IT lay at the mercy of time and weather for decades. Now a derelict croft house last inhabited in 1930 has been renovated after it was revealed as a building of “national importance”.
Downie’s Cottage was set to be razed for the building of a new family home until the significance of its untouched interior was recognised.
Built in the mid-1850s, it had become obscured by trees. It was left vacant after its last tenant, James Downie, died.
Sited at Tomintoul Farm near Braemar, it was purchased by Jackie and Calum Innes, who planned to create a modern residence on their three acres of land, but instead decided to restore the existing house.
Now photographs reveal what domestic life would have looked like for Scots living there almost 100 years ago, as well as the scale of repair work.
The cottage was left with box beds with their straw mattresses still in place, and retained its large “hanging lum” chimney – a typical feature of homes of the period.
A calendar from 1912 remained in the loft, with vintage greetings cards from the late 1890s also found there, as well as clothing, pieces of ribbon and other personal items.
Colourful pages from newspapers and magazines had been used to line the walls and a horse-drawn sledge for use in snowy conditions had been left behind. Heritage body Historic Environment Scotland (HES) granted the building Grade A listed status after learning of the find.
It will now be used as a holiday home. HES called it an “’exceptionally rare” example of its type of rural building.
Jackie Innes, from Blairgowrie, said the refurbishment had been a “labour of love”.
Describing the costly and difficult project, which was advised by HES, she went on: “It hasn’t made any sense in terms of effort or money but we feel that we have done the right thing.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here