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Summary

Description

James M. MacLaren, 1889. Single storey and attic, L-plan group of four cottages with semi-detached pair of cottages to the east. Harled. Thatched roofs with thatch taken over wallhead attic windows as rounded dormerheads in the English style. At southeast corner crowstepped gable and a battered chimney.

Statement of Special Interest

Whilst this group of cottages were built after MacLaren died in 1893, some of the buildings in Fortingall may have been designed by him before his death in 1890 when his practice was continued by William Dunn and Robert Watson his partner. Only Balnald, the Steading and Farmhouse were built in his lifetime but H.S. Goodhart-Rendel in The Journal of the Royal Institute of British Architects. LVI. p.258, implies that he was responsible for more of it.

It is among a relatively small number of thatched buildings in 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 with thatched roofs surviving remaining, most of which are found in small rural communities.

The use of thatch saw a revival in the late 19th century as part of the Arts and Crafts movement, particularly in Perthshire, central and southern Scotland. Non-traditional thatching materials were used, often in a style more closely associated with the thatched traditions in England. For example, the use of angled thatch forming an overhang at the skews was not a common detail in Scotland because of its vulnerability to wind damage.

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

References

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