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

Strachur Smiddy Museum excluding Forge Cottage and shop to rear of Forge Cottage, StrachurLB18781

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
29/03/1994
Last Date Amended
10/12/2015
Local Authority
Argyll And Bute
Planning Authority
Argyll And Bute
Parish
Strachur
NGR
NN 09668 1377
Coordinates
209668, 701377

Description

Strachur Smiddy, erected around 1790, is a largely intact and operational blacksmith's shop including a forge and two furnaces (operating as Strachur Smiddy Museum since 1997). In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: Forge Cottage and shop adjoining to rear of Forge Cottage, Strachur.

The Smiddy is a single-storey, one-room building, constructed of lime-washed rubble with its gable end facing the road. It has a large, squat, gable-end chimney stack with thackstane, low eaves and a grey slate roof. There is a timber boarded half-door to the northwest elevation with a small-pane fixed window to the left. There is a stone set between the door and window with a small cast iron loop for tying horses. There is a late 19th century lean-to section with corrugated-iron roof to the rear (southeast) elevation.

The interior, seen in 2015, is a single room with a rubble forge with two furnaces and two pairs of bellows. The floor is partly cobbled. Part of the museum collection includes early boring equipment, a fire extinguisher, an anvil and a large collection of smaller blacksmith and farrier tools.

Statement of Special Interest

Strachur Smiddy is a rare, largely intact and operational example of a blacksmith's forge, now operating as a local museum. The interior retains many late 18th and 19th century features. The Smiddy contributes to our understanding of rural industrial history in Scotland.

The gable end facing the road and the close proximity of the single window to the low eaves evidences building techniques of the late 18th century in Scotland. The thackstane beneath the chimney stack indicates that the building may have had a thatched roof.

The Smiddy is prominently sited, with its gable end orientated towards the road, on the main thoroughfare through the 'clachan' village of Strachur, situated near Loch Fyne at the north western part of the Cowal Peninsula in Argyll. The Strachur Smiddy was first established around 1790, the period when the Laird of Strachur, General Campbell, was building a large house with parkland to the north of the village. His tradesmens' houses in the village were improved as part of these works with stone walls and slate roofs. Early buildings in Strachur include the Strachan Parish Church built in 1789, and the Clachan Inn (see separate listings). The smiddy stopped operating in 1950, before becoming a working museum in 1997.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: Forge Cottage and shop adjoining to rear of Forge Cottage, Strachur.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2015. Previously listed as 'The Smiddy'.

References

Bibliography

Canmore: http://canmore.org.uk/ CANMORE ID: 82460

Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1866, published 1870) Argyllshire. 6 inches to the mile. 1st Edition. London: Ordnance Survey.

Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1897, published 1900) Argyllshire. 6 inches to the mile. 2nd Edition. London: Ordnance Survey.

Groome F. (1896) A Gazetteer of Scotland. p. 404 at http://www.gazetteerofscotland.org.uk/scotland/gazettr.htm [Accessed 28 October 2015]

Walker F.A. (2000) The Buildings Of Scotland – Argyll and Bute. London: Penguin Books Ltd. p.466

Carruthers A. and Frew J. (2003) 'Small Houses and Cottages' in Scotland's Buildings – Scottish Life and Society, A Compendium of Scottish Ethnology. Scotland: Tuckwell Press, p.93

Further information courtesy of Strachur Smiddy Museum at http://www.strachursmiddy.org.uk/index.php [Accessed 28 October 2015]

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.

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