Old Schoolhouse, Cottown, Perthshire

Acquisition of a unique, Category A-listed, clay-built, thatched-roof cottage dating from 1745, the former parish school house of St Madoes, at Cottown in the Carse of Gowrie, Perthshire. The Carse is a flat plain of clay and prior to proper roads, it was troublesome to bring down building stone from the hills to the north. The local response was to build in either clay or in brick fired from clay, and roofs were made from the reeds that grew nearby on the banks of the River Tay. Although a few of these clay-built houses survived into the 20th century, the Old Schoolhouse now appears to be the only surviving example of entirely clay-walled construction. It remained in use until 1890.