Cnoc an Dudain, Ruisgarry, Beinn na Foghla agus Uibhist a Tuath, Na h-Eileanan Siar

Description

Cnoc an Dudain is a pair of adjoining single-storey, roughly rectangular-plan, rubble-built Hebridean-type cottages, likely dating from the late 18th or early 19th century. They stand on the north side of Bays Loch on the east side of the Isle of Berneray, to the west of Loch Watersee. The rubble walls of the cottages have squared corners and the windows are deeply recessed. Both roof structures have collapsed, with turf growing on the wallheads and the remnants of the roofs.

The southwest elevation has three openings. The northeast elevation has four irregular openings. Each cottage has a later porch addition. The porch of the north cottage is on the northeast elevation and has a shallow-pitched corrugated metal roof. The porch of the south cottage is on the southwest elevation and has a pitched corrugated metal roof.

The building has two square concrete chimney stacks, one at the centre and one at the southeast end. There are at least two four-pane timber sash window frames in place with no glass.

Statement of Interest

Cnoc an Dudain is a pair of late 18th or early 19th century Hebridean crofthouses. The buildings are part of a close-knit group of three 19th century vernacular buildings, the other two have been restored. Together they show the cultural and social history of Berneray from the 18th to the 20th centuries, and are an important part of the built heritage and historic character of the Uists. The surviving historic fabric and footprint of Cnoc an Dudain shows traditional building methods and materials of Na h-Eileanan Siar.

Age and Rarity

The island of Berneray is one of 15 inhabited islands in the Outer Hebrides. The island came into the possession of the Macleods of Harris and Dunvegan in the 14th century. The Berneray Macleods descended from this branch of the family. In 1633 Sir Norman Macleod of Berneray, third son of the 15th Macleod Chief was granted a lifetime rent of Berneray (Miers, p.314). By the mid-18th century, Donald Ruadh Macleod improved the land and the kelp industry boomed. The island was sold to the 5th Earl of Dunmore in 1834. Intense cultivation and an influx of people cleared from other islands, meant settlements such as Ruisgarry became very overcrowded.

The decline of the kelp industry, a succession of poor harvests, and the potato famine of 1846-51 led to a reduction in the number of crofts and large scale emigration and forced removal from crofts occurred (Rowe, p.162). As a result, the population of Berneray declined during the later 19th and early 20th centuries and crofting and cottar families turned to earning alternative livings. Crofters remaining in Ruisgarry were ordered by the Factor of Harris, John Robertson MacDonald, not to help displaced tenants (Lawson, p.7).

It is likely that this pair of cottages dates from the late 18th or early 19th century prior to the collapse of the kelp industry. They are first shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1878), as part of a group of three neighbouring buildings at Cnoc an Dudain within a small coastal settlement to the northwest of Loch Watersee.

The 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey map (revised 1901), shows a small outbuilding immediately south of the main building, but it no longer remains. The 1st and 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey maps show the Ruisgarry area of Berneray, which extends west around Bays Loch, as being the most populated area of the island. Cnoc an Dudain, and its neighbours, form a cluster of buildings with road links to other settlements around Bays Loch, which include two churches, a manse, a glebe and a school.

The two porches are not shown on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey and were therefore added in the 20th century, between 1901 and 1971. The listed building record, written in 1971, records the thatched roof as being intact. By 1998 the cottages were reported as abandoned and ruinous, and a Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland inspection in 2009 recorded the complete roof collapse of Cnoc an Dudain.

The use of thatch as a roofing material has a long tradition in Scotland. Thatched buildings are often single-storey cottages or crofthouses that are traditionally built, reflecting pre-industrial construction methods and materials.

The survival of this building type into the 21st century is extremely rare. A Survey of Thatched Buildings in Scotland, published in 2016 by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB), found that were only around 200 buildings with thatched roofs in Scotland. Those which retain their traditional vernacular character, including plan forms and construction techniques may be of special interest in listing terms. Of the thatched buildings remaining in Scotland 54 of these are located in Na h-Eileanan Siar and 14 are on Berneray (SPAB, pp.500-526).

These once prolific traditional thatched buildings are now extremely rare. The number and density that survive within the Ruisgarry Conservation Area is unique in comparison to the rest of the Na h-Eileanan Siar and Scotland as a whole. They are an important part of the Uists built heritage, showing cultural, ethnological and agricultural trends in this part of Scotland.

Cnoc an Dudain is incomplete, with a collapsed roof, but enough historic fabric remains to show traditional construction methods and materials relevant to Berneray (See Regional Variations section below). These include its traditional footprint and its thick rubble walls with squared corners. It is part of a close-knit group of vernacular buildings.

Architectural or Historic Interest

Interior

A site visit was made as part of the SPAB survey in 2014. This recorded the interior as 'abandoned and ruinous' (SPAB Report, p.502) with some evidence of thatching material remaining within the building.

