Fishtown Of Usan, Ice House

The large vaulted structure on the foreshore at Fishtown of Us an was used as a commercial icehouse in the second half of the 19th century. It was built against the foot of the grass cliff on a flat shelf of rock. A retaining wall on the north side allowed the ground to be built up to form an area where carts could discharge ice directly into the ice-boles at the springing of the vault. Internally the vaulted chamber was, as usual, divided into two parts but whereas the normal proportion was one to two, this building was divided at one to three.

This was not the only difference between the icehouse at Fishtown of Us an and those listed under no. 6, and only recently has a study of the manufacture of Scottish sea salt provided the answers. It was found that Usan had a saltworks from the 17th century. When the vaulted structure was examined in this context it became clear that this building had been constructed as a saltpan.

The building had a masonry structure, formerly described as a buttress, built against the seaward gable. This was flanked by blocked windows. There was also an inlet into the lower part of the gable below high water mark. The projecting feature was a factory-style chimney reduced to the same height as the gable. The blocked windows were probably ventilators and the inlet would have admitted salt water to be pumped into the evaporation pan.

The smaller chamber within the vault provided evidence of an intennediate floor. To the south of the vault were the ruins of a two-storey structure with both windows and fireplaces. This building was L-shaped on plan, one leg abutting the south wall of the vault, the other built on the east edge of the rockshelf in line with the east gable of the vault. This created a courtyard, open to the south, protected on the north and east by the buildings and on the south and west by the grass cliff.

On the seaward side of these buildings is a man-made channel, constructed on the line of a natural fault, across the southern edge of a flat area of rock. This rock has a slight rim and retains 5cm-10cm of water over its entire surface. This water discharged into the channel close to the vault. The seaward end of the channel has grooves in its sides to take sluice gates or a permanent barrier. The rim that retains the water on the rock plateau was damaged in 1985 and the water no longer lies to the same depth, but it is thought that this acted as a fIrst stage evaporation area used to increase the salt content of the water prior to pumping it into the saltpan. This corresponds to smaller shallow rock-cut areas below the wind-pump at the St Monans saltpans (NO 533018).

The salt was exported from the small natural harbour to the south of the saltpan complex. The ruined buildings probably contained the salt girnal or store and the Customs House as this was a taxable product. Both the small harbour and the saltpan/icehouse structure are still in use by salmon fishermen.

Information from ‘Exploring Scotland’s Heritage: Fife and Tayside’, (1987).

Originally built as a saltpan in the 17th century, 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. Footings of an ancillary building can be seen to the south of the main structure. Nearby, a shallow man-made channel with grooves for a sluice gate at its seaward end is considered to have acted as a preliminary evaporation area. The fisher houses form a U-plan around a cylindrical brick and iron water tower.

Information from Mark Watson, Historic Scotland, 30 May 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