Byre, Skye Museum of Island Life

Three Traditional Thatched Buildings at Skye Museum of Island Life

This is a group of three single-storey vernacular buildings forming the core of the Skye Museum of Island Life, located at the northeast of the Isle of Skye just south of the A855. The three buildings—the Croft House, Byre and Cottar's House (now known as the Ceilidh House)—are arranged in a roughly linear group running from south to northwest and together represent rare surviving examples of traditional Highland and Island architecture.

The Croft House and Ceilidh House may originate from the late 18th century but appear in their mid-19th century form, while the Byre dates from the late 19th century. All three are built of rubble stone with thick, slightly battered walls and rounded corners. The roofs are piended and thatched in straw, secured with wire netting and stone weights hanging at the eaves.

The Croft House is the largest of the three, comprising three bays with a central entrance opening to the front (northeast) elevation, flanking windows, and end chimneystacks with clay cans. The Byre and Ceilidh House are slightly lower in height, each with a single entrance and no chimneystacks. The Ceilidh House is built into the hillside with its southeast elevation entirely concealed.

Internally, the Croft House has whitewashed walls, hessian sacking tacked to the timber roof structure, and stone floors. It is divided into an entrance way, a large bedroom to the south, a kitchen to the north, and a smaller bedroom behind the entrance accessed via the kitchen, with rooms divided by timber panelling. The Byre and Ceilidh House have exposed roofs with replacement rough timbers, earthen or stone rubble floors, and replacement timber-lined walls. All three buildings now display museum artefacts and 19th century fixtures, fittings and artefacts on display.

The Croft House was occupied until 1958 and was first opened to the public in 1965. The site was operating as Osmigarry Croft Museum by the time of listing in 1971.

These buildings are among fewer than 200 thatched buildings remaining in Scotland, with around 12 surviving on the Isle of Skye. They demonstrate regional traditional building methods and materials and retain a significant proportion of their historic fabric, vernacular form and character, with notable features including the thick battered rubble walls with rounded corners and the thatched roofs secured with stone weights and netting.