Description

Circa 1640. Restored, W Schomberg Scott, 1960.
Unusual square planned house with pyramidal roof; 2-
storey and attic, with basement to W, on falling
ground; 1st floor windows breaking eaves in swept
dormerheads. Sand-coloured harling; regrettable cement
margins.
NE ELEVATION: 4-bay; doorway off-centre to right, 19th
century roll-moulded and corniced surround; 2-leaf
panelled doors and flush panelled inner door. Stair bay
at centre, breaking eaves in gabled crowstepped
stairhead with windows. 2 windows to bays left of centre
at each floor. 1st floor window to outer right.
SW elevation: 2 paired bays of closely grouped windows,
with windows to basement, ground and 1st floor, and
windows to former mural closets at ground and 1st floor;
basement window to left of centre altered as door.
SE ELEVATION: lean-to addition at ground with door to NE
flanked by windows, 4 windows to SE and 2 grouped
closely to SW, echoing those of main elevation. Broad
and shouldered wallhead stack.
NW ELEVATION: 2 ground floor and 1st floor windows to
left, and further small window to former mural closet at
1st floor to outer right. Broad, shouldered wallhead
stack.
Small-pane glazing pattern in sash and case windows.
Grey slates to pyramidal roof, dormerheads and swept
dormers. Harled wallhead and apex stacks.
INTERIOR: largely altered. Stone vaulted basement
retained, with kitchen recess. Stone newel stair.
Chamfered reveals to ashlar door jambs at 1st floor.
Stone corbels at 1st and attic floor. Some bolection
moulded chimneypieces; 18th century panelling.
STABLE: possibly 17th century. Serving as garden shed
(1989). Single storey, rectangular plan, abacking
boundary wall and cottage at Inveresk Lodge to SE.
Sand-coloured harling; crowstepped gables with beak
skewputts. Door to SW; blocked window to NW, and end
stack. Timber stall divisions and hay-hecks retained in
interior.
LAMP STANDARDS: selection of decorative cast-iron lamp
standards with gilded detail, 1 dated 1900, to gardens
at front and rear.
TERRACE AND RETAINING WALLS: 17th century sandstone
rubble walls with harl-pointing to terrace, garden and
roadside; stone steps by terrace walls with ashlar coped
balustrade and ball finials; red brick buttresses.
Simple wrought-iron overthrow to entrance drive.

Statement of Interest

Probably the oldest building in Inveresk. Built for

John Rynd, merchant, Edinburgh, between 1638 and 1642.

McWilliam identifies the similarity in plan with

Netherlandish farmhouses of the period. There may have

been an earlier property on the site, and possibly the

vaulted basement is a remnant of this. The house was

originally known as Midfield, and only acquired the

present name in 1779 when Helenus Halkerston bought the

property. Apparently Halkerston and Inveresk Lodges are

linked by an underground tunnel.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17569878

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 4: North: North v. 4 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Renovating Old Houses: Bringing New Life to Vintage Homes (For Pros By Pros)
• 
  Berkshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Gloucestershire 1: The Cotswolds: Cotswolds Pt. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)