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
MAIN STREET, SALMON HOUSE AND RAMPLB40259
Status: Designated
Documents
There are no additional online documents for this record.
Summary
- Category
- B
- Date Added
- 02/07/1976
- Local Authority
- Aberdeenshire
- Planning Authority
- Aberdeenshire
- Burgh
- Portsoy
- NGR
- NJ 59123 66341
- Coordinates
- 359123, 866341
Description
Dated 1834. Tall 2-storey and dormerless attic, 5-bay rectangular salmon house constructed on sloping site with basement entrance at rear (NE). Modern harl over rubble. Long SW front elevation with doorway reached by forestair at left. 4 regularly spaced widows. 3 chutes (to
ante-room and icehouses) at ground floor, each with protective boulder 'cheeks' flanking openings: each opening fitted with iron hinges for former shutters. Regular 5-bay fenestration in 1st floor of NE rear elevation. Rear doorway under pointed-headed light flanked by similarly shaped window, both serving ante-room (dead-room) and 2 adjoining icehouses. Multi-pane glazing to fanlight and window.
Carved painted (stone) mural datestone between rear door and window depicting salmon between figures 18 and 34 within plain raised border with angle fluted 'fan' motif. Former boiler house with single pitch roof projects from rear. Centre small attic light in each gable; masonry end chimney stacks; slate roof; sandstone ridge.
INTERIOR: upper room reached by outer forestair; hearth at each end; wooden internal stair to attic. Rear entrance leads to stone flagged ante-room; from there into 2 inter-communicating high brick lined vaulted icehouses, each with cobbled floor and each approximately 6m x 5m. Each icehouse served by single mural chute; similar chute to ante-chamber.
RAMP: raised and turfed ramp with drystone rubble retaining wall fronts main SW long elevation.
Statement of Special Interest
No longer in use as salmon house. Ramp provided access for carts bringing ice to be emptied down chutes into icehouses. The
boulder 'cheeks' each side of chutes protected the openings from wear and tear by carts, horses and men; they are an unusual and practical feature. The ante-room was used to prepare and pack the fish in ice ready for transport (usually by sea) to urban markets. Pickle brine was prepared in the boiler house to partially pickle fish in order to prolong freshness during transport. A salmon silhouette weather-vane was a usual fixture to salmon houses. Though no longer mounted on the pole fixed to E chimney stack, such a vane is stored in the ante-room.
References
Bibliography
No Bibliography entries for this designation
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.