There are no surviving interior fixtures, fittings or decorative schemes.

Plan form

Cnoc an Dudain has a plan form typical of thatched vernacular buildings of Na h-Eileanan Siar with a narrow-bodied, thick-walled rectangular form. The battered walls are typical of this building type in that they sit low to the ground but the corners are squared rather than the more typical curved corners found across Na h-Eileanan Siar. Slight variations in construction was not unusual due to individual's preference, ability to build and the availability of materials.

The footprint of the building changed slightly in the 20th century by the addition of porches. Porches were a common addition to these cottages to protect against weather. This alteration does not significantly detract from the interest of this building.

Technological excellence or innovation, material or design quality

This pair of thatched buildings have been constructed using traditional materials and methods that are characteristic of this part of Scotland. The interest of these vernacular buildings is discussed in the Regional Variations section below.

While authenticity of material can be an important factor in assessing the significance of thatched buildings, buildings which have been repaired over time (perhaps with new roofing material or rethatched) can also be listed. The retention of the overall traditional character of vernacular buildings is therefore important in determining their special architectural or historic interest.

The simple, local nature of these buildings meant that they could be altered to suit changes in building methods, the availability of materials and the needs of those using the buildings. The cottages have been slightly altered during the 20th century, including the addition of porches. These alterations do not detract from the overall appearance of a late 19th century thatched building.

The building has lost a degree of its historic fabric, including the roof which has collapsed. The previous listed building record describes the cottages as having marram thatched roofs, secured with netting and ropes, and stone weights over the inner wallhead. Remnants of this roof remains in the cottage. The condition of a property is not a factor in the evaluation unless it detracts significantly from the architectural or historic interest so that it can no longer be defined as special. In this case enough of the historic fabric and form survives to show that it is characteristic of 19th century Na h-Eileanan Siar vernacular building traditions, and it remains part of a close-knit group of similar buildings.

Setting

Cnoc an Dudain is located at the northeastern edge of Bays Loch within Ruisgarry, the largest settlement on Berneray. The location and setting of crofthouses provides information about changing settlement patterns and agricultural land-use. Cnoc an Dudain is one of a close-knit group of three cottages which show the regional features of traditional Hebridean-type buildings. The immediate setting of Cnoc an Dudain remains remarkably unchanged since the turn of the 20th century (as shown on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey).

There are a number of other vernacular buildings nearby. These include a barn and byre (LB46108), Berneray hostel and annexe (LB46103) and Laimhrig Ruadh (LB46100, LB46101 and LB46102). The number and density of vernacular buildings that survive within the Ruisgarry Conservation Area is unique in comparison to the rest of the Na h-Eileanan Siar and Scotland as a whole. They are an important part of the Uists built heritage, showing cultural, ethnological and agricultural trends in this part of Scotland.

Cnoc an Dudain contributes to this landscape. It is part of the history of this area and complements the nearby clusters of traditional thatched cottages at Baile and Laimhrig Ruadh. They show the regional methods of thatch and the techniques historically used as well as the past prominence of Ruisgarry in terms of industry and settlement.

Regional variations

The design and construction of the building, the method of thatching and the thatching material used was a distinctly localised practice. The best examples of local vernacular buildings will normally be listed because together they illustrate the importance of distinctive local and regional traditions.

Traditional thatched cottages of Na h-Eileanan Siar are usually single-storey, low-profile buildings. In the Uists the cottages typically had a room at each end of the building with a small room in the middle. They also typically had a chimney on each end wall rather than a central chimney. They were shorter than those on Lewis, because the byre was not part of the property but in a separate outbuilding. There are no surviving interior walls so it is not possible to determine the layout of the interior, however the footprint and exterior form of the cottage remains largely unaltered. The cottage to the north had a central chimney suggesting it may have had an integral byre. The south cottage had chimneys on the end walls and it was likely that the byre was the small separate outbuilding shown on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey Map. (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, 2019).

The low form, thick battered rubble walls of Cnoc an Dudain is typical of this region in protecting against Atlantic storms and sand blasts. The walls of these vernacular buildings would have been constructed with a central earth and rubble core between stone walls that were built from locally sourced stone gathered from the land. Their thickness ensured that they could support the weight of the roof, reducing the need for timber (which was scarce in the area) in the roof structure to a minimum. The rubble walls of these two buildings differ from other cottages nearby in that they have squared corners rather than curved ones. Cottages with squared corners maybe slightly younger than cottages with curved corners (Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, 2019).

Close Historical Associations

There are no known associations with a person or event of national importance at present (2018).

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2019. Previously listed as 'Berneray Thatched Cottages at OS Grid Reference NF 9272 8186 and NF 9272 8187'.

External Links

Historic Environment Scotland Listing
Wikidata IDs Q17853275 Q17853285

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