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

CULZEAN CASTLE ESTATE, DOLPHIN HOUSE, INLCUDING CISTERN AND WATER CHANNELLB7608

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Group Category Details
100000019 - See Notes
Date Added
14/04/1971
Local Authority
South Ayrshire
Planning Authority
South Ayrshire
Parish
Kirkoswald
NGR
NS 23035 10179
Coordinates
223035, 610179

Description

William Reid, 1840; later alterations by ARP Lorimer, 2000-2001. 2-storey, 3-bay central block flanked by single storey pavilions, lower outshot to W, castellated former estate laundry, with crowstep gables and corner bartizans. Squared rubble, with random rubble (N elevation), and droved ashlar dressings. Sited on seashore with beach to N and entrance front to S. S ELEVATION: 2-storey, 3-bay advanced central block with doorway to right. Moulded corniced string course between floors. Ocular windows at upper floor. Roofless bartizans on corners. 12-pane window with sidelights and roofless bartizan on W wing. 2 12-pane windows (1 with sidelights) and roofless bartizan to E wing. N ELEVATION: flush façade with Serlian window to lower central bay. Other fenestration irregular.

Timber windows in sash and case. Grey slate roofs. Stone crosses on apex of skews. Diagonally set square chimney stack to E gable.

INTERIOR (seen 2010): no original features evident. Ground floor: kitchen and dining room, teaching room, showers and conveniences. First floor: offices. Plasterboard walls and ceilings, timber tongue and groove wall panelling, concrete floors and concrete staircase with panelled timber balustrade.

CISTERN AND WATER CHANNEL: rubble barrel-vaulted cistern structure and stone-lined water channel and pool to S of building.

Statement of Special Interest

Part of an A-group at Culzean Castle Estate comprisesing: Culzean Castle; Castle Walls etc; Fountain Court etc; Ruined Arch and Viaduct; Stable Block etc; Camellia House; Cat Gates; Home Farm; Powder House; Ardlochan Lodge; Dolphin House; Hoolity Ha'; Swan Pond Complex; Swan Pond Ice House; Walled Garden; Bathing Complex; Water Works; Shore Boat House; Battery and Mast House; Main Drive Walls and Piers; Gas Works.

Built for the 1st Marquess of Ailsa, this utilitarian laundry building was clearly designed to have an ornamental appearance when viewed from the Castle, clifftops or from the sea. This building was an obvious emulation of Robert Adam's Home Farm buildings (1787) located on the clifftop to the east of the castle, where all of the architectural motifs used here are to be found. The cottage at Culzean's Gas Works and Enoch Lodge (see separate listings) were also executed in this style in the same period and demonstrates a consistency and a clear interest in maintaining a distinct architectural identity for the estate over many decades.

After use as a laundry, the building was converted and used as a dwelling for many years before conversion to its current educational use as part of South Ayrshire Council's Outdoor Centre. The fenestration on the north elevation was altered during residential use, while the chimney stack on the east gable has been installed since 1988, before which there were cans attached to the apex of both gable skews. The remains of a natural water supply for the laundry is extant beside the drying/bleaching green to the S of the building, now converted to form an ornamental water feature.

Together with the outstanding ornamental landscape of its estate, Culzean Castle is acknowledged as the epitome of the Picturesque movement in Scotland, in its own right and is a work of international importance. Culzean, at one time the largest estate in Ayrshire, has been associated with the Kennedy family since the Middle Ages. It was gifted by Gilbert the 4th Earl of Cassillis to his brother Thomas Kennedy, in 1569. In the 1660s, the barmekin around the tower house was breached to create the terraced gardens, orchards, and walled garden for which Culzean was notable, while the caves beneath the castle ' now a scheduled monument ' were fortified to serve as secure stores. Culzean Castle became the principal family seat when Sir Thomas Kennedy (1726-75) became the 9th Earl of Cassillis, in 1759. A continuing programme of improvements was undertaken by Sir Thomas and his successors during the 18th and 19th centuries. The 10th Earl began rebuilding the Castle to designs by Robert Adam. This work was continued by Archibald (1770-1846), the 12th Earl, later the 1st Marquess of Ailsa. From about 1810 onwards he commissioned numerous structures, both practical and ornamental, and several important architects and landscape designers were engaged to embellish the gardens and grounds with ponds, gates, lodges and pavilions, resulting in several key works of the Picturesque era. The 3rd Marquess undertook the modernisation and enlargement of the Castle in the 1870s. In 1945, the 5th Marquess of Ailsa divided the property, making over the Castle, and the policies immediately surrounding it, to the National Trust for Scotland. Conversion of 1950s interior scheme to outdoor education centre, with office space, 2000-2001 by ARP Lorimer Architects.

William Reid (died 1849) was in practice in Glasgow during the early 19th century. He is known to have designed the classical St George's Church, Paisley (1819) and possibly the castellated County Buildings there. He won a prize in 1813 for his Calton Hill scheme.

List description revised as part of the Culzean Castle Estate Review 2010-11.

References

Bibliography

1st Edition Ordnance Survey (1854-9). H Colvin A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects 1600-1840 (1978). Michael S Moss, The Magnificent Castle of Culzean & the Kennedy Family (2002) p146. Historic Scotland Inventory of Gardens & Designed Landscapes. Additional information from Kinlay Laidlaw, National Trust for Scotland Area Surveyor.

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.

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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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Printed: 28/03/2024 13:24