Building record MHG55531 - Buildings behind Glen Avon House, Boat of Garten

Two small buildings built on sleeper foundations, standing near the rear boundary of the plot occupied by Glen Avon House. One of the buildings (which the grid reference refers to) has been a washhouse and is currently used for storage. The stone chimney stack forms a division between two rooms. Within one room there are 2 deep Belfast sinks and there was originally a clothes boiler, which is now outside in the garden, and has been used for burning garden rubbish. It has a corrugated tin roof.
The second building appears to always have been a storage building. It is quite high, constructed of corrugated iron sitting on a sleeper foundation, and has been painted white.

The buildings must date after the introduction of the railway (1863). Other large houses in Boat of Garten also have small buildings with sleeper foundations in their grounds. Local tradition is that they were original constructed as wash houses for the main house, and this one is significant for preserving some of the sinks and boiler.

These structures are two of a number of 'sleeper' buildings built from railway sleepers, or on railway sleeper foundations, in Boat of Garten and Badenoch and Strathspey. See Jackie Wilson's report for the ARCH Community Timeline course, 2011. <1>