Net Store, Crow's Nest, Rackwick is a Grade A listed building in the Orkney Islands local planning authority area, Scotland. First listed on 15 September 2021.

Net Store, Crow's Nest, Rackwick

WRENN ID
leaning-brick-nightshade
Grade
A
Local Planning Authority
Orkney Islands
Constituency
Orkney and Shetland MP: Mr Alistair Carmichael (LD)
Country
Scotland
Date first listed
15 September 2021
OS grid reference
ND 197 996
Coordinates
58.87643, -3.39317
Source
Historic Environment Scotland listing

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

Description

Crow's Nest, also known locally as Craa Nest or Craa's Nest, is an 18th century croft located on the lower slopes of Moor Fea at Rackwick on the island of Hoy. This site includes a crofthouse, an adjoining barn, and a circular kiln to the west, along with a detached net store or bothy to the south. The buildings were restored in 1991 and 1992 as part of a local museum.

The layout reflects traditional Orcadian architecture, featuring a narrow closs (passage) between two linear ranges. The walls and floors are made of local flagstone, and the roofs were reinstated during the restoration with hand sawn and pegged larch cabers covered with straw and turf. Over-seamed flagstones extend between the wallhead and the roof. The crofthouse has a ridge chimneystack and a small chimneystack on the west gable. The detached net store or bothy includes a timber door and two windows.

The interiors were observed in 2019. On the north side of the closs, the two-roomed crofthouse features a recessed fireplace in the west wall with a stone lintel and a sae bink (circular recess for a water barrel) near the entrance. Stone steps beside the fireplace lead through a passage to a bedroom located on higher ground to the west. The barn, adjoining the west gable, has a separate entrance and a winnowing door. The east end of the barn contains a circular drying kiln with storage for grain offset to the left.

Local climate

Net Store, Crow's Nest, Rackwick sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 1,140 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 89% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 95% of listed buildings.

It experiences an average of 3 freeze-thaw cycles a year, fewer than 98% of listed buildings. Of these, 3 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°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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Nearby listed buildings

  1. Crofthouse, Crow's Nest, Rackwick Grade A 8 m
  2. Barn and Kiln, Crow's Nest, Rackwick Grade A 9 m
  3. The Mount (North House) Rackwick, Hoy Grade B 159 m
  4. Threshing Barn, Glen, Rackwick Grade C 266 m
  5. THreshing Barn, Glen, Rackwick Grade C 271 m
  6. Detached cottage to north at Muckle House, Rackwick, Hoy Grade B 593 m
  7. Muckle House Crofthouse, Rackwick, Hoy Grade B 601 m
  8. Burnmouth Bothy including walled enclosures, Rackwick Bay, Hoy Grade A 1.1 km
  9. Hoy Lodge, Hoy Grade B 5.3 km
  10. Kennels, Hoy Lodge, Hoy Grade B 5.3 km