Description

Loch Lomond And Trossachs National Park Planning Authority

Possibly 18th century origins, with subsequent modifications, substantially rebuilt to late 19th century appearance in 1990s. Range of vernacular buildings, low, single storey, gabled and thatched with turf ridge. Three contiguous sections forming eight bays wide, now one single dwelling. Coarse random rubble, principally of local schists and field stones, lime mortar. Reed thatch roof with turf and heather ridge. Levels of ground and roofs rising to east.

West section: four bays to front (south), two doors towards centre, framed and lined, flanked by two windows, roughly symmetrical. Single door to rear (20th century addition), framed and lined, no windows. Main roof structure of two adzed oak couples (Gaelic - "ceangail") springing from wallhead, with crossbeams at wallhead level and upper cross-spars all held with wooden pegs. Overlaid by two sets of oak purlins ("taobhan") plus ridge pole, overlain in turn by close-spaced larch rafters ("cabair") tied to purlins. Rubble gable-head chimney stack (recent addition).

Middle section: door central at front (south), framed and lined, flanked by small asymmetrical windows. Rear wall blank. Roof similar to west section, but incorporating single scarf-jointed Highland couple (cruck).

East section: single doorway to front (south), triangular stone vent in gable (recent introduction). Roof structure similar to west section. Windows fixed, small panes.

Interior (seen in 1996): west section has one reconstructed "hangin lum" ("simileir crochaidh") of wattle and daub over frame. Buildings are built into bedrock, which partly constitutes floor, causing drainage problems. Floor is otherwise of earth with some rough stone paving in west section.

Steps: rough stone steps to south of building appear in photographs around 1900.

Statement of Interest

An exemplary restoration, exceptionally included on the list for the accuracy of the historical research, materials and craft skills employed. Essentially a vernacular research project in a building with traditional, if tenuous, link to Rob Roy and Walter Scott. See references for further information.

It is among a relatively small number of traditional buildings with a surviving thatched roof found 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.

Listed building record revised in 2020 as part of the Thatched Buildings Listing Review.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing
• Wikidata Q17853826

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

• 
  Staffordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Herefordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Bedfordshire, Huntingdonshire, and Peterborough (Pevsner Architectural Guides): Written by Charles O'Brien, 2014 Edition, Publisher: Yale University Press [Hardcover]
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  The green guide for historic buildings: how to improve the environmental performance of listed and historic buildings