Archaeology Notes
Event ID 860641
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Archaeology Notes
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/860641
NT29SE 191 28446 92059
NMRS REFERENCE:
Scottish Field, February 1937 - 1 newspaper cutting. (Missing at time of upgrade, 2.9.1997).
NT 2844 9205 Drawn survey and analytical record of the complex roof structure of this 17th-century building was undertaken between March and December 2006 in advance of and during repairs; general reassessment of the analytical history of the building. The reappraisal of the building, hitherto dated variously between the 16th and early 18th centuries and often thought to be multi-phase, concluded that it was of a single general period - the late 17th century (1670s). This was based upon stylistic details, a dated fireplace of 1676, the arms of Charles II relief-moulded in plaster, general stratigraphic analysis of the masonry fabric, and the homogeneity of the roof structure.
A principal conclusion of the analysis was that five of the six individual roof structures were of the same construction programme and that the remaining one, over a rear jamb to the NW, was erected shortly thereafter. The six individual structures are essentially complete, with each frame in correct numbered order. Together they represent a wide repertoire of carpentry detailing, addressing a variety of individual constructional needs. It was concluded that the erection of the roof structures, following on from the mason work, constituted a discrete (presumably contractual) episode carried out by a single team.
It is suggested that, though built in a single operation, the building was originally intended as two properties for individual proprietors, a suggestion supported by the absence of evidence for intercommunication between the E and W parts of the structure. This might also explain the considerable contrast in the detailing of the two gabled street-facing jambs - one jettied-out on stone consoles and crow-stepped, the other originally flat-skewed with scrolled skew-putts.
The fitting out of the interiors appears to have been a separate operation undertaken by different craftsmen. In contrast to the homogeneity of the roof structures there is a clear division between interior schemes in the E and W parts of the building.
To the E there was a principal second floor chamber that extended up into the roof structure (now subdivided). The combing of the roof structure was furbished with lining boards and decorated with bold false panelling in tempera (there is an exact parallel at Law's Close, Kirkcaldy). However, the collars were finished as an open beam-and-board ceiling, the soffits of the boards decorated with a freehand 'scroll-like' scheme similar to the existing one on the floor below (also with an exact parallel at Law's Close). This decorative scheme necessitated the removal of the original, irregularly aligned roof collars and the insertion of new evenly set collars at a lower level. The rare remains of two early skylights survive in this roof area.
In the W part of the building attic rooms were formed by the laying of common joists upon the wall heads; these were unconnected to the roof structure. The ceilings thereby created were of open beam-and-board form, apparently undecorated. Wall plaster onto the hard incorporated moulded plaster motifs - thistles, roses, vines, etc.
It was possible to identify many direct parallels and contrasts between the constructional details and decorative schemes of Sailors' Walk and other such buildings in Kirkcaldy and further afield.
Archive to be lodged with NTS and NMRS.
Sponsor: The National Trust for Scotland.
T Addyman, K Macfadyen and F Boisserie, 2006.
