Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

Struan Cottage, Malacleit, Solas, Uibhist a Tuath / Struan Cottage, Malacleit, Sollas, Isle of North UistLB17582

Status: Designated

Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

Summary

Category
A
Date Added
15/01/1980
Last Date Amended
16/03/2021
Local Authority
Na h-Eileanan Siar
Planning Authority
Na h-Eileanan Siar
Parish
North Uist
NGR
NF 79385 73724
Coordinates
79385, 873724

Description

Probably 19th century. Hebridean-type thatched cottage. Single-storey, three-bay east front with centre door. Single window in centre of west wall. Thick battered walls with curved angles; limewashed. End chimney stacks, marram thatch roof with a continuous thatched ridge, netted and weighted along the eaves by stones secured to the netting.

The cottage is currently in use as holiday accommodation.

There is a thatched outbuilding to east, built before 1967, which is used as storage.

Statement of Special Interest

This property is a 19th century, Hebridean-type thatch-roofed crofthouse, renovated in 1987-88. These vernacular buildings, once prolific across Na h-Eileanan Siar, are now extremely rare. Struan Cottage 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 and a marram thatched roof weighted along 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 'Sollas Malaclete Struan Ruadh Cottages, Struan Cottage'.

References

Bibliography

Canmore: http://canmore.org.uk/ CANMORE ID 238235

Maps

Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1878, published 1879) Inverness-shire - Hebrides XXX.15 (North Uist). 1st Edition. 25 inches to one mile. Southampton: Ordnance Survey.

Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1967, published 1968) Sheet NF 7973, 1:2500. Southampton: Ordnance Survey.

Printed Sources

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings Scotland (2016) A Survey of Thatched Buildings in Scotland. London: SPAB. p.530.

Online Sources

Historic Environment Scotland (2018) Scotland's Thatched Buildings: Introductory Designations Report at https://www.historicenvironment.scot/archives-and-research/publications/publication/?publicationId=8b3d1317-5a56-4416-905b-a8e800bf4c3c.

Other Information

Further information courtesy of owner (2021).

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

Listed building consent is required for changes to a listed building which affect its character as a building of special architectural or historic interest. The relevant planning authority is the point of contact for applications for listed building consent.

Find out more about listing and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.

Images

Struan Cottage, east elevation, looking north, during daytime, on overcast day.

Map

Map

Printed: 28/03/2024 12:35