Bo'ness, Kinneil Area Of Townscape Character

This site covers the Kinneil Area of Townscape Character which was defined as part of the Bo'ness Urban Survey Project 2013. The text below relates to the whole area.

Historical Development and Topography

Kinneil Area of Townscape Character lies on the western edge of Bo’ness and includes the oldest building in the area, Kinneil House, with its origins in the 15th century. Several additions and remodelling were carried out on the house during the 16th and 17th centuries, which lies within extensive parkland with associated woodland and other ancillary buildings still surviving in the vicinity. The axial approach to the 17th century palace front of Kinneil is the strongest element of designed landscape within the area. Nearby is the walled garden along with various rubble-built cottages and estate buildings of 18th and 19th century date. The ruins of one of the estate buildings is recognised as being the cottage and workshop where James Watt (1736-1819) and Dr John Roebuck (1718-94), the then owner of Kinneil House and founder of the Carron Iron Works in Falkirk, began working on improved steam engines to pump water from Roebuck’s nearby pits. When Roebuck became bankrupt in 1773, Watt continued his work with Matthew Boulton of Birmingham (1728-1809) and the improved steam engine design was perfected. This group of buildings forms a distinct character area of its own forming the northern third of the area.

The area remained virtually undeveloped until the post-WWII era when several private housing schemes were built from c.1950 to the present day. The main public building in the area is the local primary school, Deanburn Primary School, which was originally built in the early 1970s, during a time of expansion in the area. The school was badly damaged by fire in 2002, and a new school was built in 2004-5. This forms the most recent development in the area.

Present Character

Kinneil House is the main landmark building in this area, with its origins in the late 15th century. The original two-storeyed-plus-basement tower house (the north section of the house now partly ruinous) was extended and remodelled to the south in the 16th and 17th centuries, with the addition of a ‘palace’ range c. 1553-5. This has a five-storeyed, three-bayed, balustraded central section with slightly projecting four-storeyed towers with pyramidal roofs. The interior contains several 16th century painted wall and ceiling decorations, the discovery of which saved the building from demolition in the late 1930s.

The area around Kinneil House is characterised by the axial approach drive and a pattern of estate roads. The rest of the area consists of residential developments on curving roads and cul-de-sacs within the peripheral Crawfield Road and Provost Road which enclose the area on its western boundary. There are large open spaces within the layout of the southern part of Kinneil, which gives the area a slightly more open feel, despite the fairly high density of development.

Apart from the earlier buildings of the Kinneil Estate dating from 15th to 19th centuries the area is predominantly brick and roughcast with tiled or slated roofs. The late 20th century developments consist of terraced and detached houses or bungalows within medium-sized garden plots typical of the period. The design of the houses is very plain, with the use of mixed materials (brick, harling and timber panelling) on some of the earlier developments being the main characteristic features. Many of the detached houses from the 1960s and 1970s have steep gables to the upper floors, but most are simple two-storeyed designs.

Information from RCAHMS (LK), 16th December 2013