Pencil on polyester film, 1998
Survey by RCAHMS
The cruck-framed cottage at Auchtavan near Ballater dates to the late eighteenth or early nineteenth-century and was recorded after winter storms blew off part of its corrugated iron roof, exposing the remnants of its thatch, roof timbers and wallhead to the elements. The measured survey consisted of a number of drawings: a plan of the cottage, a section showing one pair of crucks, a site plan showing the surrounding complex of structures and enclosures, and this detail of the canopied chimney or ‘Hanging Lum’, to give its vernacular name.
The hanging lum was a wide wooden canopy which drew smoke upwards from the fire. Also shown in the drawing is the frame constructed from crucks. These were often made of long curving timbers, but here are constructed from smaller timbers jointed and pegged together.
Cruck-framed buildings are relatively rare survivors and ‘hanging lums’ even rarer, making this survey by RCAHMS an important record.