Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Description

Alex Cullen, Lochhead & Brown 1909-10. 2-storey, and single-storey and attic, asymmetric, multi-bay, gabled, Arts and Crafts manor house with Scots Renaissance details and elaborately carved entrance door surround. Painted harl with exposed stone margins and ashlar components. Base course. Ashlar to gableheads. Some pedimented dormers breaking wallhead. Some bipartite and 4-light windows with bare stone mullions. Ashlar panels with ropework moulded border linking ground and 1st floor windows to W. Later flat-roofed extension to NE.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: ENTRANCE ELEVATION TO N: 8 bays. Off-centre, advanced, balustraded entrance bay with deeply recessed 2-leaf panelled and carved timber doors set into chamfered round-arch. Elaborately carved hoodmoulding above and carved panel to blank shield above.

GARDEN ELEVATION TO S: 8-bays. 5-bays to left with central balustraded bowed ashlar window to ground. Outer bays with canted bay windows with parapet to upper storey. Bowed oriel window to far right.

Predominantly 6-pane over plate glass timber sash and case windows. Grey slates. Raised skews with some scrolled skewputts. Tall, wallhead stacks. Cast-iron rainwater goods with some decorative hoppers.

INTERIOR: (seen 2008). Good, decorative interior with original room plan largely extant. Timber panelled hall with dominant moulded stone fire surround and chimney. Straight staircase with timber screens. Highly decorative plasterwork to some public rooms. Panelled timber doors. Some simple cornicing to bedrooms.

Statement of Special Interest

This distinctive manor house with Arts and Crafts details and particularly fine door surround was designed by the well-known architect Alexander Cullen and is a good example of an early 20th century manor house. The contrasting painted harl and bare stone margins provides an effective decorative device. The decorative interior retains much of its original form and the panelled hall is notable.

The house was designed for Hugh Neilson, the owner of Summerlee Iron Company in Coatbridge and it replaced a previous 19th century house which lay to its South West. The old house was demolished. It is possible that there was an earlier chapel near this site although no remains of this exist.

The Summerlee Iron Works began in 1836 by James Neilston and its production peaked in the 1880s. Thereafter, it declined and closed in 1926. The site is now Summerlee Museum of Industrial Life.

Alex Cullen, Lochhead & Brown were a Hamilton and Glasgow based firm formed from 1908-1911. Cullen had prolific practice with most of his work concentrated in Hamilton, Motherwell and the surrounding area and is known to have designed over 100 buildings in the period between 1888 and his death in 1911. Most of his work was for public buildings such as churches, schools, police stations, hospitals, libraries, offices and public halls, but he also executed a number of domestic commissions, such as here. In 1902, because of his heavy workload, he took on the architects James Lochhead and William Brown as partners. The firm Cullen, Lochhead and Brown was one of the leading practices in Lanarkshire and continued to hold this position after Cullen's death.

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.