Laidhay Croft Museum

At the Laidhay Croft Museum, you'll find a house full of memories.

Laidhay Croft is a typical ancient long-house or byre-dwelling that was once a common feature of the Scottish rural landscape.

The visitor can trace the development of the croft, with its many different living configurations - initially members of the family and their livestock entered by a single door in the side wall, and inside there was generally little or no permanent division between their respective living quarters! Later, in the 19th and 20th centuries, more windows and doors were added, and permanent division between the kitchen and the byre constructed.

Laidhay Croft consists of a long-house incorporating the dwelling, byre and stable, with a fine detached barn and the remains of a cart shed. The croft, which comprised 16 acres of arable land together with rights over 15 acres of rough grazing, came into the possession of the Bethune family in 1842, with whom it remained until 1968.

The visitor to Laidhay Croft can get a taste of what life was like for the 18th and 19th Century croft dwellers - their sparse furnishings, what they ate and drank, and their spartan lifestyles.