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

TUMMEL GARRY HYDRO ELECTRIC SCHEME, PITLOCHRY POWER STATION AND DAM, INCLUDING BOUNDARY WALLSLB47534

Status: Designated

Documents

There are no additional online documents for this record.

Summary

Category
A
Date Added
20/12/2000
Local Authority
Perth And Kinross
Planning Authority
Perth And Kinross
Burgh
Pitlochry
NGR
NN 93542 57719
Coordinates
293542, 757719

Description

Harold Ogle Tarbolton (architect as part of the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board architectural panel), J Guthrie Brown of Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners (consulting engineer), 1947-51. 7-bay rectangular-plan classical modern power station and dam complex with prominent drum gates and balustraded walkway oversailing gates. Prominently set on River Tummel with Loch Faskally behind. Pre-cast concrete blocks. slightly recessed blocking course with coped parapet. Pilasters dividing turbine hall bays. Roll moulded and recessed segmental headed openings.

POWER STATION: 4 symmetrical bays to turbine hall to left (SW), balustraded walkway oversailing drum gates and fixed spillway on segmental arches to right (NE). Tall rectangular windows to turbine hall at ground floor in recessed segmental arched surrounds with pilasters dividing bays. Small square windows above. Advanced entrance bay to left with broad doorway at ground with bronze commemorative plaque to Sir Edward MacColl (see Notes) with broad window over. Recessed bay to far left with square windows. SW ELEVATION: entrance to workshop at ground floor with large 6-light window above, flanking taller centre lights. NE ELEVATION: single bay of turbine hall recessed to left with deep-set architraved opening with moulded crest of North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board above breaking eaves.

Predominantly small pane metal glazing in painted metal frames. Recessed flat platform roof with integrated rainwater goods.

INTERIOR: predominantly plain functional interior to turbine hall with open trussed steel roof and large travelling gantry crane. Some original tiles remaining to floor.

Statement of Special Interest

Pitlochry dam and power station is an outstanding example of an early development by the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board (NoSHEB) in a bold modernist design by Harold Tarbolton. The station is set in a prominent location on the edge of Pitlochry and the walkway oversailing the drum gates is used as a public bridge. The building illustrates the intention by NoSHEB to ensure that their interventions had a positive impact on the areas where they were set, through the use of high quality design and materials.

Pitlochry power station is the archetypal example of the bold modernist phase of designs by NoSHEB and the use of modern materials such as pre-cast concrete blocks expresses the dynamism of the industry at this time and of the new society that the board hoped to create in the Highlands by brining electricity to remote communities.

The turbine hall was originally designed with 2 Kaplan turbines each capable of generating at 7.5 megawatts. The station operates primarily as a run-of-the-river scheme with some pondage provided by Loch Faskally. The station has a relatively low head (with the turbine hall integrated into the dam) of 15 metres and produces an average of 60 million units per year.

Pitlochry power station forms an important component of an early example of one of the major post-war hydro electric developments by the NoSHEB, expanding a scheme developed during the 1930s (see separate listings for Tummel Bridge and Rannoch power stations). The scheme played a key role in the realisation of the social agenda of NoSHEB by providing power for export to the populous central belt the profit from which subsidised other schemes to supply power to remote north highland communities and stimulated economic regeneration. This commitment saw the development of schemes in locations such as Loch Dubh near Ullapool and Storr Lochs on Skye. Johnstone's social aspirations and wider wishes to reinvigorate the economy of the Highlands were behind these projects which were a key part of the NoSHEB development plan.

All of the developments carried out by NoSHEB were subject to parliamentary approval and objections on the grounds of scenic amenity were common. In order to meet these objections the board appointed a panel of architectural advisers which included Reginald Fairlie (1883-1952), James Shearer (1881-1962) and Harold Ogle Tarbolton (1869-1947), appointed in 1943. Initially the role of the panel was to adjudicate on competition entries for designs, but by 1947 it had become one of designers. The panel had little control over the functional form of the buildings, as they left this to engineers, but they did influence the appearance and the style of the designs. The design of Pitlochry Power Station is typical of Harold Ogle Tarbolton's bold designs for NoSHEB as can be seen in his work at Sloy (see separate listings). This contrasts with the later approach of the board after Tarbolton's death in 1948, with the focus on the integration of buildings with the landscape by the use of vernacular features.

Harold Ogle Tarbolton became involved in the design of hydro electric infrastructure for NoSHEB late in his career (he died in 1947), but he had been a member of the Amenity Committee which considered the work carried out under the Galloway Water Power Act of 1929, acting as advisory architect for the Galloway schemes and designed the associated housing schemes. As a consequence of his experience in Galloway and his original training as a civil engineer he was appointed to the North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board alongside James Shearer and Reginald Fairlie. His two most prominent commissions for the power stations are those at Loch Sloy and Pitlochry (see separate listings). Both of these designs are characterised by confident use of modern classicism and bold application of pre-cast concrete panels.

(List description updated 2011 as part of Hydro Electric Power Thematic Survey)

References

Bibliography

National Archives of Scotland (NAS), Ref: NSE North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board Collection (1943 -1990); NAS, Ref: NSE1 North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board Minutes (1943-1990); NAS, Ref NSE2 North of Scotland Hydro Electric Board Annual Reports (1943-1990); Peter Payne, The Hydro: A Study of the Development of the Major Hydro-Electric Schemes Undertaken by the North of Scotland Hydro-Electric Board (1988) p54; J Miller, The Dam Builders: Power from the Glens (2002) p42: Emma Wood, The Hydro Boys (2002) p157-169; Scottish Hydro Electric, Power From The Glens (2000) p18; J Gifford, The Buildings of Scotland: Perth and Kinross (2007) p671; Colin Liddell, Pitlochry Heritage of a Highland District (1993) p15, 110.

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

There are no images available for this record, you may want to check Canmore for images relating to TUMMEL GARRY HYDRO ELECTRIC SCHEME, PITLOCHRY POWER STATION AND DAM, INCLUDING BOUNDARY WALLS

There are no images available for this record.

Search Canmore

Printed: 29/03/2024 11:13