Listed Building

The only legal part of the listing under the Planning (Listing Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997 is the address/name of site. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing – see 'About Listed Buildings' below for more information. The further details below the 'Address/Name of Site' are provided for information purposes only.

Address/Name of Site

Meigle Museum, Dundee Road, MeigleLB18327

Status: Designated

Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

Summary

Category
C
Date Added
05/10/1971
Last Date Amended
18/01/2017
Local Authority
Perth And Kinross
Planning Authority
Perth And Kinross
Parish
Meigle
NGR
NO 28722 44558
Coordinates
328722, 744558

Description

A rectangular-plan, single storey, gabled former school room from 1844 which is now a museum. The building is squared red sandstone rubble with pinnings and has a base course. There are three large window openings to the north and south elevations and two window openings to the east (rear) elevation. The windows have raised cills and those to the south and east have hoodmoulding above. The west elevation has a central gabled porch with a Tudor-arched entrance to the south with boarded timber doors. There is a later timber ramp leading to the entrance.

The windows are timber sash and case with a 6-over 6-glazing pattern. The roof has grey slates and large skylight windows and there are two gable chimney stacks with no cans. There are shallow, ridged skews to the building and the porch which have flat ends and projecting mouldings below.

There are rubble boundary walls to the north and south and a coped boundary wall to the west with railings.

Statement of Special Interest

Meigle Museum is a former school building, dating to 1844, which has retained its traditional plan form and is part of the streetscape and history of the village of Meigle. Built in 1844, the building predates the sudden increase in school buildings following the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act and is rare in retaining its 19th century plan form. The building has some decorative features in its stonework, skews and hoodmoulding which give it a distinctive character.

Age and Rarity

Meigle Museum was built in 1844 as the parish school for Meigle Parish (Gifford 2007). It is depicted on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map, published in 1867 with the same footprint as now and is described in the New Statistical Account of 1834-45 as teaching 'the usual branches of education …., also Latin, Greek, geography and practical mathematics.' A new school was built in Meigle in 1876 following the 1872 Education (Scotland) Act and it is probable that Meigle Museum ceased to be a school at that time. The building houses a number of 8th and 9th century Pictish carved stones, the majority of which were found locally.

The 1696 Education Act established the principle of a school for every parish in Scotland. However, attendance was not compulsory. In the 18th and 19th century school buildings were typically of a domestic scale and of traditional construction, as here, as one or two rooms was adequate. The 1872 Education (Scotland) Act placed responsibility for education in the hands of locally elected school boards and elementary education was made compulsory for all children aged 5 to 13. The boards were also responsible for providing adequate school buildings and there was a sudden increase in school building in Scotland. School buildings dating before the 1872 Act and surviving in or near to their 19th century form are rare.

Dating to 1844, Meigle Museum has retained much of its 19th century form and setting and uses some traditional architectural features for decorative effect. These are discussed in more detail below.

Architectural or Historic Interest

Interior

The interior was not seen and has not been taken into account in this assessment. However, photographs taken by Historic Scotland in 2012 show an open timber roof over a large open space housing museum artefacts. There are no apparent internal features of 19th century date remaining. See under 'Other Information' for further detail.

Plan form

The simple rectangular form with added porch is standard for a mid-19th century school building. It can be seen in Kellas, Dundee (LB17460), for example. Many pre-1872 school buildings have had extensions added to their 19th century plan-form as their use has altered. Meigle Museum is unusual in retaining its 19th century form as depicted on the 1st Edition Ordnance Survey map.

Technological excellence or innovation, material or design quality

Red sandstone is a standard building material in this area of Perthshire, which lies close to the Angus border. The builder has used a number of traditional techniques in the building for decorative effect which include the placing of small pinning stones between the squared rubble in a vertical row. Other techniques are the hoodmoulds above the windows, the Tudor-arched entrance and the ridged skews with long bases. These add a distinctive character to the building.

Setting

Meigle Museum is situated in the centre of the village and is set back from the road with the gable end facing the street. There are later houses to the immediate north and south. The building sits to the south of the Parish Church and is one of the surviving buildings from the 19th century village.

Regional variations

There are no known regional variations.

Close Historical Associations

There are no known associations with a person or event of national importance at present (2016).

Statutory address, category of listing and listed building record revised in 2016. Previously listed as 'Meigle Museum'.

References

Bibliography

Canmore: http://canmore.org.uk/ CANMORE ID 30837.

Maps

Ordnance Survey (Surveyed 1863, Published 1867) Perth and Clackmannan Perthshire Sheet LXIV.4. 25 Inches to the Mile, 1st Edition. Southampton: Ordnance Survey.

Printed Sources

Gifford, J. (2007) Buildings of Scotland: Perth and Kinross. London: Penguin Books. p.518.

New Statistical Account (1834-45) Meigle, County of Perth, Vol. 10. p.238.

Historic Environment Scotland Properties

Meigle Museum & Stones

https://www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/meigle-sculptured-stone-museum

Find out more

Related Designations

  1. Meigle Museum,symbol stones,cross slabs & tombstonesSM90213

    Designation Type
    Scheduled Monument
    Status
    Removed

About Listed Buildings

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Listing is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for buildings of special architectural or historic interest as set out in the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) (Scotland) Act 1997.

We list buildings which are found to be of special architectural or historic interest using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Listed building records provide an indication of the special architectural or historic interest of the listed building which has been identified by its statutory address. The description and additional information provided are supplementary and have no legal weight.

These records are not definitive historical accounts or a complete description of the building(s). If part of a building is not described it does not mean it is not listed. The format of the listed building record has changed over time. Earlier records may be brief and some information will not have been recorded.

The legal part of the listing is the address/name of site which is known as the statutory address. Other than the name or address of a listed building, further details are provided for information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland does not accept any liability for any loss or damage suffered as a consequence of inaccuracies in the information provided. Addresses and building names may have changed since the date of listing. Even if a number or name is missing from a listing address it will still be listed. Listing covers both the exterior and the interior and any object or structure fixed to the building. Listing also applies to buildings or structures not physically attached but which are part of the curtilage (or land) of the listed building as long as they were erected before 1 July 1948.

While Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating listed buildings, the planning authority is responsible for determining what is covered by the listing, including what is listed through curtilage. However, for listed buildings designated or for listings amended from 1 October 2015, legal exclusions to the listing may apply.

If part of a building is not listed, it will say that it is excluded in the statutory address and in the statement of special interest in the listed building record. The statement will use the word 'excluding' and quote the relevant section of the 1997 Act. Some earlier listed building records may use the word 'excluding', but if the Act is not quoted, the record has not been revised to reflect subsequent legislation.

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Images

Meigle Museum, Dundee Road, Meigle, west (entrance) elevation, during daytime on dull day with grey cloud.
Meigle Museum, Dundee Road, Meigle south and east elevations, during daytime on sunny day with blue sky with clouds.

Printed: 28/03/2024 16:55