Corseyard Farm

Last updated

Corseyard Farm
The Coo Palace
CooPalace.jpg
The view from the south east
Corseyard Farm
General information
Type Dairy farm, converted into holiday accommodation
Architectural styleGothic Revival
Classification Category A listed building
LocationNear Kirkandrews, Dumfries and Galloway
CountryScotland
Coordinates 54°48′44″N4°11′39″W / 54.81222°N 4.19417°W / 54.81222; -4.19417 (Corseyard Farm) Coordinates: 54°48′44″N4°11′39″W / 54.81222°N 4.19417°W / 54.81222; -4.19417 (Corseyard Farm)
Construction started1911
Completed1914
Renovated2020
OwnerHoliday Property Bond
Design and construction
ArchitectG M Higginbottom
Designations Category A listed building
Renovating team
ArchitectJMP Architects
Website
www.hpb.co.uk/property-portfolio/coo-palace/details

Corseyard Farm, known locally as the Coo Palace and now marketed under that name, is an architecturally unusual dairy farm near Kirkandrews in Scotland, built between 1911 and 1914 and since converted into holiday accommodation. Erected for the Manchester businessman James Brown as part of a series of flamboyant improvements to the Knockbrex Estate, which he had bought in 1894, it was designed in the Gothic Revival style to resemble a fortified castle with battlemented roofs, arrowslit windows and arched entrances.

Contents

The buildings were designated a Category A listed building in 1981, by which time they were already in a dilapidated condition. A number of schemes were proposed to rescue and repurpose the buildings between 1990 and 2010, and in 2017 consent was given for it to be converted into holiday accommodation by the Holiday Property Bond. Work was carried out on the site between 2018 and 2020, and it opened to receive its first holidaymakers in 2020.

Description

Corseyard Farm is a collection of dairy farm buildings about 1 kilometre (0.6 mi) west of Kirkandrews in Kirkcudbrightshire. Designed in a distinctive and flamboyant manner, primarily in the Gothic Revival style and incorporating elements of Arts and Crafts and Art Nouveau design, [1] it was converted into holiday accommodation between 2018 and 2020. [2] The principal buildings are laid out around a square courtyard. [3] On the south side of the courtyard is the main block, which was originally a milking parlour. It is buttressed, and accessed by round arched entrances at either end, and its walls are pierced by large cruciform mock-arrowslit windows. [4] On the north side of this is a tall battlemented tower, surmounted by a turret; [4] originally this was built as a water tower, but it did not work properly and was soon disused. [1] [5] The "heavy detailing" of these buildings is described by architectural historian John Gifford as imparting a "nightmarish quality". [4]

On the east side of the courtyard was a stable block, which incorporates a smaller tower, again battlemented. [4] The north and west sides of the courtyard were the barn and cart shed, which are less elaborately decorated. [4] The southern boundary wall is decorated by the insetting of pebbles taken from the nearby coastline, [5] and is accessed by a gabled gateway with ball finials. [4] In the west corner of the enclosure is a small battlemented tower, which housed a weighbridge and was also used as a tool shed. [1] [4]

History

The Coo Palace in 2006, prior to its renovation. Coo Palace, Corseyard - geograph.org.uk - 262755.jpg
The Coo Palace in 2006, prior to its renovation.

In 1894 James Brown, a successful draper from Manchester who had been made rich by the department store he helped establish, Affleck & Brown, purchased and retired to the estate of Knockbrex. He set about a programme of building on the estate, renovating existing structures and constructing new ones, all in a distinctive and unusual style. [6] He often employed the Manchester architect G H Higginbottom, who is thought to have designed Corseyard Farm. [1] [7] Construction started in 1911, it was completed in 1914 and became home to a herd of 12 cows. [2] [8] Its elaborate design, which was most unusual for a utilitarian building, inspired people to refer to it as the Coo Palace (Scots language for Cow Palace), which is still how it is generally known in the local area. [5] [9]

