The Hall of Clestrain is a house in the parish of

Orphir Orphir (pronounced , Old Norse: Jorfjara/OrfjaraPedersen, Roy (January 1992) ''Orkneyjar ok Katanes'' (map, Inverness, Nevis Print)) is a parish and settlement on Mainland, Orkney. It is approximately southwest of Kirkwall, and comprises a s ...

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. The house was the birthplace of the explorer John Rae in 1813. Currently derelict, the house became a listed building in 1971. It featured in the second series of the BBC TV series '' Restoration'' in 2004.

Description

Although a relatively small domestic structure, the house had

Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

aspirations, and was once one of the most impressive buildings in north Scotland. Stone steps rose to a moulded entrance (once possibly pedimented) on the main front, with pavilions to either side. The square main block has three bays on each side and the gable ends. It was constructed from

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

and

harl Harling is a rough-cast wall finish consisting of lime and aggregate, known for its rough texture. Many castles and other buildings in Scotland and Ulster have walls finished with harling. It is also used on contemporary buildings, where it pr ...

. An internal stone staircase connects the basement, main floor and upper floor. The house was occupied until the roof was blown off in gale in 1952. With a "temporary" replacement roof of asbestos sheets, many of the large

sash window A sash window or hung sash window is made of one or more movable panels, or "sashes". The individual sashes are traditionally paned windows, but can now contain an individual sheet (or sheets, in the case of double glazing) of glass. History ...

s were blocked up, and it was used as a farm building, with pigsties in the basement.

History

Clestrain was part of the

Graemsay Graemsay () is an island in the western approaches to Scapa Flow, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. The island has two lighthouses. Graemsay lies within the parish of Stromness. Geography and geology Graemsay lies between Hoy and Stromness ...

estate. The estate had come into the Honeyman family as the dowry of Cecilia Graham, daughter of Harie Graham of Breckness, when she married Robert Honeyman, grandson of

Andrew Honeyman Andrew Honeyman or Honyman (1619–1676) was a Scottish priest: he was Bishop of Orkney from 1664 until 1676. Life He was born in 1619, the son of David Honeyman of Pitairchney, a baker of St Andrews. His brother was Rev Dr Robert Honyman DD ...

who was

Bishop of Orkney The Bishop of Orkney was the ecclesiastical head of the Diocese of Orkney, one of thirteen medieval bishoprics of Scotland. It included both Orkney and Shetland. It was based for almost all of its history at St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall. Th ...

from 1664 to 1676. The former hall nearby (now the storehouse nearer the shoreline) was raided by the pirate

John Gow John Gow (c. 1698–11 June 1725) was a notorious pirate whose short career was immortalised by Charles Johnson in the 1725 work ''The History and Lives of All the Most Notorious Pirates and Their Crews''. Little is known of his life, except f ...

on 10 February 1725. The new hall was built in 1769 for Patrick Honeyman. He inherited the

estate after his father and brother drowned together in the

Pentland Firth The Pentland Firth ( gd, An Caol Arcach, meaning the Orcadian Strait) is a strait which separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland. Despite the name, it is not a firth. Etymology The name is presumed to be a corrupti ...

on journey to Edinburgh. The Honeyman family later moved to the mainland, and the house was occupied by their agent, John Rae. The hall was the birthplace of Rae's son, the Arctic explorer John Rae, in 1813. Sir

Walter Scott Sir Walter Scott, 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 – 21 September 1832), was a Scottish novelist, poet, playwright and historian. Many of his works remain classics of European and Scottish literature, notably the novels '' Ivanhoe'', '' Rob Roy ...

visited Rae's parents at the house in August 1814, while touring the north of Scotland. Currently derelict, the house became a listed building in 1971. It was included on the first

Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland The Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland records buildings of national architectural or historic interest which are considered to be under threat. The list is maintained by Historic Environment Scotland (HES). The register was established in 1 ...

in 1990, and upgraded to a category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

in 1993. The house featured in the second series of the BBC TV series '' Restoration''. It was intended that the building would form the centrepiece of a proposed Orkney Boat Museum. After a successful preliminary funding application in 2007 to the

Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...

, a second application in 2009 was turned down, and the museum plans were abandoned. The Friends of Orkney Boat Museum were wound up in 2014, but the John Rae Society hopes to restore the dilapidated hall as a museum. In September 2016, the John Rae Society announced that it had completed the purchase of the building, and planned to restore it and create a visitor and events centre to celebrate Rae and his legacy.

Notes

Hall of Clestrain
Orkney Communities
Hall of Clestrain
Undiscovered Scotland
Hall of Clestrain
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
Hall of Clestrain, Orphir
Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland
Graemsay
Scapa Flow Landscape Partnership Scheme * {{coord, 58, 56, 51, N, 3, 13, 19, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Houses completed in 1769 Category A listed buildings in Orkney Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland Mainland, Orkney