A historic Perthshire house could be destroyed due to repeated flooding, it has been claimed.
The Old Schoolhouse in Cottown was acquired by the National Trust for Scotland in 1993 and is subject to a £100,000 two-and-a-half-year renovation project.
But a local resident claims blocked drainage ditches have led to the building being flooded, which he fears could leave the 260-year-old structure under threat.
The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) says the flooding is due to a “high water table” in the region and it is working to resolve the issue.
The grade A-listed clay and thatch building is of a type once common in the Carse.
After being bought by the NTS, experts were brought in from Yorkshire and Ullapool to save the rare structure, which was last occupied in 1974 and last used as a schoolhouse in 1895.
The resident, who did not want to be named, said: “The ditch at the side of the house goes into a pipe, which is now blocked, and the water has risen up round the clay house that is owned by NTS and listed by Perth and Kinross Council.
“This site has been flooded in the past and needs urgent remedial pumping today, the drainage ditch dredged and soakaway pipe jetted clean.
“With a clay building standing in deep water it is only a matter of time before it slumps down.
“This is a rare, listed building under the care of the country’s top building specialists and I’m fearful we may soon lose it.
“The last time I looked in the window, NTS had electric heaters trying to dry the house out from a previous flood. One can only guess these heaters are laying in water today electric, water and a thatched roof are not a good mix.
“The Buildings at Risk group have this house earmarked as in real risk of falling down, something NTS members like myself should be ashamed of.
“I contacted NTS and (they) said they were aware and monitoring the situation, but yesterday pumps should have been pumping the flooded site dry, in my opinion.
“The NTS shouldn’t have used members’ money and now let it fall down.”
However, an NTS spokeswoman rejected the claims that not enough is being done, saying it has had the help of specialist hydrologists to try to find a solution to the ongoing problem.
She said: “We are aware of the flooding at the schoolhouse. This does happen regularly and, regrettably, it is not easily fixed.
“The reason for the flooding is simply due to the very high water table in the area. That means that whenever it’s very wet, flooding is likely.
“A number of developments in the village may exacerbate the situation by increasing surface run-off and trapping standing water.
“As the lowest property in the village, Cottown Schoolhouse is the first property to flood and this has often been used by some as a reason to accuse the trust of responsibility for the larger problem.
“There are no drainage ditches in proximity to the schoolhouse and no functioning field drainage has been identified in the village.
“The building is in better condition now than it was when the trust first took ownership the trust has put time, money and expertise into the building over the past 19 years.
“Obviously, we know that this regular flooding is not doing any good for such a rare building.
“We are working on flood mitigation plans to protect the building and to enable us to find a use for it, which would enable public acces.”
ktopping@thecourier.co.uk