Crofthouse and Byre at Shetland Crofthouse Museum, Southvoe, Shetland, Shetland South, Shetland Islands

Description

A mid-19th century Shetland croft, which was restored during the 1970s as the Shetland Crofthouse Museum using local building materials and traditional methods of construction. It consists of two interconnected, single-storey, rectangular-plan ranges running parallel to one another. The south range is the living accommodation with a byre (cattle shed) adjoining to the east. The north range is a barn with a circular grain-drying kiln adjoining to the west. The croft is located close to the sea at Southvoe in Dunrossness, in the southern part of Shetland Mainland.

The house, byre and barn are built of flagstone rubble with flagstones at the wallheads, thatched roofs and gable ends with wide skews. The straw thatch and turf under-lay is secured with ropes and weight-stones, and sits flush with the wallhead. There is a single thatched chimney stack on the ridge of the house and coped rubble stacks at the west gables of the house and the byre. The circular kiln has a turf roof covering.

There is a semi-oval kailyard (garden kitchen) to the south of the house. To the south of the kailyard is an oval-plan boat-roofed shed with battered flagstone walls and a timber door. Broadly rectangular enclosures with dry-stone walls extend to the south and north side of the croft complex.

The interior, seen in 2017, has been restored in the 1970s and fitted out to reflect a typical Shetland crofthouse of the mid to late 19th century. The door in the south elevation of the byre leads to a through passage between the living accommodation and the byre stalls, and then into the barn at the rear. The living accommodation consists of two rooms in a linear 'but and ben' configuration. The 'but' end at the east contains a peat fireplace and a timber box bed in one corner. The 'ben' end to the west has a larger box bed and a fireplace with a timber fire surround on the gable wall. The walls are plastered and painted white. The byre contains timber stalls and feeders. The barn has benches and farm machinery. The east end of the barn, added around 1900, was converted to a toilet with timber boarded walls during the 1970s.

Statement of Interest

The Shetland Crofthouse Museum at Southvoe is a largely complete example of a 19th century Shetland croft complex, which has been restored in the 1970s using local building materials and traditional construction methods. This building type was once prolific across the highlands and the northern islands of Scotland but is now extremely rare. It shows traditional Shetland building methods, such as a closely interrelated plan form and thatched roofs that are flush to the wall heads.

It is one of only five buildings or groups of buildings in Shetland that are known to retain an intact thatched roof, and is among a relatively small number of thatched buildings across Scotland.

The ancillary structures, including the kiln, kailyard, barn, byre, boat-roofed shed and walled enclosures, all add to the historic character and interest. The group provides valuable insights into cultural and agricultural trends among Shetland's farming communities during the 18th and 19th centuries.

Age and Rarity

There has been a crofting settlement at Southvoe since at least the mid-18th century, at which time the population was recorded as eleven males and five females (Goudie, p.57). The croft buildings at Southvoe are thought to date to around the mid-19th century but may include earlier fabric. It is shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map, surveyed in 1877, as part of a small settlement of three crofts.

The Southvoe crofthouse continued to be occupied until the late 1960s. In 1970, the still largely intact buildings were restored by local craftsmen for use as a museum. Local materials and traditional building techniques were used to recreate its appearance as it would have been during the mid-19th century. The buildings are currently (2018) run by Shetland Museum and Archives.

Crofts are agricultural smallholdings, tending to average about five hectares in size, to fulfil the requirements of one family, or crofter. A typical Shetland croft was a simple arrangement of roughly rectangular stone buildings with ancillary structures such as sheds for livestock, barns and a kiln, alongside and often physically connected. The simple construction methods, without the need for highly specialist tools, and the use of locally sourced building materials allowed for remodelling to suit the changing needs of the crofter over time. This form of subsistence living based around the basic need for shelter, seasonal livestock and crop management, changed little in Shetland for many hundreds of years. Substantial elements of traditional, pre-improvement farming patterns and building techniques survived until the 1880s and in the more remote areas and islands into the 20th century.

By the end of the 20th century, the farming landscape of Shetland had been comprehensively altered by a wide range of factors including improved transportation links, changes in agricultural legislation, and the importing of standardised building materials from mainland Scotland. Many pre-1850 crofthouses in Shetland were either rebuilt, substantially reworked or abandoned by 1960.

The use of thatch as a roofing material has a long tradition in Scotland. Thatched buildings in the north of the country are often single storey cottages and crofts reflecting pre-industrialised construction methods and materials. The survival of thatched buildings into the 21st century is extremely rare. 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 with thatched roofs in Scotland.

Shetland Crofthouse Museum is one of only five buildings, or groups of buildings, known on Shetland to have an intact thatched roof (SPAB, p.384-398). The one other thatched croft in Shetland is Easthouses at Dunsclate, West Burra (LB18562), where the buildings have been restored and converted for use as the headquarters of a local history group.

While crofting remains an important aspect of Shetland life, the Shetland Crofthouse Museum is a rare and largely complete example of a mid-19th century Shetland croft illustrating traditional building methods and a closely interrelated plan form. As of 2018, it is one of very few crofts that are known to survive in Shetland which retain such a degree of its pre-industrial character.

