Description

Probably 19th century. Single-storey; three-bay with central door, Skye-type thatched cottage. Single window in centre of rear elevation. Rubble-built and rendered walls with curved angles. End chimney stacks. Reed or straw thatch roof, secured with netting and a single thick rope secured above the eaves.

Statement of Interest

These vernacular buildings, once prolific across Na h-Eileanan Siar, are now extremely rare. Cuir na Bhoir continues to show regional traditional building methods and materials and retains a significant proportion of its historic fabric, 19th century footprint, vernacular form and character. Notable features include the thick rubble walls with curved angles.

The cottage was renovated after 2004 and rethatched in reed or straw, secured with netting and a single thick rope secured above the eaves. It is one of only 54 buildings or groups of buildings in Na h-Eileanan Siar that are known to retain an intact thatched roof, and is among a very small number of surviving 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.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2021 as part of the Thatched Buildings Listing Review. Previously listed as 'Eochar 51 Balgarva'.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17853848

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

• 
  Norfolk 1: Norwich and North-East: Norwich and North-east v. 1 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Churches: An Architectural Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Introductions)
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Northumberland (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)