Torboll Farm farmhouse

Torboll Farm is a traditional agricultural complex situated at the head of Loch Fleet, overlooking the confluence of the River Fleet and the Abhainn an t-Sratha Charnaig. The main buildings date primarily to the first half of the 19th century, though earlier structures from the 18th or possibly 17th centuries also remain.

The complex comprises a two-storey, four-bay vernacular classical farmhouse at the eastern end of the site, with a smaller one and a half-storey, four-bay cottage at the western end and a small ancillary building to the north. Approximately halfway between these two buildings stands a large single storey U-shaped steading, with a small single storey stable to its east. South of the main farmhouse, on the lower river terrace, is a walled garden with an icehouse adjoining the northeast corner and a small shelter with a recessed alcove at the northwest corner. To the west of the walled garden are the ruins of a sawmill, with an adjacent mill lade running between the higher ground to the north, where the farm buildings are located, and the river to the south.

The buildings are almost entirely of rubble construction with pitched slate roofs, though a small timber lean-to extension has been added to the west end of the main farmhouse.

The farmhouse is L-shaped in plan, with a small entrance vestibule in the right angle and its main façade facing east towards Loch Fleet. It was comprehensively reconstructed between 1833 and 1836, and evidence suggests it incorporated some original parts of the eastern block, which may include the gable ends. The north elevation has an entrance porch leading into an integrated cold-store or dairy. Later 19th century alterations to the west part of the house include a lean-to and some changes to the south-facing windows, which were converted to bipartites. More recent renovations undertaken in the early 21st century included the removal and replacement of some windows, walls and floors, particularly within the eastern half of the house. Despite this, a number of historic 19th century features remain in the interior, including the main turned timber staircase and several cast iron fireplaces with stone surrounds, along with some traditional timber-framed windows and timber-boarded doors. Externally, the building is harled and whitewashed, with cast-iron rainwater goods and clay chimney cans.

The steading is a large U-shaped building, generally single storey with some attic spaces. A date stone marked 1836 is located in the southeast gable. There are multiple doorways and other openings around the building, including at least seven cart entrances in the northern section, reflecting the scale of Torboll Farm at that time. The eastern range of the steading is occupied by a byre and includes an historic threshing mill in the northwestern section of the building. Other historic features such as stalls and internal timber columns on padstones have been retained.

The stable, dating to the later 19th century or early 20th century (appearing on the 2nd Edition Ordnance Survey, surveyed 1904, published 1906), is a small rectangular building of mortared rubble construction, subdivided into two rooms internally. The interior still contains the stable stalls, along with features such as hopper windows, drainage channels and feeding troughs. Externally, the cast iron rainwater goods and louvred vents on the roof peak remain in situ.

The walled garden is of at least 18th century origin, with a rectilinear garden depicted on multiple maps as far back as William Roy's Military Survey of Scotland (1747-55), though estate maps from the early 19th century also suggest that the walled garden had an additional irregularly shaped section to the east at that time. It lies to the south of the main house, with a stone staircase leading between the higher and lower ground. The south, east and west walls are of battered drystone rubble construction, while the north wall is a retaining wall built of mortared rubble. The north wall is also significantly higher, acting as a ha-ha when viewed from the farmhouse. The small structure in the northwest corner was accessible only from within the garden, and the small recessed alcove in the north wall suggests this was a shelter for the users of the walled garden.

The icehouse is adjacent to the northeast corner of the walled garden. It is built into the bank behind the north retaining wall of the walled garden and is thus also likely to date to the 18th century or earlier. It is a mortared rubble-built structure with a barrel-vaulted roof.

The mill lade is recorded on the Ordnance Survey 1st Edition (surveyed 1873-4, published 1879). It appears to start at a mill pond to the west of the cottage, running eastwards to the steading building on the higher ground. It then appears to turn southeast, seemingly passing underneath the steading before running down a stone-built channel on the steep slope to the former sawmill and beyond, before finally turning to the east once more and draining into the Abhainn an t-Sratha Charnaig.

Other buildings and structures include a cottage which is T-shaped in plan with four dormer windows in the roof. The precise date of the cottage is unclear, but on stylistic grounds it was likely also built in the 1830s. The cottage exterior has been fully renovated with modern doors and windows.

The sawmill dates to the later 19th century or early 20th century, being constructed sometime between the Ordnance Survey 1st and 2nd Editions (surveyed 1904, published 1906) mapping of the area. The remains of the walls are of drystone rubble construction, and the layout indicates the building had at least two internal rooms.

The main buildings at Torboll Farm appear to date mainly to the 1830s, with 1836 inscribed on a date stone on the steading buildings and with an 1833 sketch plan held by Sutherland Estates of proposed renovations to the previous farmhouse that closely resemble the building as it exists today. The buildings are the hub of a farm that was created in 1813, resulting from the depopulation of several fermtouns along Srath Carnaig and the adjoining Srath Tollaidh and the consolidation of these areas into a single large sheep farm, which has a direct historical association with the Sutherland Clearances of the first quarter of the 19th century.

The newly extended farm was then leased to Captain Kenneth Mackay, whose family had previously owned the lands of Torboll before they were purchased by the Sutherland Estates in the late 18th century, and who had remained resident at Torboll in the interim. Mackay's successor to the tenancy, Angus Leslie, was a former estate factor in Strathnaver, and it was during Leslie's tenure that the farm was renovated into the form that survives today. In both cases, the tenancies were partly a reward for their work on behalf of the Sutherland Estates, as both Mackay and Leslie were directly involved in conducting the evictions.

However, Torboll, also known as Meikle Torboll prior to this expansion, is much older than the 19th century, with documentary records of the farm going back to the 1600s. These include both Gordon and Blaeu's mapping of the area in the mid-17th century, Moll and Roy's maps in the 18th century and Thomson's maps of the early 19th century, along with the Ordnance Survey maps from the latter half of the 19th century onwards and a number of maps belonging to the Sutherland Estates.

Among the Sutherland Estate maps are two dating to 1829 that show a markedly different layout to the Torboll farm complex. The maps depict the main house having an H-shaped plan, with a U-shaped steading lying to the northeast of the house, while slightly to the west of the main house are two further small houses. An irregularly shaped walled garden lies to the south, although this seems to represent an additional garden area in addition to the earlier rectilinear section.

The Ordnance Survey Name Book for Sutherland (1871-75) describes Torboll as a large farm house with outstanding offices situated on the south side of Strath Fleet about one mile from the Mound Railway Station (west). It is two storey high and the whole slated and in good repair. The farm is shown as Torroboll on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1873-4, published 1879). The main house, cottage, steading, walled garden and mill lade are all depicted, although the steading is shown E-shaped in plan, suggesting a central wing that was later removed.

By the time of the 2nd Edition mapping (surveyed 1904, published 1906) both the sawmill and stable have been added to the complex. In addition, the courtyard of the steading is by then shown as being entirely roofed. The Ordnance Survey 1:10560 map of the area (published 1960) shows the same layout as the 2nd Edition. The subsequent 1:2500 mapping (surveyed 1966, published 1967) shows a number of new buildings had been added and the sawmill removed. This is the layout that appears to have survived into the 21st century, although some of the buildings have been removed in recent years.