Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

TRESTA, TRESTA HOUSE AND POST OFFICE, INCLUDING OUTBUILDINGS, WELL, GARDEN AND RETAINING WALLS, GATES, AND GATEPIERSLB44572

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category: C
Date Added: 26/03/1997

Local Authority: Shetland Islands
Planning Authority: Shetland Islands
Parish: Sandsting

NGR: HU 36302 51047
Coordinates: 436302, 1151047

Description

Mid 19th and early 20th century, incorporating earlier fabric. 2-storey, 8-bay house and post office comprising 3-bay house to E with L-plan wing projecting to rear, 5-bay post office to W, wall adjoining W gable, curving N to long range of single storey outbuildings oriented N-S; walled gardens to N and S of principal building; well to E in N garden. Whitewashed, harled and cement-rendered and lined walls, with stugged and droved sandstone dressings to older part.

SW (PRINCIPAL) ELEVATION: 5-bay asymmetrical elevation of post office to left; doors in bays to left of centre and to outer right, gabled dormers breaking eaves in bay at centre, bay to outer left, and penultimate bay to right; various window sizes at ground. 3-bay symmetrical house at right comprising vertically-boarded timber door with plate glass fanlight at ground in centre bay; windows in flanking bays, gabled dormers breaking eaves in each bay.

E GABLE: single window at 1st floor to left.

N (REAR) ELEVATION: 3-bay elevation of house to left; gabled dormer breaking eaves at 1st floor in bay to outer left, piend-roofed wing advanced in centre bay with lean-to additions to E (stone, timber and corrugated iron) and in re-entrant to W. 3 widely-spaced bays to post office at right; blank at ground, regularly fenestrated at 1st floor.

Variety of glazing; mainly 4-pane timber sash and case windows. Purple grey slate roof with concrete skew copes. Stugged sandstone apex stacks with ashlar copes and circular cans to house, cement-rendered and lined stacks to post office.

OUTBUILDINGS: 2 buildings adjoining to N and S as long range; whitewashed harl-pointed rubble walls.

E ELEVATION: pair of vertically-boarded timber doors to outer left; 3-bay elevation of N building at right; door and window in bay to outer right, vertically-boarded timber doors in bay at centre and left.

W ELEVATION: single vertically-boarded timber doors centring elevation of S building, and to right of centre in N building.

Purple-grey slate roofs with cast-iron gutters and downpipes, and concrete skew copes. Coped apex stack with circular can to N gable, weathercock on iron bracket to S gable.

WELL: square plan well-house with harled concrete wall, vertically- boarded timber door, purple-grey slate pyramidal roof, and steps inside to water.

GARDEN AND RETAINING WALLS, GATES AND GATEPIERS: random rubble wall enclosing N garden and bounding road at N, semicircular-plan wall to W, adjoining N gable of outbuildings, terminated to S by rubble gatepier with corresponding wall and gatepier to W. E drive bounded by S and N walls of N and S gardens respectively. Large whitewashed stugged sandstone gatepiers with concrete steps to S in N wall of S garden (centred opposite door to house); watercourse with rubble walls oriented E-W, bisecting garden, with Chinese bridge of 1993 at centre and concrete steps to S. Random rubble retaining wall to E with steps at W. 2-leaf vertically-boarded timber gate adjoining W elevation of principal building; concrete pier with pyramidal cap.

Statement of Special Interest

Tresta House appears to have been a mid 19th century enlargement of a thatched but-and-ben with an outbuilding to the W. A drawing of 1886 shows the present 3-bay dormered house to the right, with a single storey merchant?s premises to the left. The outbuildings contained a barn, stables, wool store, and wash house. It is thought that the garden was first laid out during the mid 19th century enlargement, and improved by successive generations. It is perhaps unique in Shetland, as the south garden is effectively an arboretum laid out by an incomer to the islands, with some of the specimen tree still surviving.

References

Bibliography

No Bibliography entries for this designation

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

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