Cranshaws Parish Church, Manse, Outbuilding

NT 69193 61943 and NT 69173 61921 A basic historic building survey was carried out, on 19 October 2021, of the Old Manse and associated bothy in Cranshaws in the Scottish Borders prior to development. The work was required as a condition on the planning consent for the development, which will see the alterations and extensions to the existing house and a change of use of the bothy to form two holiday cottages in addition to an extension to the bothy to provide stables and studio space.

The Old Manse is a mid-late 18th-century former clergy house associated with the adjacent parish church at Cranshaws. It replaced an earlier building on the site and probably incorporated this earlier fabric within its build. To expand the rooms inside the house, later additions were made to the rear wing, which was also possibly raised at some point to incorporate a larger first floor. The adjacent bothy may well be contemporary with the building of the present house, or soon after, and has retained its cobbled flooring throughout. Changes of use and function through the building’s life meant that inserted windows were placed in the N and W elevations and another window blocked to the W elevation.

Archive: NRHE (intended) Funder: Private individual

Diana Sproat – AOC Archaeology Group

(Source: DES Vol 22)