Description

A traditional three-bay, single-storey, thatched crofthouse dating from the mid-19th century, with a kailyard to the east and a detached steading to the north. The crofthouse has white harled rubble walls with squared margins, four-pane timber sash and case windows and a large casement window to later porch addition. Rush thatched roof (heavily overgrown with vegetation, 2023) netted and weighted with long stone slabs, end chimneystacks and dressed stone skew putts. The buildings are located on raised ground to the west of the A99 road, in the scattered crofting hamlet of Ulbster on the Caithness coast. They are currently vacant, and the rush thatch is heavily overgrown with vegetation.

Drystone rubble boundary walls enclose the kailyard to the immediate front (east) and extend north to meet the steading range, which is at right-angles to the crofthouse. The rubble steading is single-storey and gabled. It was thatched at the time of listing (1984), but the roof has now largely collapsed, and the building is in a ruinous condition with only some evidence of the timber roof structure and rush thatch remaining to the central section. The range comprises five compartments with some remnants of entrance doors on the south elevation. The east compartment was a dwelling and contained a fireplace, ambries, and a window at the rear (Canmore, 2004). The central sections appear to have been stores and the broad opening to the western compartment indicates it may have been a cart shed (Canmore, 2004).

Statement of Interest

An example of a traditional croft complex that retains its thatched roof. These vernacular buildings were once prolific across the Highlands and Islands, but those that survive substantially unaltered are rare. The buildings continue to show regional traditional building methods and materials and retain a significant proportion of their historic fabric, 19th century footprint, vernacular form, character and setting. The retention and grouping of the crofthouse with its ancillary structures is of special interest.

They are one of only around 40 buildings or groups of buildings in the Highlands that are known to retain an intact thatched roof. 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.

The building was owned by a thatcher at the time of listing (1984), Mr James Sinclair, who re-thatched Laidhay Croft Museum in mid 1970's. (Latheron Parish).

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2023. Previously listed as 'Ulbster Mr James Sinclair's House and Steading'.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q56620439

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

• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Gwent/Monmouthshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Wales)
• 
  Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability
• 
  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)