1-2-1-1). 5-bay main block with advanced and pedimented centre bay, Venetian door at ground and Venetian window at 1st floor, thermal window above cornice in tympanum; flanking bays with regular fenestration, windows decreasing in size vertically; heightened 2nd floor windows breaking frieze. Penultimate bays with flat-roofed 2-storey links with balustraded parapets, windows to ground (that to right converted to door) and round-headed windows (that to left blinded) above with semicircular stone balconies on cast-iron brackets (upper floors added after 1813, see Notes). Pedimented pavilions to outer bays, Venetian window to left (blinded) and canted bay (circa 1790) to right with centre door and flanking lights, thermals in tympanums (that to right blinded).

N (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: ashlar porch projecting to left of harled elevation. 5 bays to main block with slightly advanced centre bay, regular fenestration including windows breaking eaves into dormerheads at 2nd floor. Gabled elevations of link and pavilion (see above) to outer right, and flat-roofed ashlar additions to left extending to modern block beyond.

E AND W ELEVATIONS: largely obscured but with regular fenestration where visible.

4- and 12-pane glazing patterns in timber sash and case windows, except to 2nd floor S with timber casement windows; decorative astragals to all round-headed windows. Grey slates. Broad, coped ashlar stacks and ashlar-coped skews; cast-iron downpipes with decorative rainwater hopper to SE.

INTERIOR: some decorative plasterwork cornicing and panelled soffits retained. Hall with panelled ceiling, dado and carved fireplace with fluted pilasters and satyrs supporting richly carved overmantel and stepped canopy with deep cornice and frieze. Half-turn staircase with barley-twist cast-iron balusters, timber handrail and panelled dado with low relief carving. Further Renaissance style chimneypiece to dining room, dated 1886, with caryatids supporting corniced mantel shelf. Some original ceilings thought to be covered; pavilions vaulted within attic space.

Statement of Special Interest

At the time of the NSA there were "only two landed proprietors whose yearly incomes from their land within the parish exceed L.100, viz. James Townsend Oswald Esq. of Dunnikier, and John Fergus, Esq of Strathore". Dunnikier became the home of the Oswalds after the family left their town house, also called Dunnikier (now Path House), due to the town moving ever closer. In 1938 the last Oswald left Dunnikier, the MOD took over for a while, possibly until 1968 when the Parks Department moved in. Conversion to an hotel took place in 1971, and the present owner purchased the house in 1994 when it was very run down, it is now being sympathetically renovated and restored. The hall panelling is thought to originate from Nairn's boardroom, if so this must have been prior to Braehead House, possibly the old St Mary's House which was demolished to make way for The Priory.

A photograph of Dunnikier House dated 1891 is signed by Alice and Mary Oswald who lived in Croydon and must have been visiting at this time. Alice, who became Head Deaconess of Llandaff College, Cardiff, was the mother of Cicely M Barker, artist and author of "The Flower Fairies".

References

Bibliography

A H Millar FIFE Vol II (1895), p113. Gifford FIFE (1992), p294. SCOTS MAGAZINE June 1813. NSA (1843), p751. Information courtesy of Geoffrey A Oswald.

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 15:16