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Summary

Description

A pair of semi-detached, two storey, three bay houses, dating from the early to mid-19th century with rear additions dating from the later 19th century. The houses are roughly rectangular plan and are built of coursed sandstone with painted margins. They are located fronting the road through the village of Waterbeck.

The house on the left (the former village shop/Donaldson's Store) has a former shopfront at the ground floor with three full height windows. The house on the right (Waterbeck House) has projecting mullioned bay windows on the ground floor, a central doorpiece with doric pilasters and two small gabled dormers. The houses have a band course between floors, an eaves course and cornice. The windows are predominantly timber sash and case, the ground floor shop windows are plate glass and there are some replacement uPVC windows on the rear elevation of the former shop. The roofs are pitched and slated with end stacks and there are roof lights on the roof of the former shop.

The exterior of Waterbeck House has a small front garden surrounded by low stone boundary walls with stone gatepiers and iron railings.

Images of the interior of the former village shop/Donaldson's Store were seen in 2025. The ground floor retains some elements of the former shop function including a largely open plan 'shop' space with metal column supports and a cupboard with safe inset into the southeast wall. The later 19th century addition to the former shop contains a decorative wooden stair rail with 'barley twist' spindles.

Historical Development

'Waterbeck' is shown on Crawford's map of Dumfriesshire of 1804 as a small settlement. The village of Waterbeck is described in Pigot and Co.'s directory of 1837 as being 'greatly and improved and almost the whole of it rebuilt by Mr. Robert Carlyle, the proprietor'. It is possible that the buildings (Waterbeck House and the former village shop/Donaldson's store) were built as part of this development of the village in the early 19th century. On the first edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed: 1857, published: 1858) there is a settlement labelled 'Old Waterbeck' and to the south of this a small village labelled 'Waterbeck' has been developed with a United Presbyterian Church and manse. Waterbeck House and the former Village Shop/Donaldson's Store are shown on this map as two adjoining rectangular-plan buildings. This map shows the house on the right with a small projecting porch to the centre of the principal south elevation and a boundary wall fronting the road. On the second Edition Ordnance Survey Map (surveyed 1898, published 1889) a small rectangular addition is shown to the rear of the left building (containing the decorative stair) and a larger rectangular addition is shown to the right building. Two bays are shown to the principal southeast elevation of Waterbeck House on this map.

On the national grid map (surveyed 1970, published 1971) the former shop on the left is labelled 'P.O' for post office.

An image of from 1975 (Trove.scot, SC 1631952), shows the building on the left in use as 'The village shop'. The exterior of the houses appears substantially unaltered since this date. Some glazing in the rear later 19th century addition of the former Village Shop/Donaldson's Store has been replaced with Upvc.

Statement of Special Interest

Waterbeck House and the Village Shop meets the criteria of special architectural or historic interest for the following reasons:

• It is a good surviving example of a traditional domestic building which incorporates a former shop at the ground floor and retains much of its historic character, particularly to the front elevation.
• It retains a good degree of authenticity in its surviving exterior form and later alterations have not adversely affected its historic early 19th century character.
• The survival of features from the use of part of the building as a shop including the ground floor shop windows and the metal column supports and safe cupboard inset in the interior add to its interest.
• Its historic setting is largely intact and it forms part of a group of buildings of in the village dating from the late 18th to mid-19th century which are also listed.
• It dates from the early to mid-19th century and is good representative example of its prolific building type.

Supplementary information in listed building record updated in 2026.

References

Bibliography

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