In 1981, Corseyard Farm was designated a Category A listed building, [1] but it was already in a state of disrepair and it needed remedial work in 1988 to make it wind and water tight. [2] At the same time, discussions were held between its owners and Historic Scotland (now Historic Environment Scotland) about an application for planning consent to convert the building into holiday accommodation. [2]

By 1994, the building had deteriorated further: part of the roof and several doors were missing, and birds were roosting inside. In 1995, it was sold to a developer who planned to restore it for mixed use, as a residence and film studio, for which listing building consent was given in 1998, but the plans for the development were called in for review by Historic Scotland later in 1998 due to concerns about how the designs would change the external appearance of the building. Deterioration of the fabric continued, and by 2010 there were concerns about the buildings' survival. [2]

In 2014, Holiday Property Bond purchased Corseyard Farm, and had architectural firm JMP Architects of Lancashire draw up plans to convert the buildings into holiday accommodation. [10] In 2017 Historic Environment Scotland gave the plan their backing, and advised Dumfries and Galloway Council to approve the scheme, [11] which they did in November of that year. [8] By 2018 building work was underway, [2] and in 2020 the site was opened, marketed as The Coo Palace. [12]

Related Research Articles

Dumfries and Galloway Council area of Scotland

Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland and is located in the western Southern Uplands. It comprises the historic counties of Dumfriesshire, Kirkcudbrightshire, and Wigtownshire, the latter two of which are collectively known as Galloway. The administrative centre and largest settlement is the town of Dumfries. The second largest town is Stranraer, 75 miles to the west on the Irish Sea coast.

Kirkcudbrightshire Historic county in Scotland

Kirkcudbrightshire, or the County of Kirkcudbright or the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright, is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the informal Galloway area of south-western Scotland. For local government purposes, it forms part of the wider Dumfries and Galloway council area of which it forms a committee area under the name of the Stewartry.

Airds of Kells is a farm and small estate in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in the parish of Kells, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. The Category B listed farmhouse dates from the late 18th century but possibly incorporates parts of an older building. The estate was associated with the Gordons of Lochinvar from the 15th century.

Closeburn Castle

Closeburn Castle is a tower house, probably of the 14th century, but possibly older, and is one of the oldest continually inhabited houses in Scotland. The castle is located 1 km east of the village of Closeburn, in the historical county of Dumfriesshire, 2 km south-east of Thornhill, in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.

Comlongon Castle

Comlongon Castle is a tower house dating from the later 15th century or early 16th century. It is located 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) west of the village of Clarencefield, and 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) south-east of Dumfries, in south west Scotland. The original tower has been extended by the addition of a baronial style mansion, completed around 1900. Originally built by the Murrays of Cockpool, it remained in the Murray family until 1984. It was subsequently restored, having been vacant for some time, and the castle and mansion are now a hotel. As of 15 April 2019, the business side of Comlongon Castle has gone into Administration, consequently all weddings due and accommodation booked for after this date were cancelled, leaving the future of the castle uncertain.

Twynholm Human settlement in Scotland

Twynholm ( 'TWINE-um') is a village in Scotland. It is located 2+1⁄4 miles (3.6 km) north-northwest of Kirkcudbright and 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) east of Gatehouse of Fleet on the main A75 trunk road. It is in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire, Dumfries and Galloway.

Carsluith Castle

Carsluith Castle is a ruined tower house, dating largely to the 16th century. It is located beside Wigtown Bay in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire in Galloway, Scotland, around 4.8 kilometres (3.0 mi) south east of Creetown.

Barholm Castle

Barholm Castle is a tower house located 5 miles (8.0 km) south-west of Gatehouse of Fleet, in Kirkcudbrightshire, Galloway, Scotland. The tower dates back to the late 15th century, and it was a stronghold of a branch of the MacCulloch family. The present form of the castle dates from rebuilding in the 16th or 17th century, and in the early 2000s it was restored from a roofless state to residential use. The tower is sometimes identified with the fictional Ellangowan, in Sir Walter Scott's Guy Mannering.

