A traditional turf-walled “creel house” is being reconstructed in Glencoe – and landowners are being asked to help out by donating the goods.
Creel houses have been completely lost from Scotland’s architectural landscape, but they were a building style that would have dominated in West Highlands rural communities until the 19th century.
The National Trust for Scotland is hoping that landowners will contribute to the project by providing turf.
Archaeological excavations in the heart of Glencoe have shown that creel houses were once dotted throughout the glen in small townships.
The Trust plans to recreate a building that would have been occupied at the time of the infamous massacre of 1692.
Creel houses combined a sturdy frame of timber, with basket-like internal walls weaved from freshly cut green wood and were lined on the outside with thick, insulating walls built from blocks of turf.
The roof would have been lined with thinner turf below thatch, usually made of heather.
The house will be located outside Glencoe Visitor Centre. Materials are being sourced from within the glen and from other NTS land, but another 645sqft of turf is being sought to complete the 3.3ft thick turf walls.
Mark Thacker, a craftsman on the project, said: “The task is not quite as simple as heading down to a local garden centre to pick up some turf lawn rolls – it needs to be cut up to 7.9ins deep and preferably come from an ‘unimproved’ grassland with a stone-free soil. By unimproved, I mean a grassland which has ideally not been drained, ploughed, re-sown or artificially fertilised in recent years, as intensive cultivation will tend to weaken the root structure within the turf, which gives it its strength for construction.”
It is hoped that the turf can be sourced relatively locally, but they will welcome offers from anywhere in Scotland.
While owners of large gardens, pasture fields or moorland edge with moisture-rich peat or clay soils, may be able to donate a patch of turf – the plea also goes out to homebuilders or developers who are planning to clear a plot for construction.
The turf needs to be harvested in summer 2021 when the Glencoe creel house building work will be well underway, as it can dry out quickly after being cut.
Anyone who can help can email the Glencoe National Nature Reserve or call 01855 811307.
