6 Ness Road, Stromness

This is an early 19th century row of three cottages, with later alterations. They are situated in Stromness, Orkney, and are arranged in a rectangular plan, with their rear walls joined. The cottages are two storeys and have an attic. The construction is of coursed rubble stone on the north and west sides, with a harled finish on the east side.

The north elevation (numbering 2, 4 and 6) is eight bays wide, divided into three groups of three bays each, except for a two-bay group on the west. Number 6 has a part-glazed timber door in the centre bay at ground level, with a window directly above and windows in each flanking bay. Number 4 mirrors this arrangement. The western two-bay section (number 2) has a modern timber door centrally at ground level, flanked by windows at each floor.

The south elevation (numbering 8, 10 and 12) follows a similar arrangement to the north, with three-bay groups to the east and centre, and a two-bay group to the west. Number 8 has a part-glazed timber panelled door in the centre bay at ground level, with a window above. Number 10 features a similar door with a small flanking window to the right at ground level and a small flanking window to the left. Number 12 mirrors the arrangement of number 2 on the north elevation.

The west-facing elevation, along Ness Road, has a distinctive M-gabled design with two bays. A wide window is set to the left, with a gablehead stack above. The bay to the right features a ground-floor window and an attic window, also with a gablehead stack.

The east-facing (seaward) elevation is four bays wide, arranged in two groupings of two bays each. The left grouping has a ground-floor window and a first-floor window, with a gablehead stack above. The right grouping mirrors this, with the window arrangements reversed and a gablehead stack.

Most windows are 12-pane timber sash and case style, though some are modern rooflights. The eastern cottages are roofed with Caithness slate, while the rest have grey slate. Gablehead and ridge stacks are built of rubble and harled stone, and rainwater goods are mostly cast-iron on the north side and uPVC on the south.

The interior of the cottages was not inspected in 1997.

The cottages are accompanied by a quay and walled garden. Wide paths run the length of each long elevation, paved with random Caithness flagstones and bordered by low, coped rubble walls. A square quay extends eastward, with a rubble flight leading to the sea along the north wall. A square-plan walled garden is located to the north of number 2, and a larger square-plan garden extends to the south of numbers 10 and 12.