Basic Site Details | Name: | Concrete House, Castle Hill, Rossie Priory Estate | | Town, district or village: | Inchture | | City or county: | Perthshire | | Country: | Scotland | | Parish: | | | Status: | | | Grid ref: | | | Notes: | CONCRETE HOUSES ON THE ESTATE OF ROSSIE PRIORY. - Lord Kinnaird has just erected at Castle Hill a two-storied house built of concrete, for the occupancy of the clerk of the works of the estate, and he is at present engaged in building an addition of the same material to a house on another part of the estate. The experiment has been eminently satisfactory, and the Whilehavcn Herald understands that his lordship has at present in contemplation to build a number of cotter houses of the same material. The plan of erection is perfectly simple. Upright posts about 7 feet. high are erected at what are to be the corners of the house. A double boarding 21 inches in height is placed longitudinally between the posts, and this boarding is made to work upon screws, so that the wall can be made of any thickness desired. Into the cavity formed by the boardings (which in the case of the house at Castle Hill are 12 inches. apart, that being the thickness of the walls) rough boulders of any kind are laid, care being taken not to let them touch the boards, between which and the stones space is left for the concrete. This is made up of one part of Portland cement to seven parts of fine broken metal or gravel. These are mixed in a bucket and poured in between the boardings, and twenty-four hours being allowed for the whole to harden, the boards can then be raised, when a fine solid wall. 18 inches high and 12 inches thick, presents itself to the view, and the process repeated on the top of the hardened concrete as often as is necessary, until the walls are brought to the height required. The doors, windows, and fireplaces are formed by fixing a rough frame into the boarding, which excludes the concrete from such a space as may be wished. The thickness of the walls can also be varied as they are raised, and in the instance of the house at Castle Hill, while the walls of the lower story are 12 inches in thickness, thee upper story is only 9 inches. thick. Instead of gravel, with which the Portland cement is usually mixed in making concrete, his lordship, who has a stone-crushing machine for breaking road metal, has utilised the fine metal, which was of no use for the roads, and this substance is found to answer admirably. [Building News 18 October1872 p306]
Possibly Stewart's own house | Building Type Classification| The building is classified under the following categories: | | | Classification | Original classification? | Notes |  | House | | |
Events| The following date-based events are associated with this building: | | | From | To | Event type | Notes | | 1872 | | Build/construction | |
PeopleDesign and Construction| The following individuals or organisations have carried out design/construction work. Where architects or practices worked together, matching letters appear beside their names in the Partnership Group column. | | | Name | Role | Partnership Group | From | To | Notes | | Duncan D Stewart | | | 1872 | | |
Clients| The following individuals or organisations have commissioned work on this building/design: | | | Name | Notes | | Lord Kinnaird | |
ReferencesPeriodical References| The following periodicals contain references to this building: | | | Periodical Name | Date | Edition | Publisher | Notes | | Building News | 18 October 1872 | | | p306
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