Eyemouth, Gunsgreenhill, Eyemouth High School

The following text has been prepared as part of the HES Urban Survey of Eyemouth, 2023-24. This character assessment covers the following two Areas of Townscape Character:

-Eyemouth, Modern Area of Townscape Character (Gunsgreenhill) (NT96SW 553)

-Eyemouth, Modern Area of Townscape Character (Acredale) (NT96SW 546)

Eyemouth Modern Area of Townscape Character comprises two separate areas on the outskirts of Eyemouth -Gunsgreenhill and Acredale. Both areas are primarily residential and continue to be developed to the present day (2024).

Gunsgreenhill lies to the south-east edge of Eyemouth, with the golf course to the east and the A1107, the main road leading into Eyemouth from the A1, marking the area’s western boundary. The development sits upon land which was formerly Gunsgreenhill Farm. The two-storeyed, stone-built Victorian detached house just off Stebbings Rise, Gunsgreen Lodge, may be the original 19th-century farmhouse and is now surrounded on three sides by the Gunsgreenhill development. To the north-west, an 18th-century former windmill (of which only the base remains) also sits at the edge of the estate adjacent to later farm storage sheds (included in the adjacent Recreation (Golf Course) Area of Townscape Character).

Gunsgreenhill began to be developed as a residential area during the 1990s, when there was a growing demand for private housing in the town. A series of large plots were released in Gunsgreen Park and the south section of Stebbings Rise between 1991 and 1994, and private detached homes were built to individual designs. As these are all of a similar style using the same materials, this suggests they were built by the same developer offering individual clients a range of design options to choose from, though no documentary evidence has been found to confirm this at time of survey (2024). These are mostly bungalows, or single-storeyed-plus-attic, comprising red brick base courses, with beige/cream harling and red pantiled roofs of varying pitches and configurations. As Stebbings Rise turns north-eastwards, there is a distinct change in density and house type, to four-in-a-block, terraced and semi-detached properties built for Berwickshire Housing Association. These are also mainly beige/cream harled with yellow brick base courses and brown corrugated tile roofs. Most have projecting timber entrance porches painted in a range of colours (green, blue or orange/brown), with either sloped or pitched roofs. Some have been privately bought and extended into the attic space.

Berwickshire Housing Association continued to build further properties into Skeldon’s Brae (2003-7) at the north-eastern end of the development, and most recently (2007-8) on Sanderson Way to the east. Skeldon’s Brae comprises eighteen semi-detached and terraced two-storeyed houses, all cream/white rendered with sections of orange or pale blue/grey rendering at ground-floor level, and either red pantile or grey corrugated tile roofs to match the render. All have small timber-clad sections above the entrances, with those on the north-western side of the cul-de-sac projecting over a shallow glazed entrance porch. The development of nine two-storeyed houses on Sanderson Way, formed of three terraced blocks, was designed by Oliver Chapman Architects and built by James Swinton & Co. This received a Commendation for design in the 2008 Saltire Society Housing Design competition, along with being shortlisted for the 2009 RIBA Awards. The houses have white rendered ground floors and black rendered upper floors, with dark grey tiled roofs, and incorporate large, glazed entrance stairwell and study areas on their south-facing front elevations to maximise light into the properties. Opposite the terraces are a children’s playpark and basketball court.

Contemporary to these residential properties was the building of a new High School for Eyemouth (NT96SW 501) in 2009-10 at the south end of the development. The town’s secondary school moved here partly due to the growing population of the town, and partly due to lack of space to expand in its previous location on Coldingham Road. The school is located off the main A1107 road into Eyemouth, surrounded by a range of playing fields. The building is composed of an E-plan southern section with a central wing extending to the north. The main entrance is in a projecting semi-circular section of orange/red render with large glazed panels lighting an atrium. Yellow brick forms the base course of the building as well as blocks of yellow brick on the various elevations enclosing white, grey and orange rendered sections throughout the building, which has a metal pitched roof. Further housing development is planned in the Gunsgreenhill area, including fields adjacent to the High School, and two fields flanking the main road to the golf course, noted below.

