Toppled sundial plinth (c. 1755). This listed structure is virtually all that remains in one piece.

Date

29 October 2017

Location

Loanhead, Midlothian
NT 27852 66410; 55.88539°N, 3.15497°W

Information

In April 2012 the derelict Ashgrove House in Loanhead was featured here in this blog. It was mentioned then that the listed 18th-century villa was at the heart of an area of former green-belt land that was the subject of a planning application for a housing development.

Things have moved on since then. In November 2014 there was a major fire at the property, which was brought under control by 39 firefighters. In August 2015 Midlothian Council granted planning permission to Straiton Park Limited for the demolition of the ‘dwelling and bothy’ at Ashgrove.

The first phase of the ‘Mayburn Park’ housing development by CALA Homes is now complete, with continued construction currently moving towards the grounds of the former Ashgrove House from the northwest and Taylor Wimpey’s new ‘Ashgrove Fields’ housing estate lies immediately to the southeast. A planning application for the ‘erection of 92 dwellinghouses’ on the land of the former villa was lodged with the Council in December 2015, but was withdrawn in August 2016.

Photograph from Ashgrove House (GeoTopoi, 2012): “Southeast elevation with full-height bay window and main entrance to the left through the later glasshouse. The carved round plinth (c. 1755) in the foreground is for a sundial. This is a separately listed structure, but the metal sundial itself is missing.”