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8-21 Fishtown Of Usan
Cottage(S) (19th Century)
Site Name 8-21 Fishtown Of Usan
Classification Cottage(S) (19th Century)
Alternative Name(s) 8-21 Fishtown Of Usan And Signal Tower; Seaton Of Usan; Usan Fishing Station; Ushan
Canmore ID 160845
Site Number NO75SW 26.04
NGR NO 72414 54587
NGR Description NO 72414 54587 to NO 72547 54625
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/160845
- Council Angus
- Parish Craig
- Former Region Tayside
- Former District Angus
- Former County Angus
NO75SW 26.04 72414 54587 to 72547 54625
For integral signal tower, see NO75SW 11.
West range of the single storey row originally of 14 cottages, now derelict, with 4-stage lookout tower to off-centre left. Rubble with raised ashlar margins, some timber lintels to window embrasures. Tower rising out of pitched roof gear shed, harled, with round-arched bipartite windows to each face at different stages above ground, and with oculuc to S elevation at 4th stage, below crenellated wallhead parapet with billeted corbel course and red brick stacks (') to 2 corners.
Fishtown of Usan is a fragile remains of a once thriving fishing industry, and a good example of the traditional 'fisher town'. (Historic Scotland).
The cottages appear to be earlier than the lookout tower, and may have been built to serve a saltpan on the shore nearby as well as the fishing trade. (J Hume)
East range of single storey row originally of 14 cottages, now derelict, with 4-stage lookout tower to off-centre left. Rubble with raised ashlar margins, some timber lintels to window embrasures. Tower rising out of pitched roof gear shed, harled, with round-arched bipartite windows to each face at different stages above ground, and with oculuc to S elevation at 4th stage, below crenellated wallhead parapet with billeted corbel course and red brick stacks (') to 2 corners.
Fishtown of Usan is a fragile remains of a once thriving fishing industry, and a good example of the traditional 'fisher town'. (Historic Environment Scotland List Entry)
The cottages appear to be earlier than the lookout tower, and may have been built to serve a saltpan on the shore nearby as well as the fishing trade. (J Hume)
Publication Account (2013)
Originally built as a saltpan in 1794, this large vaulted masonry structure has been adapted as an icehouse by salmon fishermen from the second half of the 19th century to the present day. The remains of a projecting chimney, blocked ventilation windows and water inlet attest to the original function as a salt pan. Footings of an ancillary building can be seen to the south of the main structure. Nearby, a long man-made channel with grooves for a sluice gate at its seaward end is thought to have acted as a preliminary evaporation area. The remains are more extensive than at any other mainland saltworks, but production was low (3,200 bushels per year, 1795-8) because coal had to be brought by sea.
The fisher houses form two terraces with a brick and concrete water/lookout tower. There also is a coastguard station and a rocket house, where rockets were stored and could be wheeled out by cart when needed to fire a line at any boat in difficulty.
M Watson, 2013
