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MHG22564 - 35-37 High Street - Rosemarkie

Summary

Shop - former post office

Type and Period (1)

Protected Status

Full Description

37 High Street Panacea
Panacea, Herbal Remedies removed from Dingwall in 2011. The premises had stood empty for some years but before that had been the Post Office. The Post Office made local history some twenty years ago, when it was robbed at gunpoint and the postmaster assaulted. Previous to that it had been Jones the shoe shop. Catherine Jones had a mobile van and was still selling shoes, drapery and haberdashery around the Black Isle in the 1970s. Sandra Jack described going into the shop as ‘entering Aladdin’s cave’. Mrs Jones sold everything one could possibly need in the drapery line.
In the 1930s Rosemarkie boasted two high-class ironmongery, grocery and provisions. Daniel Fraser specialised in grocery and provisions at 37, High Street. He set up his brother George, who had been gassed in the Great War, as ironmonger ‘up the street’.

In 1911 the shop was a Cash Grocers run by William Robb. In Slater’s Directory William Robb is described as a grocer. Robb was tenant to Alexander Sinclair, merchant (son of Ephraim Sinclair, salmon fisher). This General Merchant/Refreshment Caterer sold among other things, Cadbury’s Bourneville Chocolate. <1>

Note the ‘cash’ grocer banner, this was not a high class establishment like Hugh Home’s who served the middle classes paying on account. In the 1930s Rosemarkie boasted a high-class ironmongery, grocery and provisions, D.& G. Fraser. Daniel Fraser rented the shop at 37 High Street according to the Valuation Rolls for 1931- 39 and 1942. Daniel specialised in grocery and provisions. He set up his brother George, who had been gassed in the Great War, as ironmonger ‘up the street’ at number 18 High Street. Later, it became Jones the shoe shop. Catherine Macpherson Cormack Jones sold everything one could possibly need in the drapery line. (Valuation Roll 1946,55,65,85). Mrs Jones had a mobile van and was still selling shoes, drapery and haberdashery around the Black Isle in the 1970s. Sandra Jack described going into the shop as ‘entering Aladdin’s cave’. Panacea, Herbal Remedies which sells tourist type items like rocks, gems, and aromatherapy.

Shops that sell a bit of everything persist even into the twenty- first century on the Black Isle. In Rosemarkie this one-stop shop role was played by the Fraser brothers. Daniel and George Fraser had a high class ironmongery, grocery and general merchants selling a variety of provisions. Daniel concentrated on grocery and provisions at 37 High Street until he moved up the street in place of his late brother George at number 18. George had been a baker’s apprentice but having been gassed in the First World War, his health was not good enough to sustain the physical demands of bakery so he ran the ironmongery section in the family shop. After his brother’s early death at the age of 47 in 1938, Daniel managed both parts of the business for a time. He closed his shop at 37 High Street in the mid 1940’s and transferred Mabel’s PO business to complement the range of services provided at
18 High Street. <2>
.

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Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NH 7366 5769 (14m by 12m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NH75NW
Geographical Area	ROSS AND CROMARTY
Civil Parish	ROSEMARKIE

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