Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

Dated 1865 with later additions and alterations. 2-storey with attic, 4-bay, near U-plan, gabled Tudor style house with single storey porch recessed to side; single storey wings forming service courtyard at rear. Coursed and stugged cream sandstone; cream ashlar dressings. Raised base course; architraved string course; corniced eaves. Rusticated quoins; lugged surrounds to chamfered openings; sandstone mullions; chamfered cills. Blind rectangular niches centred in wallhead gables surmounting 1st floor windows; decorative finials throughout. Single storey with attic, 3-bay stable block to W. Single storey, 3-bay gate lodge to NW.

SE (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: 4-bay. Gabled bay slightly advanced to outer left with tripartite window at ground; bipartite window at 1st floor; small attic light centred in finialled gablehead. Bipartite windows at both floors in 3 bays recessed to right. Gabled porch recessed to outer right with boarded timber door at centre; decorative iron hinges; round-arched plate glass fanlight; round-arched, roll-moulded surround; dated panel centred in gablehead; surmounting finial.

NE (SIDE) ELEVATION: 4-bay. Projecting porch off-set to left of centre; bipartite window to front; blind niche centred in surmounting gablehead. Slightly advanced gabled bay recessed to left with bipartite windows at ground and 1st floors; small attic light centred in finialled gablehead. 3-bay range recessed to right with porch obscuring bay at ground to left; bipartite window aligned at 1st floor; bipartite windows at both floors in remaining bays to right. Single storey, 2-bay wing to outer right with narrow windows in both bays.

NW (REAR) ELEVATION: 3-bay. Recessed central bay with single storey, lean-to projection at ground; tripartite window at 1st floor. Gabled bays advanced to left and right with single storey wings projecting at ground; small attic lights centred in gableheads; surmounting stacks. Coped sandstone walls and pyramidal-capped square-plan piers enclosing central courtyard. Single storey gabled porch recessed to outer left.

SW (SIDE) ELEVATION: 5-bay. 2-leaf glazed doors at ground in bays to outer right and penultimate bay to outer left; bipartite windows in remaining bays at both floors. Single storey, 2-bay wing adjoined to outer left with boarded timber door in bay to left; 3-pane fanlight; boarded opening in bay to right.

Predominantly 3-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows. Purple-grey slate roof; stone-coped skews; moulded skewputts; iron rainwater goods. Sandstone ashlar ridge and apex stacks with cornices linking square-plan flues; circular cans.

INTERIOR: refurbished 1998. Boarded timber floor to hall; timber skirting boards; plain cornices. Main dogleg stair with barley-twist uprights, ball-finialled, square-plan newels, timber handrails. Some decorative plaster cornices to ground floor reception rooms; various marble, timber and stone fireplaces. Timber panelled doors throughout; some timber panelled shutters. Service bells in place.

STABLE BLOCK: near square-plan, M-gabled block. Squared and snecked stugged cream sandstone; tooled sandstone dressings. Overhanging timber bracketed eaves; decorative timber bargeboards. Long and short surrounds to stop-chamfered openings; projecting cills. SE (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: 3-bay. Boarded timber door in bay to outer left; 2-pane fanlight. 2-leaf, boarded timber carriage door in bay to right; gabled bay to outer right with 2-leaf, boarded timber carriage door at ground; boarded opening centred in gablehead above. NE (SIDE) ELEVATION: 4-bay. Single windows at centre and in bay to outer left; single window slightly raised off-set to right of centre. Single storey, lean-to projection to outer right with coped and railed wall forming enclosure to side. NW (REAR) ELEVATION: narrow opening off-set to right of centre. SW (SIDE) ELEVATION: M-gabled elevation with attic windows centred in gableheads. 4-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows; rooflights. Grey slate roof. Sandstone wallhead stack to NE. INTERIOR: not seen 1998.

GARDEN WALLS, BOUNDARY WALLS, QUADRANT WALLS AND GATEPIERS: tall, coped and tooled sandstone walls partially enclosing walled garden to SW of house. Coped and tooled cream sandstone walls flanking entrances to SW and NW; coursed square-plan, stop-chamfered piers; corniced, piended caps; gates missing. Squared and snecked, coped and tooled cream sandstone quadrant walls flanking main entrance from road; coursed square-plan, stop-chamfered piers; ball-finialled, corniced caps; gates missing.

Statement of Special Interest

An impressive, well-detailed house currently being restored (1998). The style of architecture bears some similarity with that of local architect, W J Gray, whose TREATISE ON RURAL ARCHITECTURE was published in 1852. See separate list entry for Gray's similarly detailed Turtleton Farmhouse, Duns. A single storey gate lodge, set just inside the NW entrance, has been substantially extended at rear (1998). The walled garden, which lies immediately to the SW of the house, is currently being rebuilt. Rutherfurd notes Major Thomas Nisbet as owner of Mersington in 1866.

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.