EHG6504 - Condition assessment - Laidhay Barn, Dunbeath

A building condition and assessement survey was undertaken by Addyman Archaeology in 2024 of a partly collapsed historic barn that forms part of the Laidhay Croft Museum at Dunbeath, Caithness. The assessment was intended to provide a preliminary understanding of the structure in support of the development of a proposed programme of reinstatement and conservation repair. The barn roof structure had collapsed following a substantial snowfall in early January 2022. The site visit took place on Tuesday 2nd July 2024. The site inspection involved a detailed examination of the collapsed barn, as far as safe access permitted. Its details of construction, its materials, the remains of the collapsed roof structure and close scrutiny of the thatching itself. The visit also involved a general review of the wider site and, particularly, a detailed examination of the other historic crofting buildings at the site, namely the dwelling-house, also thatched, and an adjacent cart-shed. A detailed photographic record was made of the structure as presently accessible – data that would be incorporated into the Historic Building Record (HBR) to be carried out as part of the next stage of the project. Some individual control samples of some construction materials were also taken, to be retained as a reference and possible future characterisation, a full samples register will be included in the HBR report. An initial review of available historical documentation and previous study of the structure was made. The opportunity of the site visit was also taken to review the collection of historical materials and documentation held by the Laidhay Croft Museum. In summary the study concluded that the entirety of the barn’s lower roof structure, comprising three composite cruck frames, was of the original build, likely datable to the mid 19th century, with no obvious evidence for later modification or repair. This was similarly the case for much of the upper roof structure, comprising purlins, batons, heather divots and the lower extents of the thatch itself. This extent of survival had been far from clear before the site assessment. In fact it seems that the thatching of the roof had never seen little more than maintenance, its upper surface subject to periodic re-dressing. <1>