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Summary

Description

Attributed to William Leiper (see Notes), dated 1892. Single storey and attic, 3-bay, roughly L-plan Baronial style villa with crowstepped gables, canted windows, and balustraded entrance lobby. Squared, stugged sandstone with polished ashlar dressings. Base course; moulded eaves cornice; roll-moulded window and door margins to principal elevations; curved skew putts. Principal elevation to SW; large gabled block orientated SW-NE; 2-bay wing adjoining at right-angles with gable to NW elevation; gabled bay with tall staircase window rising from re-entrant angle to rear; single-storey section with cat-slide roof fills rest of re-entrant angle to rear; walled enclosure (now with roof) extending from rear to form L-plan.

SW (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: slightly advanced gable to right with 3-light canted window at ground and pedimented window above with pilaster finials. Timber-boarded front door to central balustraded lobby in re-entrant angle; later slated canopy over door; pyramidal finials to balustrade. Bipartite window at ground to left; dormer window breaking eaves above with semicircular pediment inscribed with monogram JW and dated 1892.

OTHER ELEVATIONS: 3-light canted window to right of SE elevation; armorial bearing in moulded square panel to left. Shouldered stack slightly projecting from right gable on NW elevation; irregular fenestration to left with ball finials to roof. Fairly irregular fenestration to rear including stained-glass staircase window with border-glazing.

Non-traditional uPVC glazing to most windows; some original 4-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows to sides and rear. Corniced, shouldered stacks with octagonal yellow clay cans. Graded grey slate. Cast-iron rainwater goods with decorative brackets to front.

Statement of Special Interest

A very well-detailed villa, formerly on the estate of Earnock House and believed to be by the prominent Glaswegian architect, William Leiper who designed a large extension for Earnock House. Earnock Cottage is now surrounded by mid-late 20th century housing, so serves as an important reminder of the history of the area. The original purpose of Earnock Cottage is unknown, but its relatively large size indicates that it may have been built for the estate factor.

The Earnock estate was purchased by John Watson, owner of the Earnock Colliery, in about 1871. He made various improvements to the estate, including extending Earnock House and building a number of cottages and farm buildings. The extension to Earnock House was designed by William Leiper in 1876, and the other estate buildings (including this one) are in a very similar style, and almost certainly also by Leiper. The other estate buildings known to be in the same style included the stable block, Torheads Farm, a game-keepers cottage at Neilsland, Derrickbank Cottage (former estate laundry), and Earnock Cottage. It is likely that there were other buildings as well. All these buildings apart from Burnhouse and Earnock cottage have been demolished, which means that Earnock Cottage now has considerable importance as one of only two surviving examples of a fine group of estate buildings almost certainly by Leiper. Old photographs of Earnock House, its stable block, Neilsland Cottage and Burnhouse are to be found in the book by John Watson, which is held at the Royal Commission library (NMRS).

John Watson was described in an article in the Glasgow News (and copied in his book) as 'perhaps the most extensive colliery owner and worker in Scotland and Earnock is only one of his collieries' The article also noted that Earnock was considered at the time as a model colliery as the principal seams were lit by electric light and carried telephone communication with the pit-head office.

References

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