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Blackhouse ruins on Skye set for demolition despite local and historical significance

Blackhouse ruins in Luib, Skye, up for sale.

Despite its significance in the community, a de-crofted area of land containing blackhouse ruins in Skye has been put on the market.

The village of Luib sits on the south east coast of Skye, not far from the island’s second largest town, Broadford.

It sits on a curve of the A87 Invergarry to Uig road, making it aptly named, as luib is the Gaelic word for bend.

The area is home to the ruins of a handful of blackhouses, a traditional style of house for the area.

A three acre plot of land in Luib has been put on the market, much to the surprise of locals.

The tenanted croft land not only offers unrestricted views over Loch Ainort towards Scalpay and Raasay, but also one of the blackhouse ruins.

In 2015, permission was granted for the existing ruins of this particular blackhouse to be fully demolished, and a 1.5 storey property to be built in its place.

Blackhouse ruin up for sale in Luib, Skye.

A historic find

Local councillor Calum Macleod was shocked to see an area that he described as “notable locally and historically” up for sale.

He said: “I was quite struck recently when it came to my attention that it’s been marketed locally by an estate agent with a view to remove the complete structure.”

He was particularly surprised considering a find at one of the sister houses in the 1980s.

He said: “Back in the ’80s when the last resident passed away, they were dismantling the thatched roof off it and interestingly they found a pair of flintlock pistols that had been wrapped in wax cotton and concealed.

“They were able to date them right back to the Jacobite uprising.”

The findings even led to the opening of a local folk museum back in the day.

Despite its popularity at the time, it later closed, and Mr Macleod never found out what happened to the pistols.

View from the blackhouse ruins up for sale.

A local loss

The blackhouse that is currently up for sale, with offers in the region of £90,000, is “perfectly preserved” according to Mr Macleod.

He believes that the site should be held at a higher status historically than it currently is, and that its protected status should not have been removed.

He said: “I have a theory that in any other walk of life, any other place of being in the UK if you had such a significant cultural gem like that that people were seeing clearly from the main road with tourism being the way it is on Skye, it would have some kind of protection order.”

The councillor expects that locals too will feel a loss if the blackhouse ruins are demolished as planned.

He said: “I know a lot of people of Skye will have a fondness for it because it’s got a little bit of history.”