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

GRAY HOUSE ALSO KNOWN AS HOUSE OF GRAYLB12858

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
A
Date Added
11/06/1971
Local Authority
Dundee
Planning Authority
Dundee
Parish
Liff And Benvie
NGR
NO 33774 32099
Coordinates
333774, 732099

Description

Attributed to Alexander McGill, 1714-16. 2-storey over raised basement, rectangular-plan, 7-bay classical country house flanked by single bay, finialled ogival-roofed stair towers and single storey over raised basement, 4-bay pavilions. Pink coursed rubble, grey-green at E pavilion, originally harled, ashlar dressings, piended slate roof. Cill course to basement, moulded string course to ground floor, rusticated quoins, margined windows, margined angles and band course at wallhead to pavilions and rear stair towers, corniced eaves course to main building. Originally 12-pane sash and case windows, taller at principal floor, 6-pane to basement. Rebuilt corniced, harled and channelled ridge stacks.

S ELEVATION: slightly advanced and raised 3-bay pedimented gable to centre; doorway to centre approached by steps, moulded doorcase, segmental pediment with decayed ornament, window to left and right; 2 windows to basement; 3 segmental-headed windows to 1st floor with festoons above; arrangement of arms at pediment flanked by oculi. 2 windows to ground and 1st floor main elevation left and right. Slightly recessed stair tower bays to left and right, window to basement, ground and 1st floor (window to left ground floor cut down to door approached by steps, basement window blocked). Advanced pavilion to left and right; 4 windows to basement and ground floor, 2 blocked windows to basement, 1 window and 1 blocked window to ground floor right and left returns.

E ELEVATION: (pavilion) door to basement, 2 windows to ground floor.

W ELEVATION: (pavilion) arrow slit ventilator and bipartite window to basement, 2 windows to ground floor.

N ELEVATION: central pedimented bay and flanking bays as S elevation, 2 windows to basement, ground and 1st floor left and right returns; stair towers recessed to left and right, window to basement, ground and 1st floor (later linking section at 1st floor re-entrant, right; pavilions further recessed to left and right in mirror image, pavilion to left consisting of 4 bays, ogival-roofed hexagonal stair tower second bay from right (tower to left is round, corbelled to hexagonal at basement), 4 windows to basement and ground floor. Alterations to right pavilion ground floor; various other window and door alterations. INTERIOR: totally reconstructed.

Statement of Special Interest

Gray House was built by the 10th Lord Gray whose family had owned Fowlis estate and Castle from the 14th century to 1667-9, (see NOTES to Fowlis Castle, Fowlis Easter Parish). The Benvie estate was purchased by the Grays in 1713, the house and estate being sold in 1918 when Gray House was purchased by James Ogilvie and lived in by him until his death in 1936. The house was unfinished in 1723 (perhaps the east pavilion) according to Macky. The house is presently (1992-3) undergoing restoration, its condition having suffered through various protracted incomplete restoration schemes. Simpson refers to Darnaway Castle, Moray Muniments and Gray of Kinfauns MSS as documentary sources. The inclusion of Gray House in Adam's publication has led to repeated attributions to him.

References

Bibliography

Arthur B Dalgetty, THE CHURCH AND PARISH OF LIFF (1940), p47;

James Simpson, ed., William Adam, VITRUVIUS SCOTICUS (1980), p25, p148; John Macky, A JOURNEY THROUGH SCOTLAND (1723).

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.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

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: 29/03/2024 07:37