Rab’s birthplace is being reborn
Saving Scotland’s famous cottage
For William Burness it would have been impossible to believe the two- room clay and thatch family home he built with his own hand would still be standing 263 years later.
Thanks to his boy Robert it is, otherwise what everyone knows as Burns Cottage would have disappeared generations ago.
Without doubt by the time the latest revamp is over, it will be far superior to that simple building of 1757.
The National Trust for Scotland is now in the middle of a £ 100,000 project to extend the old girl’s life well into the future.
The capital was all raised after a special plea by the NTS. It brought donations from the poet’s fans all over the world, including £ 1,000 from rather nearer, Alloway Burns Club.
And project boss Andrew Watson, on site this week, said: “Conservation work does not get much more important than this.
“It is a privilege to bring it back to its best.”
The thatch was still bone dry underneath - to the point it creates dust - but the outer layer had become infiltrated with moss and was rotting.
Caroline Smith, the NTS commander of all things Burns in Alloway, is hoping the project will complete just in time for the new season.
She said: “Everything is on track for an Easter opening, it is a great time for the Cottage to spring to life again.”
The chief expenditure is on the iconic thatch, all 1400 square feet of it, and it will give the cottage a golden crown again.
Tons arrived on the back of a lorry after being cut in a Somerset field. And it is actually wheat, minus the ears.
Gavin Pettigrew is NTS Facilities Manager and also looks after another pair of thatched cottages – Souter Johnnie’s in Kirkoswald and the Bachelors’ Club in Tarbolton.
He said: “The cottage was part thatched 12 years ago and it was the early nineties the full roof was renewed.
“We take the top layer off and the difference in colour with the new thatch is amazing, it will really standout.
“But right underneath it is so dry it is actually dusty to touch.”
The total thickness off the roof is getting on for half a metre and it is the top 350mm being replaced. It will be capped at the top with a new cedar ridgeplate.
The restoration boss Andrew Watson’s Glasgow- based firm Conservation Masonry has worked on all sorts of historic projects at universities, stately homes and churches.
Most of their work is for more than £ 1m at a time, but he is proud to be helping save Rabbie’s old roost.
The firm completed the £ 470,000 restoration of the Burns Monument along the road last July.
A team of seven is working on the walls and thatch at the Cottage.
In places the harling has become detached from the stone and water would ultimately find its way inside.
And one of the chimneys were effectively getting entirely replaced.
Andrew said: “Some of the stonework had become dislodged and eroded and it is all being taken down.
“We are replacing that with a natural stone from the Peak Moor sandstone quarry in the Borders which we are cutting to shape for the gables.
“There is actually more than one stone type that was used in the building of the cottage. You may think that in the 18th Century it was all local stone. That is not the case, it just depended what was available.”
“After the stone is in place we put a harling over it and then it is lime- washed just as the cottage was back in the day.
“All the material we put back on has to be specified, it is not just a B& Q overhaul.
“This is conservation in action and we try and leave what we can.”
February 3 was the first day of action and special tarpaulins thrown over the roof after scaffolds were put in place.
The workers have had to cope with both high winds and torrential rain but have had to keep going as the project duration
All the material we put on has to be specified, it is not just a B& Q overhaul. This is conservation in action Andrew Watson
is tight, with an early April finish.
Caroline Smith said the stone process was such that cottage samples were sent for analysis so they could get the best match.
She said: “We need to keep it as authentic as possible and only last week we got confirmation from The Lime Centre about certain materials to be used.
“The Cottage has not looked its best in recent years and I appreciate people do get upset by the appearance of it. But the building itself was fairly sound.
“The Trust as a whole are having to adjust to climate change and the fact we are getting more rainfall all year round.
“For example here the spray from the road affects the front of the cottage.”
Work carried out by the NTS began inside in November with new limewash, plaster and joinery repairs.
A new heating system had also been installed, keeping this remarkable memory of the Bard alive and kicking for another few generations.