Ruard, Stafford Street, Helmsdale is a Grade B listed building in the Highland local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 20 December 1979.

Ruard, Stafford Street, Helmsdale

WRENN ID
waning-tallow-fern
Grade
B
Local Planning Authority
Highland
Constituency
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross MP: Jamie Stone (LD)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
20 December 1979
OS grid reference
ND 029 154
Coordinates
58.11722, -3.64901
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

This is a house dating to around 1838, situated in Stafford Street, Helmsdale. It is a two-storey and attic, three-bay building constructed of coursed rubble with tooled ashlar dressings, while the side elevations are harled. The central bay is slightly recessed, and features a late 19th-century projecting gabled porch with bargeboarding that obscures the original entrance. The windows are hoodmoulded and margined, with margined angles, and include two late 19th-century canted dormers with mainly 12-pane glazing. A single-storey, two-bay wing extends to the rear of the house, and a modern glazed sun parlour has been added to the east gable. The building has corniced end stacks and a slate roof.

Behind the main house is a single-storey, three-bay service cottage constructed of rubble with tooled rubble dressings and 12-pane glazing, featuring a centre entrance, end stacks, and a slate roof. A coped rubble retaining wall is also present.

The listing recognizes the presence of Helmsdale Church (Church of Scotland), originally built opposite the manse in 1838 and subsequently altered in 1896. This church, located on Stafford Street, is no longer in ecclesiastical use.

Local climate

Ruard, Stafford Street, Helmsdale receives an average of 950 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 73% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 51% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 26 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 72% of listed buildings. Of these, 18 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • Radon risk assessment
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