Fishing Station, Logan Mills, Kirkmaiden, Dumfries and Galloway

Description

A former fishing store and boathouse built sometime between 1848 and 1894. The building is two-storey in height, rectangular on plan and it is constructed in red brick. A single-storey and T-plan former fishing station cottage is located to the south of the boathouse. The boathouse is next to the western shoreline of Luce Bay on the peninsula known as the Rhins of Galloway.

The north elevation is three bays wide with a pedimented entranceway, breaking the roof eaves, to the centre of the first floor. Small window openings flank the entrance. A walkway leads from higher ground into the building at first floor level. There are larger, flanking window openings to the outer bays at ground floor level.

The south elevation has four window openings and two blocked-up entrance openings to the ground floor, and two smaller window openings to the first floor. The east elevation has a replacement boathouse door facing the shore which was added after 2011. The west elevation has a single opening with a replacement door to the ground floor.

Some of the window openings are blocked-up and some have multi-pane glazing to the upper half and louvred sections below. The roof is piended and is covered in grey slates with red sandstone ridging and two rooflights in the southern roof pitch.

The interior brickwork is predominantly whitewashed, and the roof trusses and rafters are exposed. There is timber flooring to the first floor and a partially concreted dirt floor to the ground floor.

The remains of a slipway to the shore to the east may still survive (noted in previous listed building record).

Historical background

Logan Mills was historically part of the lands of Logan estate. The Ordnance Survey Name Book of 1845-49 describes the ruins of the windmill, and the corn and saw mills as in the ownership of the McDouall or McDowall family of Logan House (OS1/35/81/18). The later fishing station was also owned by the McDowalls who owned the fishing and netting rights in Luce Bay on the eastern side and those on the western (Port Logan) side of the Rhins of Galloway peninsula.

The boathouse is first shown on the 2^nd Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1894, adjacent to an old corn kiln, indicating it was constructed after the 1^st Edition Ordnance Survey, sometime between 1848 and 1894. A T-shaped fishing station cottage is shown to the immediate south of the boathouse (there are currently development proposals in place to demolish this cottage, 21/2380/FUL).

Historic photographs, taken in 1974, show a timber shelter once adjoined the south elevation of the boathouse (Canmore). Aerial photographs show that this was partially roofless by 2011, and recent photos show is has since been removed (2023).

Statement of Interest

We have found that the boathouse at Logan Mills continues to meet the criteria for listing for the following reasons:

It forms part of a historic grouping of industrial buildings dating from the 17^th century to the 19^th century, including the remains of a windmill, a former sawmill and corn mill complex, and a fishing station that were historically important to the local area.

Its brick construction is unusual for the Dumfries and Galloway area.

Its architectural form and setting continues to indicate its historical function.

The building type appears to be a relatively rare survival in Dumfries and Galloway.

Architectural interest

Design

The utilitarian and functional design of Logan boathouse is typical for this building type, but it nonetheless remains a distinctive building in the landscape. The east-west orientation of the building, with its boat entrance facing the shore, further indicates its historic use. Typically, most boathouses and fishing stores relating to fishing stations and small-scale local industry are rubble-built, however this brick-built example is unusual, particularly for the Dumfries and Galloway region as a whole. Its large interior space to the ground floor provided space for the storage and repair of boats and the first floor space would likely have been used for the drying, storage and repair of nets.

Setting

The boathouse is part of a good grouping of former industrial buildings at Logan Mills, on the shore of Luce Bay and within the Rhins Coast Regional Scenic Area (Dumfries and Galloway Council). These include a former sawmill and corn mill, and a later fishing station and farm that were all historically important to the local area.

The historical and functional relationship of the boathouse and the former fishing station cottage to the south can still be seen by the close proximity of the buildings to each other and to the shore which slopes downwards from the boathouse door.

The overall setting of the boathouse and the layout of the Logan Mills settlement remains largely unaltered since that shown on the 2^nd Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1894. The survival of the boathouse stands as a built reminder to the local fishing economy of this area and the wider history of the Logan estate.

Historic interest

Age and rarity

Boathouses, fishing stores and fishing stations were once common along many stretches of coast in Scotland. Logan boathouse is a prominent survival in Dumfries and Galloway of this increasingly rare building type. These types of buildings are typically rubble-built, however this example is constructed in the more unusual brick, which can be seen elsewhere, such as the roughly contemporary former Cardy Net Works in Lower Largo in Fife (built 1867 and listed at category B, LB8981).

While fishing was historically a local economy in this region, rather than for export, the survival of the boathouse in terms of its plan form, setting and overall historic character is of special interest in listing terms.

Listed building record revised in 2023.

External Links

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