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

CAMSERNEY, CRACHAN COTTAGE INCLUDING ANCILLARY BUILDINGSLB5758

Status: Designated

Documents

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Summary

Category
B
Date Added
05/10/1971
Supplementary Information Updated
07/03/2019
Local Authority
Perth And Kinross
Planning Authority
Perth And Kinross
Parish
Dull
NGR
NN 81655 49506
Coordinates
281655, 749506

Description

Probably around 1835; altered after fire around 1990. Single storey and attic, pair of three-bay cottages (converted to single dwelling). Originally farmhouse for Crachan Farm. Rubble with large stone lintels and roughly squared quoins; harl to west gable. Reed-thatched roof with striking thatched eyelid dormerheads over attic windows.

Roughly symmetrical entrance (south) elevation. Three-bay west cottage with centre door below small attic window. East cottage with small gabled rustic porch at centre. Regular window openings to remaining bays, ground floor windows slightly larger than those at attic. Rear elevation with two small stone outshots and five later rooflights.

Six- and eight-pane glazing patterns in timber sash and case and casement windows. Boarded timber doors. Coped ashlar and harled stacks with cans.

Interior: altered after fire but retaining some early detail including fireplace at east end with massive stone lintel. Timber fire surround in attic bedroom and timber dog-leg staircase.

Ancillary Buildings: single storey rubble ancillaries forming L-plan with timber lintels, small windows and timber doors.

Statement of Special Interest

Crachan Cottage is a rare survival with its unusual thatched eyelid dormers reminiscent of English vernacular and echoing a style adopted by the Breadalbane Estate in the 19th century. Similarly-detailed thatched dormers can be seen at a number of estate buildings, notably at James MacLaren's Kirkton Cottages at Fortingall (also listed) of 1889.

Some years before the New Statistical Account of 1842 was written, Sir Niel Menzies, Bart opened a carpet manufactory at Crachan. The Rev Duncan Dewar, notes that Sir Niel made "laudable and assiduous exertions in promoting every species of improvement connected with mechanics and agriculture". Employing between 20 and 30 hands, the manufactory had "an annual consumption of about 600 stones of wool", and the carpets were marketed, amongst other places, at Dundee. During the 1860s and 1870s the firm was run by the McNab family, and had passed to Robert Fraser by the 1880s.

A fairly complex water course structure in the garden at Crachan is evidence of the skilled utilisation of the natural water source at Camserney. The natural flow of water below the Falls of Camserney is routed off the Camserney Burn above Crachan Farm before rejoining the Burn below the mill. The New Statistical Account mentions the 'cascades' at Camserney along with those at Keltnie, Tummel and Moness, and describes them as 'tortuous'. The water is known to have run through a number of local sites as well as a nearby "wheel wright-mill which has also a saw-mill conjoined" (New Statistical Account) and the Camserney Smithy and Mill.

It 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.

Formerly listed as Crachan Cottages, Camserney. Listed building record revised in 2008.

Listed building record revised in 2019 as part of the Thatched Buildings Listing Review 2017-19.

References

Bibliography

Canmore https://canmore.org.uk/ Canmore ID 25656.

Maps

1st Edition Ordnance Survey Map (1855-8).

Archives

Perth and Kinross Council Archive Valuation Rolls.

Printed Sources

New Statistical Account (1842), Vol X pp.774-5 and 759.

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings Scotland (2016) A Survey of Thatched Buildings in Scotland. London: SPAB. p.304.

Online Sources

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

Other sources

Information courtesy of owners (2008).

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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Printed: 28/03/2024 10:05