North Synton

NT42SE 7 4858 2369.

North Synton. On examination the farmhouse of North Synton proves to be a 16th-century building, remodelled at the close of the 17th century and again in modern times.

On plan it is T-shaped, comprising an oblong block lying E. and W., which is the oldest part, and a 17th-century wing projecting from the centre of the N. side. An outshot within the NE. re-entrant angle may be contemporary with the wing, but an extension on the NW. side of the

main block and the S. porch are both modern. There are three storeys to the S., but only two to the N., where the ground rises. The masonry is rubble. The windows, where unaltered, have rounded or chamfered arrises. The chimney-stacks on the two gables of the main block have been rebuilt in brickwork, while a third, which rose from the gable of the wing, has been removed. The slate verges are modern and replace the original crow-steps. The entrance, centred in the gable of the wing, has been enlarged by the lowering of the threshold.

In 1407 Archibald, Earl of Douglas, granted the lands of North Synton

by charter to Barnaby Vach or Veitch of Dawick, with whose descendants they remained until 1641. ( Nisbet 1816)

The oldest part of the present house was probably built by James Vach, who succeeded in 1536. It is obviously the turris referred to in a charter of 1641 granted by Charles I to Francis Scott of South Synton. (Retours 1811-16; J M Thomson 1984)

RCAHMS 1957, visited 1946

This house consists of a three-storey 16th-century block with vaulted basement, which was remodelled in 1689 by the addition of a stair-wing. The house is roofed, occupied and in a good state of repair. The vaulted basement is well preserved and measures 8.6m from E to W by 4m transversely within walls up to 1.3m in thickness. It was originally entered by a round-headed doorway in the S wall, and closed by a draw-bar. The basement was lit by four deeply-splayed slit windows. Beside the E gable of the house there is the upper stone of a bun-shaped quern with horizontal handle-socket and eccentric hopper. Its provenance is unknown. Incorporated in the S gable of the steading, at the SW angle 1.3m above ground level, there is a dressed sandstone slab wrought with a fillet (NT 4848 2368).

Visited by RCAHMS (IMS) 9 September 1993.