Building record MAB40520 - FISHTOWN OF USAN

Ice-house and associated saltpan, now used to store fishing equipment.

Ice-house and associated saltpan, now used to store fishing equipment. The icehouse was probably originally built in the late 18th century as a panhouse, at one time there were three saltpans in use at Usan. The building has a courtyard to the South is protected from the elements by the cliffs and the buildings walls. The icehouse is built of coursed rubble and coursed dressed stone, and has a protruding chimney and a vaulted turf roof. It sits at the base of a small cliff on the edge of the water. A gap can be seen at the base of one of the walls. By 1794 two pans had been built and a third was being operated by 1798. Salt production ceased in the early 19th century and the panhouse was converted into an icehouse during the latter part of the 19th century. The building has a vault and was subdivided into two parts, the larger being where ice was retained for the summer, the smaller for the spring. This example is unusual as the sizes are different to most examples as they are on a ratio of 1:3 rather than 1:2. The feature recorded by Hume as a buttress has been re-examined and found to be a factory-style chimney with blocked openings. The 1st edition OS map (1861) shows extensions on the North-West elevation, and another covering much of the South-West elevation. On the 2nd edition OS map (1903), the extension to the North-West has been removed, and the extension to the South-West is un-roofed. The revised 2nd edition OS map (1922) shows the building on the South-West elevation as also having been mostly removed, with only the main rectangular structure remaining. There is now a modern building on the site of the extension to the South-West, incorporating a remaining original section of wall but not rising to the full height of it. It is a rubble-built single-storey building, with a lean-to slate roof. An artificial channel (NO75SW0025) on the seaward side is thought to have been part of the evaporation process, and discharges into the channel which leads into the building. In the 19th century, salmon packed on ice were sent to London, but by the 1920s salmon numbers began to drop and the industry gradually declined. Usan now has one of the few remaining salmon netting fishing stations in Scotland.

Period Notes
Probably built in the late-18th century. It changed use and the associated buildings were removed in the 19th century. One of these associated buildings has a modern re-build on the site. Listed on 15/01/1980.

prints, prints (Ground Photograph). SAB24924.

SCAPE, 03/2009, COASTAL ZONE ASSESSMENT SURVEY PART 2, p.60 (Bibliographic reference). SAB4802.

Whately, C, 1984, The Salt industry in Fife & Tayside c1570-1850 (Bibliographic reference). SAB2077.

Walker and Ritchie, B and J, 1987, [Untitled], 34-5, no. 7 (Bibliographic reference). SAB10004.

ADAMS, D. G., 1991, USAN OR FISHTOWN OF ULLISHARA (Bibliographic reference). SAB2181.

Montrose Basin Hert Soc, 2003, Salt Pan & Saltwork References (Bibliographic reference). SAB2893.

Jun 14 2013 , AAS-GR-13-06-385 - 391, AAS-GR-13-06-385 - 391 (Ground Photograph). SAB35012.

Record last edited

Dec 4 2020 11:17AM