Days of heavy rainfall have forced The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) to take action to protect a prized Perthshire building.
Flood waters inundated the 18th century schoolhouse at Cottown in the Carse of Gowrie, near Perth, on Monday to the anguish of those who have been involved in its restoration.
Over the years the schoolhouse, which is of mud construction, has been painstakingly rebuilt using ancient techniques and local materials. There are few such buildings and it remains the NTS’s plan to have the property become a home, in a bid to safeguard its future.
On Monday, however, weeks of rainfall took their toll as water seeped into the building, forcing the trust to take action.
A team of contractors were on scene throughout much of the afternoon, pumping water from the schoolhouse to ensure it began to dry as quickly as possible.
The NTS’s Little Houses Improvement Scheme (LHIS) manager Sian Loftus said, “There has been lots of rainfall in the area over the past couple of weeks and it has come into the property. We’ve had contractors in pumping some of the water away to accelerate the drying.
“Much of the building is made of mud and so the water is really not very good for it and the longer it is wet the more damage can be caused. Hopefully there will be no long-term damage but we will closely monitor the situation.”
Ms Loftus added that the NTS hoped to engage with the community in the coming months on a new scheme for the schoolhouse’s future.
“We’re about a year away from being able to progress any plans but we have got a scheme together to see the schoolhouse being used as a residence,” she said. “It would benefit from the day-to-day care that comes from having someone living in it.”
Cottown schoolhouse is believed to have been built in 1745 and has been remodelled several times over the years. It was meticulously repaired by the NTS in 1996 after lying empty for over a decade.