Barn, Ruisgarry, Berneray, Isle of North Uist

A mid to late 18th century agricultural complex with 19th century additions, possibly with 17th century elements. It comprises a barn, a separate byre, and a retaining rubble wall. The buildings have a close association with Norman Macleod and may have been used as gunnery or had a military use at some point.

The barn is an 18th century two-storey, three-bay, roughly rectangular-plan building with a corrugated iron roof (presumably previously thatched), and a slightly lower thatched addition on the northwest gable. There is a door on the northeast wall above which is a tablet with a Latin inscription commemorating Norman Macleod. Above this are three small window openings and a ventilation slit below. The southwest elevation has one large window opening and two ventilation slits. The corrugated iron roof has disintegrated along the eaves, exposing the interior in places. The northwest gable section of the barn is partially thatched with marram grass and in some places the timber rafters are now exposed. The end wall is gabled. The south pitch is missing a substantial amount of its thatch, exposing turfs underneath. The roof is netted and held in place by weighting stones secured to the netting by string along the skews and wallhead.

The byre is a thatched single-storey, drystone rubble building, possibly dating from the 19th century, which is set at an acute angle to the barn. The byre has gabled end walls with a single window opening in either gable. There is a door opening in the southeast elevation. The roof has partly collapsed, exposing the driftwood-framed roof structure and the remaining marram thatch and turf underlay. There is no thatch ridge remaining on the roof but it is netted and weighted down by stones and bricks placed along the wallhead (2017).

The interiors of the barn and byre, seen in 2014 and 2017, have no visible fixtures or fittings aside from a timber door detached from its hinges within the barn addition.

There is an L-shaped rubble structure extending from the west of the central door of the barn which was once a porch addition at the front of the building.

A large retaining drystone wall from the southwest elevation encloses the complex, connecting the byre to the barn.