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
TORTHORWALD VILLAGE MILL COTTAGELB17152
Status: Designated
Documents
There are no additional online documents for this record.
Summary
- Category
- C
- Date Added
- 03/08/1971
- Supplementary Information Updated
- 08/10/2026
- Local Authority
- Dumfries And Galloway
- Planning Authority
- Dumfries And Galloway
- Parish
- Torthorwald
- NGR
- NY 03311 78354
- Coordinates
- 303311, 578354
Description
The building is likely a late 18th/early 19th century single storey three-bay cottage with basement to rear. Located on the roadside opposite Torthorwald Castle (Scheduled Monument reference SM731) and set into a steeply falling slope. It is built of whitewashed rubble with painted ashlar margins. The front (south) elevation has a central door flanked at both sides by modern sash and case windows with a 12-pane glazing pattern. A low whitewashed with cope boundary wall separates the front elevation from the road.
The rear (north) elevation is two-storey and built on falling ground directly overlooking the Torthorwald Burn. It is characterised by asymmetrical windows openings and a door at basement level.
The pitched roof is covered in modern slates replacements and has sandstone straight skews and corniced gable-end chimney stacks. The windows and doors are mostly modern replacements.
The interior (seen in images from 2026) is characterised by low ceiling rooms has been largely modernised. It includes exposed timber beams, timber panelled doors, a painted timber staircase with decorative balusters and a modern timber fireplace.
Mill Cottage is first shown on the 1856 Ordnance Survey map and forms part of the historic core of Torthorwald Village. The long-established village of Torthorwald is situated on the main road between Dumfries and Lochmaben and east of the Lochar Water. It is set within the typical, rural, Scottish Lowlands landscape characterised by farmlands and pastures.
In the 13th century the village was the property of the Torthorwald family and was erected a burgh of barony in 1473. Torthorwald Castle, now ruinous, was the property of the Kirkpatrick and Carlyle families.
Statement of Special Interest
Torthorwald Village Mill Cottage meets the criteria for listing for the following reasons:
- The building is a good example of a late 18th/early 19th century cottage which retains its historic character, particularly to the street elevation.
- Its mid-19th century setting is largely intact and forms part of an architecturally and historically significant group of other designated buildings in the vicinity.
- For its prominent location on the roadside and contribution to the historic streetscape at the centre of the village of Torthorwald.
- It is not a rare or particularly early example of its domestic building type but its design quality and features are representative and typical for a historic house of this date for the region.
Supplementary information in listed building record updated in 2026.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
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.