Borgue, Dumfries and Galloway Human settlement in Scotland

Borgue is a village and parish in the Stewartry of Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies 5 miles south-west of Kirkcudbright and 6 miles south of Gatehouse of Fleet. The name Borgue is from Old Norse borg 'stronghold'.

Cargenbridge Human settlement in Scotland

Cargenbridge is a village located in Dumfries and Galloway, United Kingdom southwest of Dumfries. It is in Troqueer parish, in the historic county of Kirkcudbrightshire.

Drumcoltran Tower

Drumcoltran Tower is a late-16th-century tower house situated in the historical county of Kirkcudbrightshire near Kirkgunzeon, Dumfries and Galloway.

Auchenskeoch Castle

Auchenskeoch Tower is a 17th-century tower house situated in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is near Dalbeattie in the civil parish of Colvend and Southwick, in the county of Kirkcudbrightshire. It is thought to be built on a Z-plan, making it the only such tower in Galloway. Dalswinton Tower in the neighbouring county of Dumfriesshire is the only other example in Dumfries and Galloway. The remains of the tower are within the modern Castle Farm and are a scheduled ancient monument.

Castle of Park Tower house in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, UK

The Castle of Park is a 16th-century L-plan tower house near Glenluce, in the historic county of Wigtownshire in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It is a category A listed building.

Midpark Hospital Hospital in Scotland

Midpark Hospital is a modern acute mental health unit located in Dumfries. The hospital is managed by NHS Dumfries and Galloway.

Kirkandrews, Dumfries and Galloway Hamlet in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Kirkandrews, sometimes written as Kirkanders in older documents, is a coastal hamlet about 9 kilometres (6 mi) west-southwest of Kirkcudbright in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It sits in farmland at the head of Kirkandrews Bay, an inlet of Wigtown Bay.

Rusco Tower Early 16th-century tower house in Scotland

Rusco Tower, sometimes called Rusco Castle, is a tower house near Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Built around 1500 for Mariota Carson and her husband Robert Gordon, on lands given to them by her father, it was used to incarcerate a number of the Gordons' rivals in the 16th century. After Robert Gordon died and Carson remarried, their eldest son James Gordon seized the tower and imprisoned his mother, fearing that she would make it over to her new husband, Thomas Maclellan of Bombie. Gordon went on to kill Maclellan on the High Street in Edinburgh, while a court case intended to settle the matter was ongoing.

Plunton Castle Ruined tower house in Scotland

Plunton Castle is a ruined L-plan tower house between Kirkandrews and Gatehouse of Fleet in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Built around 1575 for the Lennoxes of Plunton, it passed by marriage to the Murrays of Broughton in the late 17th century. It was still inhabited in 1684, when it was described by Reverend Symson in his Large Description of Galloway as "a good strong house", but by 1838, when it was painted by George Colomb, it had been abandoned and had fallen into a ruinous condition.

Borgue Old House Ruined tower house in Scotland

Borgue Old House is a ruined Y-plan house, about 300 metres (0.2 mi) east of Borgue in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Built in 1680, but probably incorporating the fabric of an older building, its large main block has two projecting wings at either end of its south face; another wing in the middle of the north face probably contained the stairway, but this is no longer present. Each of the two main stories has three interconnecting rooms, on in each of the wings on the south face, and one in the main block. The main block would also have had an attic, but is now roofless.

Ironmacannie Mill Historic water mill in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland

Ironmacannie Mill is a historic watermill near Balmaclellan in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. Built between the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, on the site of an older mill, it retains a substantial amount of original gearing and machinery, and was designated a Category A listed building in 1971. It was converted for domestic use in the 1990s, and is currently used as holiday accommodation.

References

Sources

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.