Monument record MHG28923 - Canna, The Bothy

NG20NE 44 2750 0549

A building known as 'The Bothy', now in NTS ownership. It is formed partly from the remains of a late C18 building called Coroghan House (see MHG34307). Now in use as tearooms. An adjoining building on the east gable was known as 'The Binder shed'.

A basic photographic record of the derelict and roofless Binder shed was produced in 2013 to accompany a planning application for a change of use of the building to a community shop. <1>

Following planning permission the old Binder Shed was subject to clearance, building recording and a watching brief during groundworks by NTS in 2013. The building was, based on map evidence, a later (sometime between 1877 and 1898) addition to the bothy. The bothy itself, following conversion and re-building was eventaully used as a store for woodworking and and boat-building activities relating to the nearby saw-pit on the shore. It is thought that the Binder Shed, as it was known, was used as a dairy at this time. From 1938 onwards the buildings fell into disrepair and became un-roofed though the Binder Shed retained a corrugated iron roof until the late 1990’s and was used as a store. From 1981, and the period of NTS ownership, a number of improvement refurbishment works were carried out to the buildings. The eastern end of the East Bothy was converted to a Holiday Cottage. In 2002 the West Bothy which was un-roofed was converted to a Café/Tearoom to operate as a business for a local resident. It was during this period of activity that the roof was removed from the Binder Shed and the walls were consolidated and made safe to leave a roofless ruin abutting the East Bothy. During the recording and watching brief no major archaeological discoveries were made although some sherds of a stoneware vessel from the Barrowfield pottery in Glasgow were found just outside the north-east corner of the building. <2>