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

Seann Taigh, 472a Loch Baghasdail a Deas, Uibhist a Deas / Seann Taigh, 472a South Lochboisdale, Isle of South UistLB18746

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
02/07/2021
Local Authority
Na h-Eileanan Siar
Planning Authority
Na h-Eileanan Siar
Parish
South Uist
NGR
NF 78550 17547
Coordinates
78550, 817547

Description

Probably 19th century, single-storey, three narrow bays with central door, Skye-type thatched cottage. Single window in centre of fear wall. Rubble-built with roughly-squared angles and painted reveals. End chimney stacks. Heather thatch roof, netted and secured with wire and stone weights.

The cottage was renovated as holiday accommodation after 2004.

Statement of Special Interest

These vernacular buildings, once prolific across Na h-Eileanan Siar, are now extremely rare. Seann Taigh 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 and battered rubble walls and a marram thatched roof secured with stone weights.

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.

Seann Taigh is part of a group traditional cottages located to the west of the Eavat Lochs in South Lochboisdale. The cottage retains its historic settling as part of a mid to later 19th century small scale rural crofting settlement. This group includes a thatched cottages at 466 South Lochboisdale (LB18744) and 472b South Lochboisdale (LB18745) and traditional rubble built cottage to the north of 472b South Lochboisdale (LB52495). The remains of a number of other traditional 19th and early 20th century rubble-built cottages and outbuildings can be seen around the settlement of South Lochboisdale.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2021 as part of the Thatched Buildings Listing Review. Previously listed as '472 South Lochboisdale and Byre and Shed (Campbell)'.

References

Bibliography

Canmore: http://canmore.org.uk/ CANMORE ID 238336

Maps

Bald, William (Surveyed 1805, published 1825) Plan of the island of South Uist. Edinburgh: W. Forrester.

Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1878, published 1881) Inverness-shire (Hebrides), Sheet LVII (includes: South Uist) 1st Edition, six inches to the mile. Southampton: Ordnance Survey.

Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1901, published 1904) Inverness-shire - Hebrides Sheet LVII (includes: South Uist) 2nd Edition, six inches to the mile. Southampton: Ordnance Survey.

Ordnance Survey (1969) 1:2500 Map. 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. 611-612.

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.

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

Seann Taigh, 472a South Lochboisdale principal northeast elevation, looking southwest, during daytime.
Seann Taigh, 472a South Lochboisdale rear elevation looking northeast, during daytime with water and hills in the background.

Map

Map

Printed: 28/03/2024 09:01