Bank Barn, Callert

This is a bank barn, likely dating from around 1800, with alterations and additions made around 1900. The barn is long, with seven bays, situated on a south-facing sloping site. It has long east and west elevations, and includes stable and harness room accommodation in a raised basement area at the south end. The exterior is harled.

The east elevation features seven long, narrow, round-headed, louvred windows set within the raised ground floor. A similar, but much larger, round-headed opening was added later to the centre of the west elevation, flanked by long, narrow slit vents. Access to the stabling in the east elevation is provided by two doors and a window, each fitted with a cast-iron “hit and miss” grill above a three-pane light. A small round-headed vent is located in the north gable. A clock face, dating from around 1900, is high in the south gable, beneath a wooden bellcote. The bellcote has a carillon and a diminutive pyramidal slated roof topped with a cast-iron weathervane.

Inside the raised ground floor barn, the floor has been concreted. A winnowing door in the west opening has a series of small holes to allow for a cross draught. The barn’s use of the sloping site to provide access to a raised ground floor threshing area at the west, and to the basement stable accommodation, is characteristic of Lochaber barns. The track to the west side of the barn is slightly higher than the track to the east, allowing direct access to the barn floor from that side.