1 Campbell Street, Thurso

Early 19th century, symmetrical two-storey, three-bay detached house, prominently located at the corner of Campbell Street and with Olrig Street. The walls are rendered and lined as ashlar on the principal elevations (southeast and northeast) and are exposed freestone rubble at the rear (northwest).

The principal (southeast) elevation to Campbell Street features a central door flanked by two specular windows at ground floor and three windows at first floor. The northeast elevation to Olrig Street has two windows at ground floor, two windows at first floor and two small attic windows. There is a single storey rendered lean-to extension, at the southwest gable.

The house has two-pane glazing, a prominent gable-end stack at the northeast, renewed and smaller at southwest, slate roof.

The interior has been modernised and the decorative scheme largely dates to the later 20th to early 21st century.

The house is set in a large plot surrounded by Caithness flagstone boundary walls.

Historical development

During the 19th century Thurso was a major port and commercial centre in the north of Scotland. In the early 19th century, the town expanded landward when the gridded street pattern of the New Town was laid out by Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet in circa 1810 as shown on the plan New Town of Thurso, reproduced in Captain John Henderson, General View of the Agriculture of the Country of Caithness, 1812.

1 Campbell Street was built as part of the expansion of Thurso, following the street layout of the early 19th century plan. Campbell Street is shown laid out on the circa 1810 Plan, New Town of Thurso, at the northern extent of the gird plan of streets. The building at 1 Campbell Street is first shown on the Ordnance Survey 25-inch 1st edition map (surveyed 1872, published 1873) as a rectangular-plan detached house. The building footprint appears unchanged on the ND1168SE-A National Grid Map (surveyed 1965, published 1966).

A single storey lean-to extension was added to the southwest elevation around the mid-20th century and is shown on an historic photograph dating 1973 (Canmore).