fife-kinross-clackmannan-1933/03-303

Transcription

INVERKEITHING.] HISTORICAL MONUMENTS (SCOTLAND) COMMISSION. [INVERKEITHING.

Rev. William Stephen, pp. 28-9, citing "Writs
of Rosebery House."

xxxix S.W. 12 June 1928.

279. House of the Holbournes of Menstrie,
Inverkeithing. - On the south side of the tower
of the parish church is a much-altered house
(Fig. 299), which once belonged to the Hol-
bournes of Menstrie (No. 602). The present
forestair probably occupies the place of an
earlier one, and such ancient features of the
building as can be ascertained suggest a 17th-
century date.

xxxix S.W. 12 June 1928.

280. Fordell's Lodging, Inverkeithing. - This
tenement, No. 18 Church Street (Fig. 305),
stands on the west side of the street immediately
opposite the parish church and is used as the
church hall, for which purpose it has recently
been remodelled internally. It dates from the
17th century, having been built as a town house
by Sir John Henderson of Fordell ¹ (No. 182)
between 1666, when he acquired the pre-existing
property, and 1671 when the building is first
designated by its present name. ² On plan it is
L-shaped, the wing lying at the back in align-
ment with the south gable. From the north-
east angle of the main block a two-storeyed
turret, terminating in a conical slated roof,
projects on a corbel of five moulded members.
The house is three storeys in height, the upper
storey being lit by semi-dormers. It is entered
at first-floor level through the wing. The
windows of the first floor have back-set margins,
and those of the basement have chamfered
margins. A moulded plaster panel representing
the Arms of Charles II has been removed from
above a fireplace on the first floor and inserted
for preservation in the inner face of the north
wall. The masonry is of rubble, prepared for
harling; the dressings were intended to be
exposed.

1 Reg. Mag. Sig., 1664, No. 621. 2 Stephen's
Inverkeithing and Rosyth, pp. 31-2, citing
"Burgh Records," etc.

xxxix S.W. 16 October 1930.

281. Houses in Inverkeithing. (1) The tene-
ment at the north end of High Street on the
east side, though considerably altered, dates
from the late 17th century. The windows
have back-set and moulded margins, and
the entrance is a moulded doorway with an
entablature, being on the frieze the date 1688
and the inscription : GODS PROVIDENCE IS MY
INHERITANCE. On the keystone of the door are
the initials I.B. for Isobel Bairdie, who erected
the tenement, ¹ and above the cornice is an oval
garland enclosing an uncarved shield.
(2) The large three-storeyed tenement, Nos.
39-40 High Street, dates from the same period.
The only notable features it possesses are the
heavy chimney-stalks set in each gable and on
the internal walls.
(3) No. 54 High Street is a three-storeyed
house built of harled rubble. The windows
have back-set margins, and the lintel of the
northern window on the first floor is dated 1682.
On the lintel of an outhouse are the letters,
equally spaced, · J · V I D E M·I O·, probably
four pairs of initials.
(4) On the lintel of a garden gate at 79 High
Street are the initials W.B., I.B. and the date
1618.
(5) No. 87 High Street is rather earlier than
any of the foregoing and dates possibly from
the late 16th century. It is a house of three
storeys. The basement is entered from an
archway set at the north end, while the first
floor is entered from a forestair at the other end.
(6) No. 97 High Street is modernised, but the
forestair in front is of late 17th-century type. In
the back of the tenement are two inserted
pediments, one of which has the date 1679 and
the initials R.F., B.D. for Robert Ferguson, a
bailie, and his wife Beatrice Douglas. ²
(7) No. 4 Bank Street, which is opposite the
cross, consisted originally of a two-storeyed
oblong main block with a stair-wing at the south-
west end, these parts forming the back and one
end of a two-storeyed lean-to, to which a third
storey has been added. The entrance is at the
stair-foot through a moulded doorway with a
pediment (Fig. 304), enriched with scrolls and
thistle-shaped finials, which contain a shield,
uncarved, surmounted by a merchant's mark
and flanked by the initials I.T. and B.T.,
possibly for John Thomson, a burgess of Inver-
keithing, and his wife Bessie Thomsoun. ³ Below
the shield is the quotation : EXCEPT . THE/
LORD . BVLD (sic) . THE . HOVS . THEY / LABOVR.
IN . VAINE . THAT . BVILD / IT. The reference has

[Page] 158

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