Caithness & Sutherland
Mary-Ann's Cottage
Mary-Ann's cottage is just a few miles from the most northerly point on the UK mainland - Dunnet Head. This cottage / croft which was built in around 1850 has been preserved as it was lived in by Mary-Ann Calder, who until she was 89 lived in the croft and cooked using peat over the open range fire.
It is now owned by the Caithness Heritage Trust who provide guided tours of the cottage from June to September from 2pm to 4.30pm (closed on Mondays).
There is a small charge for viewing the croft cottage which has not changed much since the 1930's or earlier.
This is a must visit for anyone who is interested in Scottish heritage and old crofting lifestyles. When you visit Mary-Ann's cottage on a lovely warm sunny day it is easy to be drawn into the romantic idea that crofting was a wonderful way to live - yes it was and continues to be so, yet it was also a hard life for many crofters who had to try and make a living from the land and to raise food for themselves.
Crofting is still found all over the Highlands, however many crofters live in modern houses not in quaint old croft. They still work long hours and often have second jobs to make ends meet, crofting life is a lifestyle not a way of getting rich!
Croft / Cottage near Dunnet Head - Mary-Ann's
Larger image of Mary-Ann's Cottage - Caithness, Highland Scotland
The peat stack at the cottage. Peat has been used for hundreds of years as a source of heating and cooking over open fireplaces. Peat is still used today in many areas of the highlands of Scotland.
Larger map of Scotland
Straw thatched roof traditional farm building used for keeping the pig.