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

Taigh-tasgaidh Beatha Eileanach an Eilein Sgitheanaich, Seann Taigh-Croite, Bàthaich agus Taigh-Coiteir (a-nis Taigh-Cèilidh) gun gabhail a-steach a h-uile togalach eile, Osmaigearraidh, Cille Mhoire, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach / Skye Museum of Island Life, Old Croft House, Byre and Cottar’s House (now Ceilidh House), excluding all other buildings, Osmigarry, Kilmuir, Isle of SkyeLB7248

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
B
Date Added
05/10/1971
Last Date Amended
13/07/2023
Local Authority
Highland
Planning Authority
Highland
Parish
Kilmuir
NGR
NG 39498 71769
Coordinates
139498, 871769

Description

A group of three traditional Skye-type thatched buildings, dating from the late 18th and 19th century, and refurbished for use as a museum in the later-20th century. Known as the Croft House (NG 39498 71769), Byre (NG 39493 71780) and Cottar's or Ceilidh House (NG 39476 71790), the buildings are all detached and form a roughly linear group running from south to northwest. Together with five other thatched buildings dating from the 20th and 21st centuries, they form part of the Skye Museum of Island Life (formerly Osmigarry Croft Museum). The three buildings are located at the west of the museum site, which lies at the northeast of the Isle of Skye, just south of the A855.

The Croft House and Ceilidh House may have origins in the late-18th century but their form appears as it was in the mid-19th century (Miers, p.221, Am Baile). The Byre to the immediate north of the Croft House, dates from the late 19th century. All three are single-storey structures, built of rubble stone with thick, slightly battered walls and rounded corners. The piended roofs are thatched in straw and secured with wire netting and stone weights hanging at the eaves. The largest of the three structures is the three-bay croft house which has a central entrance opening to the front (northeast) elevation, flanking windows and end chimneystacks with clay cans. The Byre and Ceilidh House are slightly lower in height and each has a single entrance and no chimneystacks. The Ceilidh House is built into the hillside with the southeast elevation entirely concealed.

Internally, the croft house has whitewashed walls, hessian sacking tacked to the timber roof structure, stone floors and 19th century fixtures, fittings and artefacts on display. It comprises an entrance way, large bedroom to the south, a kitchen to the north and a smaller bedroom behind the entrance, accessed via the kitchen. Rooms are divided by timber panelling. The other buildings have exposed roofs with replacement rough timbers, earthen or stone rubble floors, replacement timber-lined walls and museum artefacts on display.

The original listed building record (1971) noted that the croft house was occupied until 1958 and was first opened to the public in 1965 (Miers, p.221). By the time of listing in 1971, the site was operating as Osmigarry Croft Museum.

The building now known as the Old Smithy dates from the first half of the 20th century but was extended at a later point. Three other replica buildings were built sometime in the later 20th century, and are now known as the Shop, the Barn and the Weaver's House (Skye Museum of Island Life). A fourth replica building, the visitor's centre and retail unit, was added to the museum in around 2015 (Highland Council planning portal, 14/04155/FUL). These five buildings are located to the east of the museum site and are excluded from the listing as they are not considered part of the early grouping.

Statement of Special Interest

These vernacular buildings, once prolific across the Highlands and Islands, are now extremely rare. The three early buildings at the Skye Museum of Island Life (Old Croft House, Byre and Cottar's House (now Ceilidh House

continue to show regional traditional building methods and materials and retain a significant proportion of their historic fabric, vernacular form and character. Notable features include the thick battered rubble walls with rounded corners and the thatched roofs secured with stone weights and netting.

The buildings are among a very small number of surviving thatched buildings across Scotland. There are around 40 thatched buildings or groups of buildings within the Highland Council area, of which around 12 survive on the Isle of Skye. 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 in Scotland, 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.

In accordance with Section 1 (4A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 the following are excluded from the listing: all other buildings.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2023. Previously listed as 'Osmigarry Croft Museum'.

References

Bibliography

Canmore: http://canmore.org.uk/ CANMORE ID 11205

Maps

Ordnance Survey (surveyed 1878, published 1878) Inverness-shire – Isle of Skye III.12 (Kilmuir). 25 inches to the mile. 1st Edition. Southampton: Ordnance Survey.

Ordnance Survey (revised 1901, published 1903) Inverness-shire – Isle of Skye III.12. 25 inches to the mile. 2nd Edition. Southampton: Ordnance Survey.

Ordnance Survey (revised 1959-64, published 1966) National Grid maps, NG37SE-A. Southampton: Ordnance Survey.

Printed sources

Gifford, J (1992) The Buildings of Scotland, Highlands and Islands. London: Penguin Books, p.541.

Miers, M. (2008) The Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide. London: The Rutland Press/RIAS, p.221.

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings Scotland (2016) A Survey of Thatched Buildings in Scotland. London: SPAB, pp.185-188.

Online sources

Am Baile. Thatched croft house, Skye Museum of Island Life, asset ID 14611, at https://www.ambaile.org.uk/asset/14611/1/Am%20Baile/ [accessed 19/12/2022].

Highland Council. Planning Portal, at https://wam.highland.gov.uk/wam/ [accessed 19/12/2022].

Highland Historic Environment Record. Osmigarry, Kilmuir, Skye Cottage Museum, MHG6473, at https://her.highland.gov.uk/Monument/MHG6473 [accessed 19/12/2022].

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 [accessed 19/12/2022].

Ordnance Survey Name Book (1876-78) Inverness-shire (Skye), volume 7, OS1/16/7/5, p.5, at https://scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/digital-volumes/ordnance-survey-name-books/inverness-shire-os-name-books-1876-1878/inverness-shire-skye-volume-07/5 [accessed 19/12/2022].

Skye Museum of Island Life, at http://www.skyemuseum.co.uk/ [accessed 19/12/2022].

HER/SMR Reference

  • https://her.highland.gov.uk/Monument/MHG6473

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

The croft house and byre at Skye Museum of Island Life, principal elevation, looking northwest, with museum signage and artefacts in foreground, during daytime, on overcast day.
The Skye Museum of Island Life, looking south from the A855 road, with the ceilidh house, byre and croft house to the right and the replica buildings to the left, and with fields and fencing in the foreground, during daytime, on overcast day.

Map

Map

Printed: 29/03/2024 08:04