Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

SPITALHAUGH HOUSE INCLUDING STABLE AND BRIDGELB8361

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Group Category Details
100000020 - See Notes
Date Added
23/02/1971
Supplementary Information Updated
04/11/2010
Local Authority
Scottish Borders
Planning Authority
Scottish Borders
Parish
West Linton
NGR
NT 16270 49662
Coordinates
316270, 649662

Description

Predominantly mid 19th century encorporating earlier house of 1678 for Richard Murray; enlarged and reconfigured mid 19th century for Sir William Fergusson (see Notes). Large, multi-bay, irregular-plan, country house with wealth of Scottish Baronial detailing including turrets, wings, castellations, crowstepped gables and mouldings, forming picturesque composition dominated by 4-stage, square-plan, turreted and crowstep-gabled tower to centre. Polished sandstone ashlar with moulded ashlar dressings. Stugged ashlar quoins. Base course; string courses.

FURTHER DESCRIPTION: S (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: To Centre: advanced, 2-storey canted bay with castellated parapet. Single-storey, 3-bay gable-ended wings flanking with pitched roofs and ogee-capped turrets to corner angles; various molded dormers, panels and niches; stepped pyramidal finial to left gable end.

2-storey wings with castellated parapets and canted ends extend 5-bays to right, 4-bays to left.

Tower rises behind with statue to S on corbelled base flanked by recessed segmental-arched windows.

W (ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: basket-arched entrance porch to canted end bay; armorial panel and hood-moulding above flanked by ball-finials. To left: 3-arched arcade with castellated parapet returns at NW angle, adjoining gabled outbuilding with tall octagonal stack to apex.

Predominantly 12-pane glazing to timber sash and case windows. Grey slate. Wealth of tall, octagonal-shaft stacks, one with hexagonal moulded pattern to shaft and castellated coping. Cast-iron rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: entrance vestibule contains 9 carved stone reliefs set into walls, two with Fergusson family crest; painted cartouches set in cornice. To main hall, carved stone fireplace dated 1658 depicting figures and armourials (see Notes). Carved timber panelling (probably 17th century) with fluted pilasters and arcaded motif. Intricately carved timber staircase balustrade. Compartmented ceilings to principal ground-floor public rooms with decorated ribs and floral mouldings; finely carved Jacobean oak fireplace to E room.

STABLE: single-storey, 4-bay, rectangular-plan stable, incorporating 17th or 18th century fabric. Ornamental castellated outshot with steps to S elevation. Harled rubble with coped and shouldered ends, pinapple finial to N. Interior: 4 cast-iron stalls with acorn finialled posts. Some timber panelling and corner feeders survive. Evidence of earlier usage as dwelling with remains of fireplace at first floor height at S end. Map Ref: 16228 49680.

BRIDGE: dated 1851. Single-span, segmental-arch bridge with parapet serving S driveway over water. Panel with initials to S side, WF & HHR (William Fergusson and wife, Helen Rankin of Spitalhaugh). Initials of Charles Lawson, the local quarrymaster and builder to N side. Map Ref: NT 16402 49254.

Statement of Special Interest

Part of a B-Group with: Spitalhaugh, Doocot House (see separate listing).

Spitalhaugh is a remarkable example of a large 17th century country house, remodelled during the mid 19th century with an impressive wealth of ornamental detail in the Scottish Baronial style. The various elements that comprise the house are held together by the 4-storey turreted tower dominating the centre of the composition and by the horizontality provided by the unbroken run of castellated parapets which, when viewed from across the open parkland to the south, ground the building firmly in its setting.

The tower incorporates a statue of St Andrew and a date stone of 1677 commemorating the earlier 17th house at the core of the building. The estate of Spitalhaugh was owned by the Earls of Morton from 1313 to 1671 after which a house was commenced by Richard Murray, brother of Sir Archibald Murray, third baronet of Blackbarony. William Fergusson, surgeon to the Prince Consort and Queen Victoria, expended considerable sums enlarging the property in the Baronial style. He added the single-span bridge serving the south entrance drive to the house.

The interior includes many fine elements including a stone fireplace (dated 1658) comprising 3 carved stones depicting figures, animals, armorials, finials and scrolls by the renowned local stonemason James Gifford, brought from the house he occupied at West Linton. Linked numerals dated 1864 were added at this time to ends of the lintel stone by Fergusson (see RCAHMS Inventory for detailed description of the stone).

Change of Category from B to A and list description revised at resurvey (2010).

References

Bibliography

1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1856-9), 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1896). William Chambers, History of Peeblesshire (1864). James Walter Buchan, A History of Peeblesshire - Vol I (1925) p238. Kitty Cruft, John Dunbar and Richard Fawcett, The Buildings of Scotland - Borders (2002) p488. Further information courtesy of the owner (2010).

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.

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Printed: 29/03/2024 09:38