Building record MHG24455 - Former Poorhouse and school hostel - Portree, Skye

The former Skye Union Poorhouse in Portree, most latterly used as a school hostel and known as the 'Margaret Carnegie Hostel'.

The Skye Combination was formed in about 1851 and comprised the 7 parishes of Bracadale, Duirnish, Kilmuir, Portree, Sleat, Snizort and Strath. The Skye Combination Poorhouse was erected in around 1860 at 12 Shuklishader (now Viewfield Road) west of Portree. It could accommodate 51 inmates. The building was designed by Inverness architects Ross and Joass and was a typical T-shaped layout of the period but believed to have been only a single storey high. Males were accomodated at one side and females at the other. Administrative functions located in the central portion together with kitchens and a dining-hall/chapel. Out-buildings included a laundry and a small mortuary. In 1923-4 the buildings were taken over by the Carnegie Foundation as a hostel to provide accomodation for children attending school in Portree and Stornoway on Lewis. The ground floor was extended and a second storey was added. The building was still being used as a hostel. <1>

It was built in 1863, sited near the wool mill, which was started to give employment to the destitute of the village during the potato famine. It was hoped the Poor House would provuide the mill with a steady supply of workers. In 1922, with the help of the Carnegie Trust, it was converted to the school hostel for girls and called the Margaret Carnegie Hostel.

Planning permission to demolish the building and redevelop the site for a new Gaelic School was granted in 2015.