Description
Dated 1870. Single storey and attic, gabled former gardener's cottage in a simple rustic gothic style with pointed-arch windows, pierced timber barge-boarding and tall shouldered wallhead stacks, located to the north of the former kitchen garden at Kelburn Castle estate. Bracketed, over-hanging eaves. The building is of squared and snecked sandstone rubble with ashlar margins. The building has a basket-arch moulded surround with a timber porch supported on stone corbels. The north gable has a carved quatrefoil plaque, dated 1870 with monogram. There is a timber and glazed single pitched porch addition to the south elevation, and a harled addition to the northwest elevation. There is a grey slate roof with clay cans. There are timber-framed, 4-pane glazed windows.
The interior, partly seen in 2016, has a curved staircase with metal bannisters and scrolled timber handrail.
Statement of Special Interest
The Garden Cottage at Kelburn Estate is a largely intact and well-detailed example of later 19th century estate architecture. It is distinguished by its gothic architectural details with bracketed overhanging eaves, tapering wall-head stacks, pointed-arch windows, timber porch overhang, and carved date panel to the north elevation. The building was constructed as part of the ongoing developments at the Kelburn estate, and is one of a pair of near identical estate workers houses the other being the Gamekeeper's Cottage (at NGR NS 21326, 57761).
Age and Rarity
Located to the north of the former kitchen garden at Kelburn Castle estate, the footprint of this building is shown in the present location, with porch projection to the west elevation, on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map, surveyed in 1908. This purpose-built gardener's house was added to the Kelburn Castle estate in 1870, as part of the early improvements made by the 6th Earl of Glasgow on his inheritance in 1869. The north gable has a carved quatrefoil plaque, dated 1870 and with the letter G denoting George Boyle (1825-1890) the 6th Earl of Glasgow.
Landowners with the means to do so were keen to improve their estates in the second half of the 19th century in response to the greater diversification of land use either for industry or leisure. Many estate buildings with a specialised use were built during this period and were often given an architectural treatment that was repeated across the estate. The Garden Cottage, Gamekeeper's Cottage and Kennels at Kelburn Estate are typical of this type of en suite estate architecture of the period.
Kelburn is among the oldest ancestral country seats in Scotland to have been continuously inhabited by successive generations of one family, having been in possession of the Boyle family (formerly 'de Boyville') since the 12th century. Kelburn has a prominent coastal setting to the south of the town of Largs, with views from the castle across the Firth of Clyde to the Isles of Cumbrae and Bute and southwest to the Isle of Arran. The Kel Burn runs through the estate, passing through a wooded ravine and over a 15 metre high waterfall to the southwest of the castle.
In 1869 George Boyle, who held the office of Lord Clerk Register of Scotland, inherited Kelburn along with a number of other estates in Scotland and succeeded to the title of 6th Earl of Glasgow. He was responsible for a significant phase of development and improvement across the Kelburn estate including the building of the new garden cottage, the gamekeeper's cottage and kennels in 1870.
Architectural or Historic Interest
Interior
The interior was partly seen in 2016. The curved staircase with metal bannisters and scrolled timber handrail are typical features of an estate workers cottage of this period.
Plan form
The L-plan arrangement is a typical arrangement for estate worker's housing of the mid to late 19th century.
Technological excellence or innovation, material or design quality
Garden Cottage is distinguished by its gothic details with bracketed overhanging eaves, tapering wall-head stacks, pointed-arch windows, timber porch overhang, and carved date panel to the north elevation.
Setting
Garden Cottage is located bedside the large former kitchen garden, with which it continues to have functional association.
Regional variations
There are no known regional variations.
Close Historical Associations
None known at present. Kelburn is among the oldest country seats in Scotland to have been continuously inhabited by successive generations of one family, the Boyles.