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Summary

Description

Probably early to mid 19th century. Three-bay, single-storey and attic, rectangular-plan crofthouse situated on high ground overlooking Braemar village. Rubble with lime render and pointing. Corrugated-iron roof covering heather thatch.

North Elevation: Timber lean-to porch to centre, breaking eaves with timber door to left side; windows flanking. Smaller single windows in south and west elevations.

Interior: traditional plan arrangement comprising two principal rooms to east and west with central core of box-beds and stair to roofspace. Room to east: stone flags to floor; raised hearth with granite shelf to right and cast iron fireback with rose motif; timber 'hanging-lum' above with shelf to base of cowel; small wall niche to right. Two-leaf panelled timber doors to cupboards and box-bed. Room to west: remnants of fireplace and box-beds. Further box-bed behind staircase. Roofspace and stair lined with timber and 19th and 20th century newpaper and magazine print; 2 further box-beds to W end of roofspace.

Nine-pane glazing to timber sash and case windows. Coped and rendered ridge chimney stacks located toward gable ends.

Statement of Special Interest

Tomintoul Croft is an exceptionally rare and important survival of the open hearth tradition of vernacular building in the northeast of Scotland. This simple three-bay cottage is remarkable for its largely intact interior comprising a traditional plan arrangement with rooms to east and west and a central core comprising box-beds and a stair to the roofspace. Key points of interest include the raised stone hearth beneath a timber 'hanging-lum' chimney, and 19th and 20th century printed newspaper lining and heather thatch beneath the corrugated-iron roof covering.

The process of raising of the fireplace and making it smaller evolved in Scotland over the 18th and 19th centuries with the open hearth making the fire better suited to a range of domestic purposes including cooking and drying. The construction of so-called 'hanging' chimneys began to spread through rural building in the northeast of Scotland during the second half of the 18th century, eventually replacing the earlier method of a simple opening in the roof for the smoke to escape. The box beds on the ground floor at Tomintoul are clustered at the core of the building to maximise heat from the fires at either gable end and are comparable to those at Fleuchats, Glen Conrie and West Tornahaish (see separate listings). Construction techniques of traditional rural cottages vary considerably from region to region with the availability of materials and the initiative of individual builders. The 19th and 20th century printed paper lining the roofspace and staircase at Tomintoul add further to the integrity and authenticity of the building. The linings provided a convenient way to prevent insects falling from the heather thatch.

Three substantial stone walls of an associated steading or byre range are located to the immediate east of the cottage. Possibly dating to a slightly later 19th century phase of building at the croft, the remains of the steading adds interest to the immediate setting of the croft. Historic photographs of the croft show a low timber outbuilding adjoining the west gable. The 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map of 1869 shows a former limekiln located a short distance to the south of the croft and another to the north. The locations of the handful of associated buildings that make up the Tomintoul settlement appear to remain broadly the same as that shown on this map.

Tomintoul Croft is among a relatively small number of traditional buildings with a surviving thatched roof found 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.

Listed building record revised in 2021 as part of the Thatched Buildings Listing Review.

References

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