Description

Late 18th century, pair of single-storey cottages, each three bays wide, converted to one dwelling. Rubble-built walls. Reed thatched roof with straw ridge. End chimneystacks.

Statement of Interest

The Whigmaleerie is one of the earliest surviving cottages in the village of Kinrossie and the only one with a thatched roof. The previous listed building record, written in 1981, noted that the building was thatched and covered in corrugated iron. The traditional thatching material in central mainland Scotland would have been oat straw, but the planting of the Tay reed beds in the 18th century and the increased availability of reed meant that most buildings in the area were rethatched in reed, as can be seen here.

It is among a relatively small number of thatched buildings across Scotland. A Survey of Thatched Buildings in Scotland, published in 2016 by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), found there were only around 200 buildings of this type remaining, most of which are found in small rural communities. Thatched buildings are often traditionally built, showing distinctive local and regional building methods and materials. Those that survive are important in helping us understand these traditional skills and an earlier way of life.

The 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map shows that The Whigmaleerie was built as a pair of cottages, probably each three bays wide comprising a central entrance flanked by windows. The cottage has late 20th century additions at the rear, but its 18th century rectangular-plan footprint can still be seen, and it retains a significant proportion of its historic character and fabric, including thick rubble-built walls and a thatched roof. Once common across Scotland, these vernacular thatched buildings are now extremely rare, and the building is important in continuing to demonstrate traditional building skills and materials.

Kinrossie retains a typical layout of a Scottish village, comprising a broad main street lined with houses dating from the 18th and 19th century, with some 20th century replacement buildings. The village is centred around the Mercat Cross (see separate listing LB5656), which is in the front garden of the neighbouring cottage to the west.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2021. Previously listed as '31 Kinrossie'.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17834929

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Somerset: South and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The Shredded Chef: 120 Recipes for Building Muscle, Getting Lean, and Staying Healthy
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide
• 
  Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair by Hunt. Roger ( 2008 ) Hardcover