A crowstepped store and curved rubble pier preserve the maritime approach that once mattered more than roads to Tongue House.
Quick facts
- Date
- Early to mid-19th century
- Architect / designer
- Estate builder unrecorded
- Type
- Two-storey boathouse or store with rubble pier and slipway
- Designation
- Listed building, Category C (LB19881)
- OS grid reference
- NC 59130 58887
Architecture, archaeology and continuing use
The rectangular two-storey building presents a segmental-headed opening toward the pier and narrow ventilation slits along its walls. Crowsteps and a slate roof give architectural finish, while the curved pier and small slipway provide direct access to the tidal shore.
Its story
Before Telford’s north-coast road improvements, sea access was fundamental to the estate. The boathouse and pier formalised that route in the nineteenth century even as better roads gradually turned the house’s former maritime entrance into a secondary approach.
Why it is included
The Category C group makes a major but easily overlooked aspect of Highland estate life visible: movement of people, goods and boats through a private shore facility.
What to notice
- The segmental-headed opening aligned with the pier.
- Crowstepped gables and ventilation slits in the store.
- The slightly curved pier arm and adjoining slipway.
Reading the surroundings
The building and pier belong to a private estate and tidal shore conditions can be hazardous. Do not enter, launch, land or walk onto the pier without permission.
Timeline
- Circa 1815 Telford’s parliamentary road began improving overland access to the north coast.
- Early to mid-19th century The estate built the surviving store and pier to maintain direct sea access.
- 1984 The shoreline group received Category C listing.
What we know — and what remains uncertain
The designation gives a broad construction range and does not establish whether the store, pier and slipway were completed in one campaign or remain operational.
Sources & further reading
- Historic Environment Scotland: Tongue House Boathouse, Store and Pier, LB19881 — Designation status, mapped location, date, fabric and architectural or archaeological interest.
- Highland HER: Tongue House — Regional parent record linking the house with its boathouse, store, pier and historic harbour photographs.
- Historic Environment Scotland: Tongue House designed landscape — Estate chronology and landscape context for the shift between maritime and road approaches.
Location
OS grid reference NC 59130 58887 · Location confidence: High: the national designation supplies an official mapped National Grid Reference; the independent source confirms the Place relationship, history or current identity. · Select the marker to open its satellite view in Google Maps. On desktop, drag Pegman (the yellow figure) onto a blue road. On mobile, turn on the Street View layer and tap a blue road. Other photo markers may be user-contributed.
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