Description

Gearrannan Blackhouse Village comprises a group of nine single-storey, Hebridean-type crofthouses, built along either side of a narrow road that leads down towards the machair. These buildings probably date from the late 19^th century and were occupied until the 1970s. In the late 20^th century the crofthouses were restored (some rebuilt). The group of buildings includes a museum of crofting life, youth hostel, self-catering holiday accommodation, shop and café, office and associated amenities.

The crofthouses have battered rubble walls with a mixture of rounded and squared corners. All have straw-thatched roofs secured with netting, rope and weighting stones. Some have crowsteps at one or both ends of the roof ridge.

Statement of Interest

These vernacular buildings, once prolific across Na h-Eileanan Siar, are now extremely rare. The crofthouses that make up Gearrannan Blackhouse Village continue to show regional traditional building methods and materials, their 19th century footprint, vernacular form and character. Notable features include the thick, battered rubble walls and straw-thatched roofs secured with stone weights.

Together they are an outstanding group of vernacular crofthouses in a spectacular setting. They are one of only 54 buildings or groups of buildings in Na h-Eileanan Siar that are known to retain intact thatched roofs, and among a very small number of surviving thatched buildings 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.

The group of buildings are also traditionally known as Taighean-dubha nan Geàrrannan / Gearrannan Blackhouses.

Statutory address and listed building record revised in 2021 as part of the Thatched Buildings Listing Review. Previously listed as 'Garenin Cottages and Outbuildings Within Area Defined by NGR NB 1920 4418/1920 4430/1936 4418/1136 4430'.

External Links

• Historic Environment Scotland Listing

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

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  Yorkshire West Riding: Sheffield and the South (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
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  Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990: Updated version