Description

A group of three traditional Skye-type thatched buildings, dating from the late 18^th and 19^th century, and refurbished for use as a museum in the later-20th century. Known as the Croft House (NG 39498 71769), Byre (NG 39493 71780) and Cottar's or Ceilidh House (NG 39476 71790), the buildings are all detached and form a roughly linear group running from south to northwest. Together with five other thatched buildings dating from the 20^th and 21^st centuries, they form part of the Skye Museum of Island Life (formerly Osmigarry Croft Museum). The three buildings are located at the west of the museum site, which lies at the northeast of the Isle of Skye, just south of the A855.

The Croft House and Ceilidh House may have origins in the late-18^th century but their form appears as it was in the mid-19^th century (Miers, p.221, Am Baile). The Byre to the immediate north of the Croft House, dates from the late 19^th century. All three are single-storey structures, built of rubble stone with thick, slightly battered walls and rounded corners. The piended roofs are thatched in straw and secured with wire netting and stone weights hanging at the eaves. The largest of the three structures is the three-bay croft house which has a central entrance opening to the front (northeast) elevation, flanking windows and end chimneystacks with clay cans. The Byre and Ceilidh House are slightly lower in height and each has a single entrance and no chimneystacks. The Ceilidh House is built into the hillside with the southeast elevation entirely concealed.

Internally, the croft house has whitewashed walls, hessian sacking tacked to the timber roof structure, stone floors and 19^th century fixtures, fittings and artefacts on display. It comprises an entrance way, large bedroom to the south, a kitchen to the north and a smaller bedroom behind the entrance, accessed via the kitchen. Rooms are divided by timber panelling. The other buildings have exposed roofs with replacement rough timbers, earthen or stone rubble floors, replacement timber-lined walls and museum artefacts on display.

The original listed building record (1971) noted that the croft house was occupied until 1958 and was first opened to the public in 1965 (Miers, p.221). By the time of listing in 1971, the site was operating as Osmigarry Croft Museum.

The building now known as the Old Smithy dates from the first half of the 20^th century but was extended at a later point. Three other replica buildings were built sometime in the later 20^th century, and are now known as the Shop, the Barn and the Weaver's House (Skye Museum of Island Life). A fourth replica building, the visitor's centre and retail unit, was added to the museum in around 2015 (Highland Council planning portal, 14/04155/FUL). These five buildings are located to the east of the museum site and are excluded from the listing as they are not considered part of the early grouping.

Statement of Interest

These vernacular buildings, once prolific across the Highlands and Islands, are now extremely rare. The three early buildings at the Skye Museum of Island Life (Old Croft House, Byre and Cottar's House (now Ceilidh House

continue to show regional traditional building methods and materials and retain a significant proportion of their historic fabric, vernacular form and character. Notable features include the thick battered rubble walls with rounded corners and the thatched roofs secured with stone weights and netting.

The buildings are among a very small number of surviving thatched buildings across Scotland. There are around 40 thatched buildings or groups of buildings within the Highland Council area, of which around 12 survive on the Isle of Skye. 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 in Scotland, 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.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: all other buildings.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2023. Previously listed as 'Osmigarry Croft Museum'.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Skye Museum of Island Life at Wikipedia
• Skye Museum of Island Life official website
• Wikidata Q2414262

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.

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