Building record MAB6751 - NORTH COLLEGE LODGE, NORTH COLLEGE STREET, ELGIN

Town house, that was originally one of the manses of the Cathedral (NJ26SW0001), called the manse of Inverkeithing, and that is now much altered and a private residence split into three separate dwellings.

Town house, that was originally one of the manses of the Cathedral (NJ26SW0001), called the manse of Inverkeithing, and that is now much altered and a private residence split into three separate dwellings. The North wing was built by Dean Gavin Dunbar in the late 15th century. His successor (also called Gavin Dunbar) added the West wing in 1520. It was purchased by James Robertson in 1784, and there were further additions by Alexander Robertson in 1858, when it was recast as a modern house. It is a large L-plan two-storey and attic house, with considerable alterations and additions. It is constructed of rubble, with some harling, and ashlar dressings. There are few remains left of the early dated sections of the building. There are 17th century rolled mouldings to the South-East windows, and a large chimney and garderobe corbelled out at the North elevation. Most of the windows were enlarged in the late 18th/early 19th century, when a large three-storey bowed bay with a semi-conical roof was added to the West elevation. The mid-19th century present entrance is inserted in a broad bowed full-height bay in the re-entrant angle. There is a corbelled gabled hood to the door, and a corbelled second storey with two wallhead pedimented dormers. There are similarly pedimented decorative dormers on the South and East elevations. There is a later 19th century single storey and attic T-plan extension to the North, with an advanced outer gabled bay to the East and West. All the gables are crowstepped, and there are coped chimney stacks and slated roofs. A datestone showing 1520 is a 19th century renewal. Inside, there is a barrel-vaulted ground floor and a scale and plat staircase, probably of late-17th century date. To the South-East is a mid-19th century asymmetrical two-storey and attic gabled lodge. It is constructed from coursed rubble and harling, with ashlar dressings. It has a gabled porch and a canted bay to the East. There is a cusped window below a coped stack, with three diamond corniced flues. There are decorative bargeboards and a slate roof.

Period Notes
Earliest section built in the late-15th century, with additions in 1520. There are 17th century roll-mouldings to some windows, and many of them were enlarged in the late-18th/early-19th centuries. It was recast as a modernised house in 1858. Listed designation given on 20/08/1981.

CANT, RG, 1954, OLD ELGIN, 13 (Bibliographic reference). SAB217.

MCKEAN, C, 1987, MORAY: AN ILLUSTRATED ARCHITECTURAL GUIDE, p.15 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1142.

BOGDAN, NQ, 1991, Castles, Manors & Town House survey, p.37 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2251.

Jun 16 2009 , GR DG3565-76, GR DG3565-76 (Ground Photograph). SAB32221.

Author unknown, n.d., THE NORTHERN SCOT, 06/09/80 (Bibliographic reference). SAB1270.

Record last edited

Oct 8 2024 3:27PM