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Summary

Description

John and Thomas Smith, 1847. 2-storey, 3-bay, irregular-plan, Jacobean-style former manse (now subdivided), with advanced, finialled gable, finialled gabled dormers breaking eaves, and gablehead stacks. Squared, coursed whinstone to front and W side; whinstone rubble to rear and E side; painted ashlar dressings throughout. Deep base course; eaves cornice. Chamfered window margins to principal (S) and W elevations.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: 3-bay principal (S) elevation: 4-panel central door with rectangular fanlight in corniced, corbelled architrave; advanced bay to right with canted window at ground floor and hoodmoulded window above. 2-bay W elevation with slightly advanced stack to right gable; slightly projecting, tripartite, stone-mullioned window at ground floor to left; dormer above. Irregular fenestration to E elevation, with door to left of advanced, gabled centre bay, side door to right, and advanced, flat-roofed, single-storey wing to outer right. Irregular fenestration to rear (N) elevation, with stone mullion to bipartite window turning corner of advanced, gabled left bay.

Predominantly 12-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows; lying-pane glazing in timber sash and case windows to canted window. Grey slate roof with metal ridges. Ashlar-coped, kneelered skews. Corniced whinstone stacks with circular clay cans (see NOTES). Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: Some working timber-panelled shutters; some cornices. Stone stair to upper flats (see NOTES); cast-iron balusters with timber handrail to landing.

Statement of Special Interest

A good mid-19th-century manse, which retains its original proportions and fine Jacobean detailing despite being subdivided. Its associated parish of Wilton, the church of which is situated some distance to the north-west of the manse, had 'one of the richest livings in Scotland, being the second or third highest' (obituary of Rev James Stewart, Hawick News, 16 October 1886). The original manse of the parish was demolished to make way for the railway station. It was replaced by this manse, which was the first structure to be built in this area of Hawick, across the river from the northern part of the town. In 1878, after sewage works had been installed to the east of the glebe, the Town purchased the manse, allowing the then incumbent, Rev James Stewart to move away to an area with purer air. The glebe was gradually feued thereafter for development and, by the time of the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1897), the area around the former manse was built up, with housing to south and west and extensive industrial mill complexes to the east.

The brothers John (1783-1864) and Thomas Smith (1785-1857) had continued the business of their father John Smith, master mason at Darnick, after his death. They worked as architect-builders, and were highly regarded the local gentry, including by Sir Walter Scott, who commissioned them to build Abbotsford. They were also responsible for a number of bridges, including Hawick's nearby North Bridge.

At an unknown date (possibly in 1930, when J P Alison & Hobkirk carried out alterations) after it ceased to be a manse, the building was subdivided into two flats on the ground floor and three on the upper storey of the building; now there are only one and two respectively. The stair to the upper flats incorporates the upper part of the original principal stair of the house.

Photographs from Historic Scotland's survey in 1982 show that at that time the building still had its original (12-pane sash and case) throughout, and tall, diagonally-aligned, square-plan stacks. The bases of the stacks are still visible beneath the current circular cans.

References

Bibliography

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