Brown and Wardrop’s rambling sandstone manse preserves the domestic and service buildings of a substantial Victorian ministerial household.
Quick facts
- Date
- 1865
- Architect / designer
- Brown and Wardrop
- Type
- Asymmetrical Gothic manse with gig house, stable, gatepiers and boundary wall
- Designation
- Listed building, Category B (LB27515)
- OS grid reference
- NT 12305 74495
Architecture and continuing use
The two-storey house uses varied eaves, gables, dormerheads and projecting windows to form an intentionally irregular composition. Squared and snecked sandstone is sharpened by dressed margins and stop-chamfered details. A gabled porch marks the entrance, while the attached L-plan gig house and stable, courtyard doors, gatepiers and boundary walls preserve the service setting.
Its story
Brown and Wardrop designed the manse in 1865, reportedly reusing material from a predecessor of 1692. It served the Church of Scotland until the Kirkliston congregations merged in 1941, after which the former United Free Church manse in Newliston Road became the parish residence. The Manse Road building survives with its stable group and boundaries.
Why it is included
It records the architectural scale of Victorian parish provision and the domestic infrastructure—carriage, stable, courtyard and garden—attached to a minister’s residence.
What to notice
- Gabled dormerheads and finials animating the garden front.
- The shouldered-arch doorway and stop-chamfered entrance porch.
- The attached gig house and stable around the former service courtyard.
Reading the surroundings
The house and associated grounds are private. Observe only from lawful public space and do not enter the driveway, courtyard or garden.
Timeline
- 1865 Brown and Wardrop designed the new parish manse and service buildings.
- 1941 Church union transferred the manse function to the former United Free Church residence.
- 8 March 1994 The house, outbuildings and boundaries entered the statutory list at Category B.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
Reused stone from the 1692 manse is reported in the designation but has not been identified element by element; present residential arrangements are private.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Former Manse, 1 Manse Road, Kirkliston, LB27515 — Current designation status, statutory identity, official mapped point, date, fabric and significance.
- Kirkliston Gala: village heritage trail — Community heritage interpretation connecting named buildings with the village’s social, religious and working history.
- City of Edinburgh Council: Kirkliston conservation-area character appraisal — Local-authority evidence for settlement development, important buildings, streetscape, materials and landscape setting.
- National Records of Scotland: Kirkliston place record — National archival place index linking records created in and about Kirkliston.
Location
OS grid reference NT 12305 74495 · Location confidence: High for the current HES designation point; public text separately qualifies access, component identity and current use. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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