Document record MAB51697 - 14 STEWART STREET, PORTTANACHY, PORTGORDON

Site of cottage, depicted on the historic OS maps, located within the historic core of Seatown of Tannachy (now known as Porttannach, NJ36SE0138), possibly dating to the later 18th century.

Site of cottage, depicted on the historic OS maps, located within the historic core of Seatown of Tannachy (now known as Porttannach, NJ36SE0138), possibly dating to the later 18th century. On the 1st and 2nd edition OS maps, the cottage, facing north to the sea, has a large rectangular outbuilding to the rear on the west side (aligned north-south) and, on the 2nd edition OS map only, a small square building to the rear on the east side, both within a large enclosed garden. There is now no sign of the rectangular outbuilding, and it is not clear if the square building has been incorporated into a later extension. The cottage appears largely unaltered externally, aside from the roof covering having been changed to a corrugated sheet roof (covering up the original thatched roof). It is single-storey, rendered with contrasting painted margins and quoins. Central door on north elevation with windows either side. A Level 1 Standing building survey was carried out by AOC in January 2021 ahead of proposed demolition. The building is first shown on the 1853 harbour extension plan created by George McWilliam where it is shown as two separate structures. The current structure is of two phases. The first being the initial stone building aligned east-west to the north of the site, part of the original building as depicted on the early maps. The second phase including the timber extension to the south being a later modern addition. During the building survey, it was not possible to access the roof space to inspect its construction, but it was possible to inspect through an area of ceiling collapse. The original roof thatch was highly degraded and damaged due to long term exposure to the elements along with possible moisture damage due to being covered with a recent corrugated iron roof. The roof comprised an A frame timber structure overlain with timber liner boards. The timber liner boards above the rafters are traditionally seen within 19th century thatched roof buildings. It is suggested that the thatch used on the building was long straw, with some evidence of the use of clay within the thatch, which is a known method found within the Moray Firth area. The presence of external rafters for use with the corrugated iron roof made it difficult to identify any specific style to the thatch or the type of ridge used within its construction. The cottage has since been demolished.

AOC ARCHAEOLOGY, 2021, 14 STEWART STREET, PORTGORDON, MORAY: HISTORIC BUILDING RECORDING PROJECT, L1 SBS (Bibliographic reference). SAB7903.

ARCHAEOLOGY SCOTLAND, 2022, DISCOVERY AND EXCAVATION IN SCOTLAND, NEW SERIES, VOLUME 22 (2021), p.125 (Bibliographic reference). SAB8314.

Record last edited

Nov 4 2024 10:56AM