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The Kirna, known locally as Kirna House (previously also as Grangehill), is a Category A listed villa in Walkerburn, Peeblesshire, Scotland. It is one of three villas in Walkerburn designed by Frederick Thomas Pilkington between 1866 and 1869 for the Ballantyne family. It is listed as a fine example of a Pilkington mansion retaining original external features, a fine interior, and for its importance as a Ballantyne property.
The Ballantyne family played a leading role in Scotland's textile industry for nearly two hundred years. The Ballantynes were substantially responsible for founding the village of Walkerburn after Henry Ballantyne first bought land at that location to build a tweed mill in 1846. Architect F T Pilkington was commissioned by the Ballantynes to design and build the new village with houses for the mill workers, and villas for the mill owners and their families.
The Kirna's proximity to a number of ancient man-made structures, including some dating back to pre-historic times, suggests that this general location along the Tweed valley has been of strategic importance to settlers throughout history.
Of special architectural note is the main entrance and heavily decorated (sculpted) elevation featuring a central flight of ashlar steps leading to a polygonal, arcaded loggia entrance area which is supported by two rope-moulded arches. Immediately above the entrance is the first floor with prominent chequered detail between the band courses, and a repeat of the rope moulding around the windows. The second floor features a turret with two finialled dormers. The Kirna shares many of these design elements with another F T Pilkington building originally known as Craigend Park in Edinburgh, designed and built for William Christie between 1866 and 1869, a "Glover and Breeches Maker" (tailor) at 16 George Street who is believed to have sourced much of his material from the Ballantyne mills.
Designs of The Kirna were exhibited at the Royal Scottish Academy in 1867. The subsequent review in The Builder noted that "Pilkington is never commonplace, though frequently wild and eccentric". The Kirna was praised as "a pleasing example of the modern style Gothic as applied to domestic purposes: abundance of light is given, and variety is secured without violent contrast".
Drawings of alterations dated 1903 by James Jerdan (architect at 12 Castle Street, Edinburgh), indicate the addition of a coal chute and "heating chamber" area located beside the main building. The 1903 alterations included the addition of a 'boudoir' (now game room) to the west gable, and a bedroom on the first floor.
The boundary wall and a green house still survive. The entrance gates were likely removed during the war in 1941 when the government passed an order compulsorily requisitioning all post-1850 iron gates and railings for the war effort.
Marion Currie remained at The Kirna until she died in 1903 and the property was sold to Katherine "Kitty" Hamilton Bruce (1863-1928), widow of Robert Thomas Hamilton Bruce (1848-1899), 3rd son of Lt. Col. Walter Hamilton Tyndall Bruce of Grandhill and Falkland (1788-1874). Kitty was the daughter of Simon Somerville (Tae) Laurie (1829-1909), a Scottish educator. Kitty owned The Kirna (Grangehill at that time) for sixteen years before selling to Colin Ballantyne (1879-1942), son of John Ballantyne (1829-1909), in 1919 upon his return from the 1914-1918 War where he served as a captain with the 8th Battalion, Royal Scots. Colin Ballantyne continued to own the property until just before his death in 1942. He was the third and final member of the Ballantyne family to have owned The Kirna.
Between 1941 and 1992 The Kirna was owned by respectively Emily Skinner ('41-48), James Forbes ('48-53), Winnifred and Henry Pearson Taylor Smith, woollen merchant ('53-57), Peter Rodger ('57-59), James Fraser ('59-81), John Rapley ('81-91), and briefly by Peter Hammond ('91-92).
Julian Osborne, solicitor, purchased The Kirna in 1992. It was acquired by the Facey family in 2018.
George sold The Kirna to his brother David in 1880 for £2,100 (£258,000 in 2020), roughly what he originally paid George Wilkie to build it for, when he emigrated to New Zealand, notionally to enter the wool-buying business to supply the requirements of Henry Ballantyne's mills. (1973). 9780715359730, David & Charles. ISBN 9780715359730 David already owned a property (Sunnybrae) in Walkerburn at that time, suggesting that his purchase of The Kirna was designed to facilitate George's departure and possibly his exit from Henry Ballantyne's business. George used the proceeds of the sale to discharge his £1,000 mortgage.
For reasons that remain unclear and, unlike those of his father and brothers, George's documented contributions to the Ballantyne business are few. There is evidence that he collaborated with his brothers, James and Henry, to build and equip the Waverley Mill near the station in Innerleithen, but beyond this his role is unclear. George had a more prominent role in the Walkerburn and Innerleithen communities. He was a captain in the Volunteer Corps in Innerleithen in 1868, and he is known to have held the position of chairman for the Gas Light Company in Innerleithen in 1874 and 1879.
Not long after his arrival in New Zealand, and despite his original mandate, George accepted a position as manager of the newly formed Oamaru Woollen Factory Company in 1881 and there is no record of him engaging with Henry Ballantyne's mills from that time onwards . He went to Britain and selected the plant for the new factory, had the plans for the mill drawn up, and engaged key staff. He was dismissed in May 1884 for performance reasons and put up for auction 1000 of his shares in the factory in the same month. George is also known to have held a management role at the North New Zealand Woollen Manufacturing Company in Onehunga, Auckland between 1886 and 1888.
For some period immediately prior to his death George is known to have lived in Malvern, Australia with his second daughter, Mary Kyle (1869-1923) who predeceased him by one year. George died in 1924 at the home of his third daughter Amy Philip (1870–1966) in Epsom, New Zealand. His estate was valued at £120 (£7,500 in 2020).
