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

Miller’s Cottage (3 Mill Wynd), including byre (part of Byre House) and excluding the kitchen extension to the cottage and the rest of Byre House at 4 Mill Wynd, East LintonLB26680

Status: Designated

Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

Summary

Category
C
Date Added
28/03/1990
Last Date Amended
12/08/2025
Local Authority
East Lothian
Planning Authority
East Lothian
Burgh
East Linton
NGR
NT 59252 77222
Coordinates
359252, 677222

Dating from around 1800, Miller's Cottage is a single-storey, three-bay cottage with a single-storey and attic former byre abutting the cottage's northwest gable at right angles. The cottage is constructed in random whinstone rubble with red sandstone dressings. The principal (southwest) elevation has a central doorway flanked by square (possibly enlarged) window openings. There is a small, round-arched foot-scraper recess to the left of the door. 

 

The rear (northeast) elevation of the cottage has one visible square window opening in the left-hand bay with 12-pane glazing in a timber sash and case frame. A later concrete external stair leads up to a raised deck. A timber-clad kitchen extension was added on to the rear of the property around 2012 (this is excluded from the listing). The southeast gable is blank. 

 

The cottage has replacement timber sash and case window frames with a 16-pane glazing pattern to the principal elevation. The roof is covered in red pantiles and has straight skews and end chimneystacks. 

 

The former byre is now a house and is part of the neighbouring property, Byre House at no.4 Mill Wynd. It is constructed in random whinstone rubble and has a hayloft opening breaking the roof eaves. Some later openings have been added (or unblocked) to the northwest and northeast elevations. The roof is covered in red pantiles with two later rooflights in the southeast roof pitch. There is a later end chimneystack (dating from around 2012) with crow-steps below to the northeast gable. The byre is slightly lower in height to the rest of Byre House (which is excluded from the listing).

 

The interior decorative schemes of the cottage and byre largely date from the early-21st century. The byre interior has steel-beam support bracing.

 

Historical development

 

A building survey and desk-based assessment compiled by CFA Archaeology in 2010 prior to the byre's conversion to a dwelling indicates that the byre was probably the original building at the site and 3 and 4 Mill Wynd were built onto it in around 1800 (Trove.scot). 

 

Miller's Cottage and byre are first shown in detail on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1853. The footprint of these and the wider range of buildings on the site have not changed significantly since that shown on the 1st Edition map. A kitchen extension was added onto the rear of Miller's Cottage around 2011-12.

 

The byre was converted to a dwelling around the same time and is now part of Byre House at 4 Mill Wynd. Historically, the hayloft opening would have been accessed by an external stair (as shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1906). Internally, the hayloft floor was removed at some point prior to its conversion to a dwelling in 2011-12 (John Gray Centre).   

Description

Dating from around 1800, Miller's Cottage is a single-storey, three-bay cottage with a single-storey and attic former byre abutting the cottage's northwest gable at right angles. The cottage is constructed in random whinstone rubble with red sandstone dressings. The principal (southwest) elevation has a central doorway flanked by square (possibly enlarged) window openings. There is a small, round-arched foot-scraper recess to the left of the door.

The rear (northeast) elevation of the cottage has one visible square window opening in the left-hand bay with 12-pane glazing in a timber sash and case frame. A later concrete external stair leads up to a raised deck. A timber-clad kitchen extension was added on to the rear of the property around 2012 (this is excluded from the listing). The southeast gable is blank.

The cottage has replacement timber sash and case window frames with a 16-pane glazing pattern to the principal elevation. The roof is covered in red pantiles and has straight skews and end chimneystacks.

The former byre is now a house and is part of the neighbouring property, Byre House at no.4 Mill Wynd. It is constructed in random whinstone rubble and has a hayloft opening breaking the roof eaves. Some later openings have been added (or unblocked) to the northwest and northeast elevations. The roof is covered in red pantiles with two later rooflights in the southeast roof pitch. There is a later end chimneystack (dating from around 2012) with crow-steps below to the northeast gable. The byre is slightly lower in height to the rest of Byre House (which is excluded from the listing).

The interior decorative schemes of the cottage and byre largely date from the early-21st century. The byre interior has steel-beam support bracing.

Historical development

A building survey and desk-based assessment compiled by CFA Archaeology in 2010 prior to the byre's conversion to a dwelling indicates that the byre was probably the original building at the site and 3 and 4 Mill Wynd were built onto it in around 1800 (Trove.scot).

Miller's Cottage and byre are first shown in detail on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1853. The footprint of these and the wider range of buildings on the site have not changed significantly since that shown on the 1st Edition map. A kitchen extension was added onto the rear of Miller's Cottage around 2011-12.

The byre was converted to a dwelling around the same time and is now part of Byre House at 4 Mill Wynd. Historically, the hayloft opening would have been accessed by an external stair (as shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1906). Internally, the hayloft floor was removed at some point prior to its conversion to a dwelling in 2011-12 (John Gray Centre).