The Acredale area sits in the south-westernmost point of the town, with the A1107 forming the north-eastern boundary. The area actually has its origins in the late 19th century. The south-eastern corner of the modern estate is occupied by a group of five detached and semi-detached former farm cottages dating from this period. Although the cottages have been substantially modernised, with new tiled roofs and harling/render, they mostly retain their original brick chimneys on the gable walls, stone walls to their rear gardens, and some of the original outbuildings attached to these walls. As a result of the modernisation of the cottages, they fit into the character of the surrounding area, despite being much older.

Acredale’s modern private housing development began in 2004 on the western side of the A1107 leading out of Eyemouth. This first phase was Hallydown Crescent, a series of cul-de-sacs on the north side of Acredale Road, built by housebuilders George Wimpey (Taylor Wimpey since 2007 when two housebuilding firms of George Wimpey and Taylor Woodrow merged). This part of the estate comprises two-storeyed, detached and semi-detached houses, built of yellow or red brick with cream and white harling, grey tiled or red pantiled roofs. The range of standard house designs and the layout of the streets are typical of this period of housebuilding seen across Scotland, and the UK, by Wimpey and other large-scale housebuilders in many other late 20th-/early 21st-century housing estates.

As per Scottish Government legislation, a proportion (currently (2024) 25%) of the Taylor Wimpey development was required to be allocated to affordable housing, and this was provided via partnership with Berwickshire Housing Association, beginning with phase one on Acredale Road. The western portion of this area has been designated for further housing association properties, and work continued with a second phase in 2014 (Acredale Road and Nisbet Avenue), and now a third phase in 2024 (Willis Way and Dow Drive). BHA worked in partnership with local firms Bain Swan Architects and James Swinton & Co, builders, during the first phase, and are working in partnership with Hart Builders on the current phase in Willis Way and Dow Drive. Typical of modern (early 21st century) developments, the area feels very open, with no boundary fences, walls or hedges to front gardens, and reasonably wide streets, maintaining the same scale and similar layout to the private Hallydown Crescent/Acredale Road development. Most are terraced or semi-detached, with a few properties having external forestairs leading to first-floor flats over ground-floor ones. The houses on the north side of Acredale Road which form part of the first phase have slightly projecting glazed porches with skylights, to increase heat and light into the space. Other properties have a sloping canopy above the entrances. Materials and finishes are similar across all phases of the housing association properties: white or cream render/harling, grey tiled or red pantiled roofs, and sections of timber-style cladding in grey or reddish brown. All have solar panels fitted to south-facing roofs.

The other area of Eyemouth earmarked for further housing and included as part of the Modern (Gunsgreenhill) Area of Townscape Character, is two fields flanking the road through Eyemouth golf course. These have been assigned for housing under the Scottish Borders Council Local Plan (adopted 2016 and included in proposed Plan 2023) but no specific plans for the layout or design of the new development have been drawn up at the time of writing (2024). The area has been included as part of this Area of Townscape Character for the purposes of the Eyemouth Urban Survey in anticipation of any development. However, at the time of writing (2024) this area remains in agricultural use.

More in-depth discussion on the character of 11 further Areas of Townscape Character identified in the town can be found under:

-Eyemouth, Historic Burgh and Harbour Area of Townscape Character (NT96SW 551)

-Eyemouth, Victorian Expansion Area of Townscape Character (NT96SW 549)

-Eyemouth, Inter-War Area of Townscape Character (Hurkur Crescent and Schools) (NT96SW 548)

-Eyemouth, Mid- to Late C20 Area of Townscape Character (The Avenue) (NT96SW 552)

-Eyemouth, Mid- to Late C20 Area of Townscape Character (Barefoots) (NT96SW 544)

-Eyemouth, Mid- to Late C20 Area of Townscape Character (Deanhead) (NT96SW 545)

-Eyemouth, Mid- to Late C20 Area of Townscape Character (Gillsland) (NT96SW 550)

-Eyemouth, Industrial Area of Townscape Character (Acredale and Eyemouth Industrial Estates) (NT96SW 547)

-Eyemouth, Industrial Area of Townscape Character (Gunsgreenhill Industrial Estate) (NT96SW 554)

-Eyemouth, Recreation Area of Townscape Character (Holiday Park) (NT96SW 543)

-Eyemouth, Recreation Area of Townscape Character (Golf Course) (NT96SE 41)

Information from HES (LCK) 30th April 2025