Sluice House And Fish Ladder, Reservoir, Loch Venachar

The Sluice House and Fish Ladder at Loch Venachar, designed by engineer John F Bateman around 1857, is a low-lying masonry dam topped by an impressive nine-bay Classical sluice house. To the east, there is a fish ladder, and to the south, an overspill weir leads into a separate channel. The structure is primarily made of sandstone ashlar, with coursed, bull-faced sandstone used for the sluice house.

The dam features eleven segmental-arched sluice openings, each fitted with cast-iron gates. Above this, the single-storey, nine-bay sluice house is symmetrical, with slightly advanced pedimented pavilions at the center and both end bays. It includes a base course, an eaves cornice, and regular fenestration that has projecting cills and shallow pediment lintels. The outer pavilion bays have timber-panelled entrance doors on the side and east elevations. The glazing is distinctive, featuring a polygonal pattern with a central star motif in iron lights. The roof is made of stone slabs. Ramped retaining walls extend to the east, while a stepped fish ladder is located on the south side of the east elevation, alongside stepped sluice falls on the north side. The overspill weir extends immediately to the south into a separate channel.