The Landmark Trust The Shore Cottages, Berriedale The Shore Cottages, Berriedale, Caithness, Scotland Help us to secure The Shore Cottages future
The Shore Cottages Berriedale, Caithness, Scotland The humble row of fishermen s cottages nestled in the cove at Berriedale embodies much of the history of Caithness over the past 200 years. The first known documentary reference to their existence comes in 1846, but they are likely to predate this. Sir John Sinclair, renowned improving agriculturalist, had acquired the Langwell estate on which they stand in 1788, and was responsible for the notorious Clearances in the area, pushing the crofters of the Berriedale straths off the land to the coastal margins to find an alternative livelihood in the booming Caithness herring industry. A thriving little fleet of thirteen fifies (sailing boats used to fish for herring) sprang up at Berriedale, manned in part by men from the nearby village of Badbea, established by Sinclair in 1804 but abandoned in 1911. An engraving of Berriedale shoreline by William Daniell of c. 1820 shows the sea dotted with boats, nets spread on the shore to dry and womenfolk up to their elbows gutting herring in wooden troughs, which were then either packed in salt or boiled and preserved in vinegar into barrels, ready for export to London and Northern Europe. In 1811, Sinclair sold the Langwell Estate to James Horne, whose nephew, Donald Horne, inherited in due course. By the 1840s, Donald Horne had decided that his fishermen at Berriedale should give up herring in favour of higher-value, and abundant, salmon, which could be easily caught as they returned from their spawning grounds inland. Since the 1780s, salmon had been sent to London from Caithness packed in ice, and it was probably Horne who built the foursquare salmon bothy and ice house next door to The Shore Cottages. However, in 1856, Horne sold Langwell for 90,000 to the 5 th Duke of Portland, who then ran the estate along more recreational lines, consistent with the Victorian aristocracy s love affair with the Highlands. The fishing industry, already more concentrated among larger stations elsewhere along the coast, gradually fell into decline at Berriedale. Left without mains water or electricity, and accessed only by a footbridge across the Berriedale Water, the cottages were abandoned in the 1950s and have stood derelict ever since. Ironically, this very dereliction has allowed us to identify much of their early joinery and internal features, now in a precarious state. The cove in which they stand is itself rich in history, overlooked by the ancient ruins of Berriedale Castle and the navigation towers known as the Duke s Follies. We need to raise 600,000 in order to rescue and restore The Shore Cottages, securing their future as two Landmarks available for people to stay in. The cottages restoration lies right at the heart of Landmark s purpose and will offer a rare opportunity to recapture a flavour of the lives of the fisher families who lived in this isolated spot, and to share this aspect of Caithness history, with its villains and heroes, more widely.
Photograph of The Shore Cottages in circa 1900 Engraving of Berriedale shoreline by William Daniell of circa 1820
The Shore Cottages from above East elevation of the cottages looking north
West elevation of the Shore Cottages West elevation of The Shore Cottages showing the roof East elevation
South elevation of The Shore Cottages Missing roof slates on the south-west corner East elevation looking south
Interior photographs of The Shore Cottages
A principal room within one of the four cottages Exposed rafters and dilapidated ceiling found throughout the building
View from The Shore Cottages over the bay at Berriedale Please help us to save The Shore Cottages