Hill Street, The Mains with Boundary Wall Oban, Scotland

Text courtesy of Historic Environment Scotland. © Crown Copyright, reprinted under the Open Government License.

A characterful group which provides a striking composition within the curvature of Hill Street and Rockfield Road. The Mains is a multiphase house whose construction and style is representative and characteristic of late-19th century residential design. By the mid-19th century, Oban was a fashionable resort to visit en route to the Western Isles and, following the arrival of the railway in 1880, there was a further increase in villa building and tourist amenities. The Buildings of Scotland notes that plots were feued and roads laid out on and around Oban Hill from the mid-19th century onwards (Walker, p.401). The Mains is one of these early houses built sometime after 1870. No houses are shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1867-70, however a number are shown on the 2nd Edition map of 1898, including The Mains. The design of The Mains and its stylistic similarity to the adjacent former Rockfield Primary School, now the Rockfield Centre (listed at category B, LB38858) indicates a similar date of construction to that of the school, probably around 1873. The Mains has a picturesque setting which forms a good stylistic grouping with the surrounding contemporary villas and the former primary school. Houses are not rare building types, however those that have good design quality and retain much of their historic character have interest in listing terms. The scale and orientation of The Mains indicate it was built to navigate the steep and rocky topography of the area and takes advantage of the views to the southwest and across Oban Bay to the west. The property is a good representative example of an urban house constructed in local materials and built during the town's late-19th century residential expansion. Category of listing changed from B to C and listed building record revised in 2022.