Inveraray Castle Estate, Beehive Cottage

RCAHMS surveyed the ‘Beehive Cottgae’, Inveraray Castle Estate on 30 March 1983 producing a plan and section at a scale of 1:100. The plan and section were redrawn in ink and published at a scale of 1:250 (RCAHMS 1992, 411B).

This small circular house is situated at a height of 50m OD on the SW slope of Dun na Cuaiche, about 650m N of Inveraray Castle (No. 184) and l00m SE of the lime-kiln No. 237. It was designed as a gamekeeper's cottage in 1801 by Alexander Nasmyth, who suggested that its central chimney would be acceptable locally because of its similarity to 'the old cradle chimney' or canopied central hearth of traditional rural dwellings (en.1).

The cottage measures 8.9m in diameter over walls which rise with a slight batter to window-sill level, where they have a thickness of 0.7m; the masonry is of lime-mortared granite rubble, formerly harled and whitewashed. The entrance doorway ,in the E sector, is now enclosed in a semicircular timber porch of recent origin, but built on an older platform of granite blocks. There are three irregularly-spaced window openings, and an external recess for a simulated window in the SW sector. Two of the windows have modern frames, and one has been enlarged, but the NE window retains half of a latticed frame. The conical roof, now slated, rises to a circular ashlar chimney incorporating a deep ring to shed rain-waterat the junction with the original thatch.

Nasmyth's intention was that the square central chimney-stack should be free-standing, except for one segment partitioned off as a kitchen, but the interior is now divided into two main rooms of equal size, with partitions and fireplaces of late 19th-century character. At this period the walls were lined with vertical boards, but they were originally plastered and colour-washed, and in the NE sector there are remains of a band of stencilled foliage-ornament about 1m above floor level. In the W sector there is a curved recess, probably to house a small timber stair to the loft, but now concealed behind the added wall-linings. The lower part of the chimney-stack is built of stone, although Nasmyth proposed to incorporate sheet-iron to radiate 'a very general and wholsome heat to all the Coatage’ (en.2). Above ceiling-level it is constructed in brick, and in the upper part it is bevelled to an octagonal plan to support the circular chimney. The timber roof probably dates from the period when the original thatch was replaced by slates.

RCAHSM 1992, visited March 1985

Recording Scotland's graffiti project was designed to review the range of historic and contemporary graffiti art across Scotland. It involved desk-based assessment and fieldwork at a number of example sites, to consider recording methodologies and dissemination practices.

Between 2016 and 2017, phase 1 of the project aimed to:

Aim 1: review a range of historic and contemporary graffiti art from across Scotland, already present in Canmore.

Aim2: undertake a research review of previous approaches to recording graffiti art in Canmore and other HERs, review and develop the current Thesaurus terms.

Aim 3: test and develop a range of recording methods within the following programmes or projects: Discovering the Clyde programme (1223), Scotland’s Urban Past (1222), Architecture and Industry projects, such as Urban Recording Projects (1028), Area Photographic Survey (311) and the Tomintoul and Glenlivet Landscape Partnership (1167).

Aim 4: the following test sites will be considered for research into the range of historic and contemporary graffiti. They will be analysed to demonstrate the different ages, contexts, styles and survivals of historic and contemporary graffiti: Polphail village (Canmore ID 299112), Scalan farmstead (170726), Cowcaddens Subway Station (243099), Croick Parish Church (12503), Dalbeattie Armament Depot (76279) and Dumbarton Rock (43376).

Aim 5: to research the potential for social media to play a role in crowd-sourcing information and archiving Scotland’s graffiti art.

In 2017-2019, phase 2 of the project aimed to:

Aim 1: To enhance the NRHE to the point at which it can be said to adequately represent the broad range of historic and modern graffiti that is evident throughout Scotland, and to explore ways by which that information can best be disseminated.

Aim 2: To develop guidelines that will convey the HES approach to researching and recording graffiti.

Aim 3: To write a specification for a book on Scotland’s graffiti.

Aim 4: To develop external partnerships to explore further ways to record graffiti and to identify and explore potential funding streams to enable further knowledge exchange and research.

The project was managed by Dr Alex Hale, with contributions from staff across Herirtage and Commercial and Tourism directorates.