Statement of Special Interest

Miller's Cottage and byre meets the criteria for listing for the following reasons:

  • Miller's Cottage dates to around 1800 and the byre is likely earlier in date. They are good surviving examples of a traditional vernacular cottage and former byre constructed in good quality materials.
  • While there has been substantial renovation of the byre and cottage, both of these buildings retain enough of their historic fabric (particularly to their front elevations), style and overall form, to convey their historic and vernacular character.
  • The cottage and byre retain their historic setting and, located in a conservation area alongside other buildings of a similar date and type, they make a positive contribution to the local streetscape.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: the kitchen extension to the cottage and the rest of Byre House at 4 Mill Wynd.

Architectural or historic interest:

Architectural interest

The design and character of Miller's Cottage indicates it was constructed around 1800. It was probably built as a mill worker's cottage with an adjacent byre that may be slightly earlier in date. Both buildings are of traditional whinstone construction with red sandstone dressings which visually complement their neighbouring properties along Mill Wynd. They are of special architectural and historic interest for their early date and their relative lack of later alteration to the external form and the preservation of the buildings' historic character seen in their rooflines, fabric and openings.

There has been substantial renovation of both buildings, including the addition of a replacement roof structure and the reinstatement (and introduction) of some window and door openings to the rear and side elevations of the former byre, as well as replacement windows and a timber-clad kitchen extension to the cottage. Overall, however, these changes are well-integrated and, as such, they do not visually detract from the principal elevations of these buildings which retain much of their early 19th century form and character.

The cottage and byre are located along Mill Wynd within the wider East Linton Conservation Area (CA1), and they form part of a group of contemporary cottages and houses of similar construction and date, including 5 Mill Wynd (LB26681, listed at category C), 6 Mill Wynd (LB26682, listed at category B). Together, Miller's Cottage and the byre contribute to the historic setting of East Linton which is further enhanced by a mixture of listed and unlisted historic buildings along Bridge Street, The Square and Bridge End.

Historic interest

Traditional cottages of the single-storey, three-bay type, dating from the late-18th/early-19th century can be found across Scotland and they are not a rare building type. Examples which survive and retain their original character are increasingly rare. Those that survive largely in their original form may be of interest for listing. Miller's Cottage and the byre are of interest because they form a good grouping of vernacular buildings along Mill Wynd which are likely to have been historically associated with the milling heritage of the area.

While both buildings are now modernised (and in the case of the byre converted to a house), the retention of much of their late-18th/early-19th century design, plan form, setting and overall character, particularly to their front elevations, is of interest.

Statutory address, category of listing changed from B to C and listed building record revised in 2025. Previously listed as '3 MILL WYND'.

References

Bibliography

Trove: https://www.trove.scot/ Place Record UIDs 56255 and 56256

Maps

Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1853, published 1854) Haddingtonshire, Sheet 6. 6 inches to the mile. 1st Edition. Southampton: Ordnance Survey.

Ordnance Survey (revised 1892, published 1894) Haddingtonshire VI.13. 25 inches to the mile. 2nd Edition. Southampton: Ordnance Survey.

Ordnance Survey (revised 1906, published 1907) Haddingtonshire VI.13. 25 inches to the mile. Later Edition. Southampton: Ordnance Survey.

Ordnance Survey (revised 1963-4, published 1965) National Grid maps: NT5877-NT5977-AA. 25 inches to the mile. Southampton: Ordnance Survey.

Online Sources

John Gray Centre. East Linton, 3, 4 Mill Wynd, at https://www.johngraycentre.org/collections/getrecord/ELHER_MEL856/ [accessed 20/05/2025].

John Gray Centre. Historic Building Appraisal at 3-4 Mill Wynd, at https://www.johngraycentre.org/collections/getrecord/ELHER_EEL624/ [accessed 20/05/2025].

John Gray Centre. East Linton, Mill Wynd, Byre House at https://www.johngraycentre.org/collections/getrecord/ELHER_MEL857/ [accessed 20/05/2025].

RCAHMS. Aerial Photography (2007) Oblique aerial view of the village centred on the road bridges, railway viaduct and church, taken from the south, at https://www.trove.scot/image/1070812 [accessed 20/05/2025].

RCAHMS. Aerial Photography (2007) Oblique aerial view of the village centred on the road bridges, railway viaduct and church, taken from north northeast, at https://www.trove.scot/image/1070810 [accessed 20/05/2025].

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.

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Images

3 Mill Wynd, principal elevation, looking northeast, during daytime on an overcast day.
Miller’s Cottage (3 Mill Wynd) and adjoining byre, principal elevation, looking north, during daytime, on an overcast day

Printed: 24/08/2025 19:58