Applicant: Findhorn Village Heritage Company
Location: Findhorn, near Forres, Moray, Scotland
Grant awarded: £87,500
Total project cost: £131,000
Grant programme: Heritage Grants
Type of heritage: Records and collections, historic buildings and sites

Aims of the project
To conserve a 19th century ice house and use the building to provide additional space and displays in connection with an existing heritage centre.

Background to the project
The ice house at the village of Findhorn on the Moray Firth is a Scheduled Ancient Monument. It dates from the early 19th century and was built to store ice for packing salmon. To keep the ice cool, the building reaches below ground level and is topped by a mound. After the local salmon fisheries went bankrupt in the late 1980s, the ice house became derelict and by the late 1990s was in a dangerous condition.

The ice house is owned by Findhorn Village Heritage Company, which six years previously converted two former salmon fisheries huts into a heritage centre. One is laid out as a traditional salmon fisher's bothy, the other contains displays tracing the history of Findhorn from prehistoric times to the present. The heritage centre is open three months a year and is staffed by a rota of about 40 volunteers. It attracts an estimated 2,000 visitors each year.

What did the project involve?
The ice house was repaired and improved by reinstating roof chutes, constructing a level walkway and installing lighting. The walkway was pierced by glass panels, revealing historic features in the floor. New interpretation materials were installed, including a short film about ice houses and the local salmon fishing industry, a series of interpretation panels, and mannequins showing men at work in the ice house.

What difference did the project make?
The project has made it possible for people to visit the building, which had been completely inaccessible to the public. Local people have been especially interested to visit the ice house, which was ‘always a secretive place’ in the days of the salmon fisheries. The construction of a level walkway has made physical access to the building easier for people with mobility impairments. The restored ice house opened in May 2004; in the early weeks of its first season, visitor numbers to the heritage centre doubled.

How did the project meet our criteria?
The project has conserved a historic building and provided public access to it. It has helped people to enjoy and understand a site that is significant for local industrial heritage.

Useful tips
Sheila Robbie, Honorary Secretary of Findhorn Village Heritage Company, comments, ‘We had terrible complications getting all the funding from different sources together. I’ve become an expert in writing grant applications! Then, when we were hoping to open in summer 2003, the special glass elements for the floor arrived chipped and had to be returned, so we had to wait another year. My main message is, “Stick at it – you’ll get there in the end.”’