Moirlanich Longhouse, Glen Lochay

Moirlanich Longhouse is a single-storey, five-bay traditional cruck-framed cottage and byre dating from probably the late 18th to early 19th century, located in Glen Lochay. It is an outstanding rare survival of this building type, which once was prolific throughout Scotland, retaining its structure in near original condition.

The building is constructed of two drystone rubble skins with an inner pinning of clay mortar, occasional bonding-through stones, and a dry rubble core. The roof structure comprises cruck couples and cabers, with remnants of turf and thatch retained beneath a corrugated iron roof. The cruck frame is formed of vertically split trunks of elm, ash and sycamore, with tie beams and purlins of ash and pine.

Externally, three bays to the right form the dwelling section, with a two-leaf timber door leading to a small gabled corrugated iron porch at the centre, flanked by small windows. A tiny opening stands immediately to the left of the door, beyond which is the byre door. Both gable ends are blank, with two small openings positioned close to the centre at the rear. Windows feature four-pane and plate glass glazing patterns in timber sash and case frames. A metal cowl sits over the hanging lum on the corrugated iron roof.

The interior comprises three rooms and a byre, subdivided by timber partition walls and containing a remarkably intact arrangement of spaces. Walls and ceilings throughout are covered with early wallpapers, some in poor condition. The stone floors feature cobbled setts, with a centre drainage channel running through the byre. Cruck couples are exposed in the byre, jointed and pegged, and set into the walls ending above ground level.

The kitchen occupies the space to the left of the main door and contains a stone hearth beneath a broad-mouthed hanging lum canopy with a bracketed shelf and pigeon-hole type storage shelf, all covered with painted paper. A bench seat to the right sits in an adjacent ingleneuk created by a partition wall to the front passage, with a door to the small middle room at the left. The opposite wall holds a box bed and a door leading to the byre.

The main room features two adjoining box beds at the rear wall, both fully lined with various wallpapers. A cast iron fireplace with timber surround and mantel shelf sits against the outer gable wall, and a full-height wall cupboard occupies the southwest angle.

The middle room at the centre rear contains a box bed in poor condition, with timber and wallpaper deteriorated, positioned against the passage wall.

The byre displays exposed roof timbers and cruck couples with evidence of thatch. A boarded floor over timber partitions creates a loft space at the east end over a small area divided from the main byre space.

The building represents an exceptionally well-preserved example of the longhouse or byre dwelling tradition, in which man and beast sheltered beneath the same roof. Among only around 200 traditionally thatched buildings remaining in Scotland, Moirlanich is particularly significant for its virtually complete and unaltered interior, including the rare survival of a hanging lum and box beds alongside a fine collection of furniture and artefacts.

Historically, maps from as early as the 16th century record settlement in Glen Lochay, with Easter and Wester Moirlanich noted as two distinct townships. By the time of the 1st edition Ordnance Survey map, Moirlanich described a straggling settlement close to a large loop of the River Lochay. This handful of loosely associated buildings on the south bank had reduced to two small clusters by the early 20th century: a westerly group later named Tigh na Craig and an easterly group called Moirlanich. The building described, together with its kail-yard on the south side of the road, is the sole survivor of the latter group.

The longhouse remained part of the Breadalbane Estate until the 1940s. Its survival owes much to its occupation by at least three generations of the Robertson family, tenant farmers and successful local horse breeders. The last family member reportedly abandoned the home in later life, troubled by fire risk, and spent his remaining years in a small stone building on the opposite side of the road.

The building was purchased by the National Trust for Scotland in 1992 with funds donated by the family of the late Sheriff Prain. A collection of working clothes and 'Sunday best' discovered in the longhouse remains on site as part of an exhibition on the building's history and restoration. The longhouse was previously listed at category B as two separate entries: 'Moirlanich Farmhouse' and 'Cottage and Byre at Moirlanich'. Its category was upgraded to A in 2007 and the listing record was revised in 2020 as part of the Thatched Buildings Listing Review.