Architectural or Historic Interest

Interior

The interiors of vernacular crofthouses were often simple. Many of them have been refurbished and the survival of historic fixtures is rare. The interior here was restored in the 1970s and fitted out to reflect a typical Shetland crofthouse of the mid to late 19th century. Fixtures and fittings, including fireplaces, a box-bed and timber animal stalls, made use of salvaged material as far as possible. Primary sources of information from the Shetland archives were used to guide the project.

Plan form

The Crofthouse Museum complex has a plan form arrangement of parallel and interconnected buildings common to Shetland crofts of the 18th and 19th centuries. The expense of suitable roof timber, particularly in Shetland where timber was scarce, restricted the depth which could be spanned, resulting in a narrow rectangular plan.

The buildings would be purposely built to make use of the natural topography of a site and reduce the effects of extreme weather conditions. The buildings are built on sloping ground with the byre at the lowest point for drainage of animal waste. The thick stone walls, sit low to the ground, reducing the likelihood of damage to the roof by strong coastal winds.

The survival of the linear two room 'but and ben' configuration to the living accommodation is a traditional 19th century plan form arrangement. The parallel barn to the rear is accessed directly by a through-passage between the living accommodation and the byre, with a door in the opposite wall which would allow the cross draught necessary for winnowing (removing the chaff from wheat).

The position of the ancillary structures, including the walled kailyard (an enclosure to shelter tender plants from the wind, and the rectangular enclosures for livestock and agricultural use, reflect a typical 19th century arrangement.

It is common for these traditional cottages to have been altered by the addition of porches and small extensions. The degree of the survival of the buildings' early footprint, with each component still discernible and without any significant additions or losses, is exceptionally rare and adds to its interest.

Technological excellence or innovation, material or design quality

Shetland Crofthouse Museum is constructed and repaired using materials and methods that are characteristic of this part of Scotland. The interest of these vernacular buildings is discussed in the Regional Variations section below.

The house and associated structures were initially restored around 1970, using locally sourced materials and traditional methods of construction. While authenticity of material can be an important factor in assessing the significance of thatched buildings, the retention of the overall traditional character of vernacular buildings is also important in determining their special architectural or historic interest. A significant proportion of the historic fabric of the house, barn and enclosure walls survived intact through the early 20th century, forming the basis for the restoration. As a result, the buildings retain a significant level of material integrity.

The thatch itself has been renewed in recent decades, as is regularly required, and it was reinstated using traditional Shetland techniques and materials.

Setting

The location and setting of crofts can provide valuable information about changing settlement patterns and agricultural land-use. The Shetland Crofthouse Museum buildings are situated in their own small plot of land with enclosures, close to the sea and near a water supply. The arrangement of the buildings on land stretching down to the coastal shore to the east, remains largely unchanged from that shown on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map, surveyed in 1878.

A restored horizontal corn mill, located around 230 metres to the southeast (see Burn of Wiltrow Mill, LB5414), is also maintained by Shetland Museum and Archives. Mills such as this were often in use by a number of crofting families in the area. The Burn of Wiltrow water source is therefore likely to have been among the reasons for choosing to build the settlement at Southvoe. Together, the croft and mill enhances our understanding of the functional relationship between these sites, adding to the interest of each building.

The other crofts that formed the wider farming settlement at Southvoe during the 19th century have been remodelled, retaining some of their earlier rubble-built buildings and plan forms. They are interspersed with a small amount of 20th century residential development. The changes to the immediate setting are not considered to impact significantly on the core interest or character of the Shetland Crofthouse Museum.

Regional variations

The design and construction of the building, the method of thatching and the thatching material used was a distinctly localised practice. The best examples of local vernacular buildings will normally be listed because together they illustrate the importance of distinctive local and regional traditions.

The geology and climate of Shetland has had a significant impact on the construction and appearance of vernacular buildings of the 19th century and earlier. Traditional croft buildings of Shetland are usually single storey, low profile dwellings made up of two or three rooms. The low form, thick and irregular rubble walls with gabled ends is typical of the region in protecting against Atlantic storms. The walls are constructed from undressed flagstone that is likely to have been gathered from surrounding land. Their thickness ensured that they could support the weight of the roof, reducing the need for timber in the roof structure to a minimum.

The thatch does not overhang the wallhead and follows a low-profile curving shape, which reduces wind noise inside the building and limits the effects of extreme weather conditions, by allowing wind to pass over the structure and reducing the risk of damage. There are flagstone weights tied to ropes to secure the thatch near the wall. The thatch has also been taken around the chimney. Once a traditional technique, this is one of four known examples to use this method in Scotland.

Before the importing of building materials became more widespread towards the end of the 19th century, straw ropes continued to be used in place of vertical roof timbers, due to the shortage of wood on the islands. This method of roof construction can be seen in the house's roof structure.

The kale yard and detached boat-roofed shed addition to the south of the house are also a traditional Shetland building type, of which few examples survive. The survival of these 19th century croft buildings informs our knowledge and understanding of Shetland building traditions.

Close Historical Associations

There are no known associations with a person or event of national importance at present (2018).

Statutory address, category of listing changed from B to A and listed building record revised in 2019. Previously listed as 'Southvoe, Shetland Crofthouse Museum including byre, barn and kiln, boat-roofed shed, kailyard and boundary walls'.

External Links

Historic Environment Scotland Listing
Wikidata IDs Q17851478 Q17851489

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