Skinnet Farm

ND16SW 49.00 Centred on ND 1275 6167

ND16SW 49.01 ND 12791 61726 House (Skinnet House)

ND16SW 49.02 ND 1277 6171 Walled Garden

ND16SW 49.03 ND 1279 6173 Byre

ND16SW 49.04 ND 1274 6170 Granary

The buildings of the farmstead at Skinnet falls into three discrete groups. That on the NE is arranged around three sides of a courtyard with a garden and incorporates the farmhouse, bothy, henhouse, dairy, byre, fuel store, piggery, store and cart shed. The three-bay farmhouse dates to the later 18th century and stands two-storeys in height; it is built of harled rubble with a slate roof and has a pedimented central bay containing a small attic window. It has flanking wings, each terminating in a projecting pedimented bay. The second group lies to the SW and is U-shaped on plan, open to the NE. This comprises two ranges of bothies, one said to be for males and the other for females, linked by a byre range. They are built of flagstone rubble and roofed in slate or corrugated material. Walls run SW from the rear of the byre forming a series of stock enclosures and adjoin another byre range. The last group lies to the NW and comprises a number of detached buildings, amongst which there is a barn, a byre and a six-bay cart shed with granary above, accessible by a forestair at its NW end. Large modern cattle sheds have been built on the NW, where a water-powered threshing barn is shown on both the 1st and 2nd editions of the OS map (Caithness 1876 and 1907, sheet xi). Overall, the layout of the complex compares well with the depictions on these maps. The site was visited in 1994.

Information from RCAHMS (ARG) 12 September 2006

ND16SW 49.00 1270 6170

ND16SW 49.01 ND 1279 6172 House

ND16SW 49.02 ND 1277 6171 Walled garden

ND16SW 49.03 ND 1279 6173 Byre

ND16SW 49.04 ND 1274 6170 Granary