Cromarty’s historic birthplace of a great Scot is in urgent need of repairs to stop water getting in
A 313-year old visitor attraction in Cromarty is in need of repairs to stop further from rainwater leaking inside.
The repairs to Hugh Miller’s Birthplace Cottage, now run as a museum to one of the great Scots of the 19th century, include thatching renewal, re-harling and ground drainage repairs.
The National Trust For Scottish (NTS) is seeking Listed Building from Highland Council carry out of repairs to the thatch, including the reinstatement of the flush ridge, renewal of the gully at the side of the cottage and reharl of the gable.
The cottage in Church Street is a low, two storey thatched cottage dated 1711. It was listed as category A by Historic Scotland in 1971.
The NTS say in background papers that the cottage was last rethatched in 2010 using reed to match the existing covering. The original thatch, however, was straw covered with clay which was typical of the thatched roofs in the Ross and Cromarty area but differed from traditional Highland thatch.
This technique had been taken from the Moray and Aberdeenshire areas and was intended to extend the life of the thatch. During the 2010 works, the roof ridge was changed from a flush ridge to a stepped ridge to increase the longevity of the ridge, being the most vulnerable part of the roof.
Issues listed by the NTS include -
•The ridge has reached the end of its useful life and requires renewal.
•The current ridge configuration is not in keeping with highland thatching tradition and is more typical of lowland and English thatching methods.
• Water is penetrating the back wall of the cottage and pooling in the kitchen.
• The gable wall is very damp and the harl is protruding across the elevation.
A condition survey carried out by Neil Nicholson identified the need to renew the ridge and trim the reed to remove the algal growth. This allows the opportunity to reinstate the flush ridge and return the cottage to a suitable and authentic appearance, reflective of the traditions of the area.
Craig Frew Conservation was appointed to assess and advise on the water ingress and this identified cracks in the concrete gully between the cottage and Miller House.
The report also confirmed the failure of the harl and recommended its replacement.
The application is under consideration.
There is a bust of Hugh Miller in the Hall of Heroes at the Wallace Monument in Stirling.[14] His home in Cromarty is open as a geological museum, with specimens collected in the immediate area; a weekend event at the site in 2008 was part of celebrations marking the bicentenary of the Geological Society of London.[15][16]
Hugh Miller (10 October 1802 – 23/24 December 1856) was a Scottish geologist, writer and Cromarty home is open as a geological museum, with specimens collected in the immediate area.
The Hugh Miller Trail starts at a small car park on a minor road just past Eathie Mains, about three miles south of Cromarty, and leads about a mile down a steep slope through woodland to the foreshore at Eathie Haven where Miller began collecting fossils. It was here he found his first fossil ammonite, in Jurassic rocks.