Late 19th century maps indicate that the current driveway for the coach house was a road extending to the land on Purvishill, and the whinstone quarries to the north east of the ancient terraces.
In 1923, architect William James Walker Todd (partner in J M Dick Peddie & W J Walker Todd) made alterations to the stable and coach house for Colin Ballantyne, including converting a section of the stable to a (second) bedroom and a bathroom.
The Kirna and the coach house were formally separated in 1948 when Emily Skinner sold The Kirna to James Forbes who then proceeded to sell the coach house to William Johnson, an architect from Edinburgh.
Ordnance Survey historical maps published in 1897, 1898 and 1909 record the property as Kirnie House.
The property was once referred to as The Chirney during its construction in 1866, but this is believed to have been a simple misspelling.
Between 1903 and 1919 before it was sold to Colin Ballantyne, The Kirna was known as Grangehill. The owner at that time, Katherine "Kitty" Hamilton Bruce, is known to have resided at The Grange in Dornoch and at Grange Dell in Penicuik, demonstrating a predilection for names including 'Grange'.
The current name, Kirna House, may have come about when the Post Office needed to be able to distinguish between the villa and the coach house (now Kirna Lodge) when the latter was sold as a separate property in 1948.
In August 1871 the gardener (named Jullien) to George Ballantyne committed suicide, allegedly by cutting his own throat after a long period of illness.
The Kirna would have been one of the first houses in Walkerburn to be built with gas lighting as standard. It was tied in to the Innerleithen gas works on Princes Street which supplied Walkerburn from 1860. The first gas street lamps were installed in Walkerburn in 1878.
The alterations of 1903 added a further four fireplaces and a coal-fired hot water boiler in the newly constructed "heating chamber". Two 1977 for-sale advertisements indicate the presence of an oil fired hot water system. Gas wall heaters were installed in most rooms in the early 1980s, and hot water was heated by an AGA with an integrated boiler in the kitchen. Modern gas-fired central heating was first installed in approximately 1993.
The first telephones were installed in Walkerburn in 1891 and in approximately 1907, Katherine "Kitty" Hamilton Bruce was the first proprietor of The Kirna (then Grangehill) to have enjoyed a magneto telephone mounted on the wall out of sight in the pantry. The telephone would likely have been an NTC No. 1 (a.k.a. GPO No. 59) based on the first-hand account of Catherine Ann Hamilton Bruce (1895-1978), daughter of Kitty. When Colin Ballantyne acquired the house in 1919 his subscriber number was 16 and he could reach his mother at Stoneyhill on number 12, his brother John King Ballantyne at Nether Caberston on number 3, his cousin John Alexander at Sunnybrae on number 14, and the Walkerburn Co-operative Society on number 4, amongst others.
In the spring of 1943, Colin Ballantyne participated in Scotland's Gardens scheme and opened The Kirna's gardens to the public to view its rhodondendrons and daffodils and other spring flowers. Colin Ballantyne was an avid horticulturalist and president of the Innerleithen & Traquair Flower and Vegetable Association.
The property is unusual as it stands away from the other three Ballantyne family houses designed by F T Pilkington in Walkerburn (John Ballantyne's house Stoneyhill, David's house Sunnybrae and Henry's former home Tweedvale) but exhibits features found on the other buildings. Other Ballantyne villas in the vicinity during this era included Holylee owned by Major James George Ballantyne (1837-1884), and The Firs (Horsbrugh Terrace, Innerleithen) owned by James Ballantyne (1839-1903).
The Kirna is in close proximity to almost a dozen man-made structures, some dating back to pre-historic times, illustrating the strategic importance to settlers of Hen Ogledd throughout history. The site and surrounding lands benefit from ample supplies of fresh water from the Kirna Burn and the Walker Burn, its elevation above the flood plain of the Tweed River, extensive views up and down the Tweed Valley, the south-facing slope of Kirnie Law, and a rich topsoil.
Mid-19th century maps indicate an old whinstone quarry approximately 30 metres beyond the northwest corner of the boundary wall and in the path of the Kirna Burn that travels along the west boundary wall from Kirnie Law to the Tweed river.
The ferro-concrete reservoir is still substantially intact. Its interior measures 58.5 metres squared by 4.7 metres deep and the walls are 20 centimetres at the top tapering to 35 centimetres at the base. The tank was capable of holding 13.2 million litres of water. There is a surge tank (pumping station) downhill that controlled the water flow to the turbines in the valley.
It is believed that the house started life as the shepherd's cottage for Pirn House (demolished in early 1950s) and was built by Stirling & Son of Galashiels when they were building the mill houses in Walkerburn for "Captain" Horsburgh.
1841 Census, 1851 Census and 1861 Census data refer to a shepherd named James Tait and his family living at Kirna (or Kirnie).
The cottage has also been variously tagged as Kirna or Kirnie Toll House, however this seems unlikely given the nearby turnpike toll house (est. 1830) in Innerleithen.
Kirnie Cottage was notoriously put up for sale in 2011 by a squatter who tried to sell the cottage for £70,000 without the knowledge of the owner.
The lodge exhibits a flush bracket (OSBM G293) that was used during the Second Geodetic Levelling of Scotland that took place between 1936 and 1952, and was levelled with a height of 157.0421 metresabove mean sea level. This bracket was included on the Innerleithen to Duns Common levelling line.
A series of these was built in the 15th century along the Tweed valley from its source to Berwick, as early-warning beacons announcing invasion from the Scottish Marches.
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