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Summary

Description

Circa 1827 (dated), E wing circa 1760, 19th century additions and alterations. 2-storey, 3-bay, gabled farmhouse with Doric-pilastered doorway and single storey, L-plan wings forming courtyard to N (front). Painted random whinstone rubble with sandstone ashlar dressings. Base course, eaves course, raised window margins and quoin strips to house; some raised window margins to E wing; long and short droved sandstone quoins to wings and other ancillary buildings.

HOUSE AND E WING: central timber panelled door to N (courtyard) elevation of house with 7-pane rectangular fanlight in Doric-pilastered architrave with shaped blocking course. Regular fenestration. Wings adjoining E and W gables. Irregular fenestration to S (rear) of house with central border-glazed staircase window, and late 20th century French doors at ground to left. Regular fenestration to courtyard elevation of E wing. Decorative 18th century former doorway (now window) to N gable with moulded lintel, prominent fan-shaped keystone, and rusticated jambs; 2 small windows above (see Notes). Irregular fenestration and timber-boarded back door to E elevation; piended roof and 20th century glazed doors to S.

Predominantly 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows to house; predominantly double-glazed timber sash and case windows to E wing. Corniced, gablehead stacks to house; small ridge-stack to wing; yellow clay cans. Ashlar-coped skews to house. Graded grey slate. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: curved stone staircase with decorative cast-iron balusters and mahogany hand-rail. Plain, traditional chimneypieces to both ground-floor rooms. Decorative plaster cornice to drawing room; plain cornicing elsewhere. Timber panelled interior doors throughout.

W RANGE (FORMER STABLE AND BARN): 1827. Timber-boarded doors to courtyard; section of raised wallhead with catslide roof to barn; blocked vehicle entrance to right with lintel dated 1827. Irregular fenestration to N and W; some blocked openings to W. Roof piended to SW corner. Ashlar-coped skews to N. Graded grey slate.

INTERIOR: stable in section adjoining house: cobbled floor; 3 timber stalls with later doors; loose box; timber saddle trees on wall.

ANCILLARY BUILDINGS TO E: ruinous pair of gabled outbuildings. Older, roofless building to E with window and gablehead stack to S. Cow byre adjoining to W with timber stalls.

TREETOPS COTTAGE: Later 19th century with 20th century alterations. 2-storey, 3-bay, gabled house (former cartshed or barn with farm manager's house above) with 20th century single storey and attic wing to rear, forming L-plan. Painted, whinstone rubble with droved sandstone ashlar dressings. Narrow eaves course; projecting cills; long and short quoins. Timber-panelled front door in off-centre gabled porch to N (front); later bipartite window at ground to left; 3 later windows to right; regular fenestration in 3 bays at 1st floor. Irregular, predominantly later, fenestration to gables and S (rear). Gabled wing to right of S elevation; conservatory to centre.

Predominantly plate glass in timber sash and case windows. Coped gablehead stacks; yellow clay cans. Ashlar-coped skews. Graded grey slate. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

BOUNDARY WALLS, GATES, GATEPIERS, GARDEN WALL: coped random rubble boundary walls. Sandstone gatepiers with wrought-iron gates to main entrance and field entrances from garden. High flat-coped random rubble garden wall with gateway adjoining W wing.

Statement of Special Interest

An excellent example of this type of 2-storey, 3-bay farmhouse. It has a number of similarities with The Hill, both in the way the building has developed, and in a number of its details. The main house is either contemporary with, or possibly slightly earlier than the barn dated 1827. The Doric doorpiece is unusually ornate for this type of house, although it is almost identical to the one at The Hill. The survival of the original 12-pane sash and case windows on the main house is also quite rare for farms in the parish: only Craignaught and North Borland (which is much later) retain their original glazing.

As at The Hill, the main house replaces an earlier longhouse, which now forms the East wing. The doorpiece on its North gable is particularly fine, and the fan-shaped keystone is very similar to that over the partially obscured door on the W elevation of The Hill. The opening at the top of that gable was probably once to a pigeon loft. The E wing has now been modernised, but photographs shown before the conversion show that it contained a dairy and/or living quarters at the S end, and a cow byre at the N end. It seems odd that such an ornate doorway should lead in to the cow byre, but this appears to have been the case. There was a similar arrangement at The Hill ' for further details see the List Description for The Hill.

The stable fittings in the W wing are a remarkable survival, and there is nothing similar elsewhere in the Parish. The rest of this building was probably a threshing room, and Jennifer Deadman noticed belting holes for a threshing machine. However, there is no sign of an exterior horse mill on the OS maps.

The earlier part of the ancillary building to the East appears to have contained living accommodation, as it has both a chimney stack and a window. There is now an oil tank in front of the fireplace. This building probably dates from the 18th or early 19th century. The later section, which has a wider gable, was built between the publication of the 1st and 2nd edition OS maps.

Treetops cottage, which is in separate ownership, is included as a curtilage item because it is closely related to the farm. It was built between the publication of the 1st and 2nd edition OS maps. There were two wide openings (now blocked) on the ground floor, which were presumably cartsheds, but the upper floor appears to have been built as domestic accommodation, and was probably built as a house for the farm manager. The provision of accommodation for a farm manager seems to have been quite uncommon in the parish, and although there is a single storey cottage at North Borland, no other two storey building like this has been found.

Mains of Aiket was previously just called 'Mains'. It has never been connected with Aiket castle. Treetops was, until recently, called Ashgrove House.

References

Bibliography

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