Scotland's at risk buildings - are they worth saving?

There are abandoned Highland hotels which served the Victorian tourist boom, churches designed by some of the nation’s best-loved architects, entertainment palaces, shops, office buildings, mausoleum, doocots, police stations and watermills…

Empty and unused, they quickly deteriorate. Vandals strike, fires break out and vegetation takes hold.

Historic Environment Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register currently lists more than 2200 buildings across Scotland which give cause for concern.

Some are better known than others. Such as A-Listed Kinloch Castle on the Isle of Rum, at the centre of recent debates over its future and listed on the register as “at risk”.

Others, less well known, tell important stories of ‘ordinary’ Scottish life. The Corr, at Latherton, Wick, is a traditional Caithness croft complex with a rush thatch roof, smithy, henhouse and laundry. A unique surviving example of a long lost way of life, it is also “at risk”.

Since its launch in 1990, some 658 buildings considered worthy enough to make the register have been demolished.

But it’s not all bad news: 2225 have been declared ‘saved’ – bringing hope that not all that end up within its pages are doomed.  

Here are just some of Scotland’s ‘buildings at risk’.

The Eagle Hotel, Callander

The Eagle Hotel, Callander (Image: Crown Copyright: HES.)

For generations of Scots, Callander by the banks of the River Teith in the heart of the Trossachs was the ideal holiday destination.

And as they stepped off the train, their eyes would be drawn to the distinctive Eagle Hotel.

Its red brick Queen Anne/Old English style is unusual for the town and tells a story of tourism and change: built in 1890 at the peak of the Victorian tourism boom, its design was deliberately intended to stand out in a street crowded with guesthouse and hotels.

The tourism boom, however, did not last, and as holidaymakers bypassed the Gateway to the Highlands for more exotic climes, the Eagle Hotel closed.

Vacant for years, the C-Listed building is listed on Historic Environment Scotland’s Buildings at Risk Register as ‘at risk’ due to disuse and deterioration to its timberwork.

Empire Electric Theatre, Grangemouth

The Empire Electric Theatre in Grangemouth was one of Scotland's first purpose built cinemas (Image: Kim Traynor/Geograph/Creative Commons)

These days, the Stirlingshire town of Grangemouth’s sprawling petro-chemical sites are under the spotlight.

But in the early 20th century, the town was at the forefront of a new wave of entertainment.

The Cinematograph Act of 1910 saw cinemas become licensed and created a boom in the building of purpose-built cinemas.

The town’s Empire Electric Theatre, with its red brick and sandstone front and cavernous barn-like auditorium – enough space for more than 650-seats - to the rear, would become one of Scotland’s first.

It took just 12 weeks to build, and its opening in December 1913 brought a world of romantic movies to sharp-shooting Westerns, live music and vaudeville acts from Japanese balancing acts to comedians, to the town.

Now said to be a rare survivor of its type in Scotland, the C-Listed building has been empty for years with reports last year of masonry toppling from the main entrance.  It is classed ‘at risk’ on the Buildings at Risk Register.

Fish Curing Station, Out Voe, Shetland

The former fish curing station at Out Voe, Shetland is on the Buildings at Risk Register (Image: Historic Environment Scotland)

Near Boddam on the South Mainland of Shetland, is the popular Shetland Crofthouse Museum at Voe, where visitors can learn about how Shetlanders lived in the mid-1800s.

But not far away on the other side of the voe, is a group of fairly ordinary looking two-storey buildings that tell another story of island life.

The B-Listed early 19th century shorefront buildings are rare survivors from days when herring was king and fish curing stations and trading booths like it were a commonplace focus for Shetlanders.

Symbols of a time when the silver darlings were the lifeblood of the islands, they have been empty for decades.

Described as being in a poor condition 10 years ago, according to the Buildings at Risk Register, the most recent inspection in 2022 showed further deterioration.

Former Swimming Baths, the Vennel, Forfar 

Forfar Swimming Pool is among the properties on the Buildings at Risk Register (Image: Anne Burgess/Geograph/Creative Commons)

It’s a long way from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Forfar.

And an even from the ‘down at heel’ façade of the town’s former swimming baths to the immense wealth of the world’s richest man.

In October 1910, philanthropist Andrew Carnegie attended the grand opening of the swimming pool and public baths that he had gifted to the town.

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As he performed the opening ceremony, he declared his hope that the people of Forfar would never regret having pledged their town to maintain these baths.

Today, he might feel a little disappointed: the Jacobean Renaissance-style C-Listed building has been empty for years.

Sold by Angus Council early last year, a few months later police found evidence of a cannabis farm.

More recently, there have been complaints of anti-social behaviour, urban explorers breaking in and, in May, a deliberate fire.

The Buildings at Risk Register has marked the baths ‘at risk’.

Argyll Motor Works, Alexandria

The former Argyll Motor Works, Alexandria (Image: Lairich Rig/Geograph/Creative Commons)

As the golden age of motoring dawned, The Argyll Motor Works at Alexandra would become one of the largest car factories in Europe.

The A-Listed Baroque style, red sandstone richly detailed office and gatehouse looks like more like a grand hotel than a factory entrance, but behind the scenes was a hive of industrial activity.

The site only built cars until 1913, going on to be used as a Royal Naval torpedo factory, a silk works and at one point said to be the site of a secret project to improve Britain’s nuclear warheads.

Now roofless and damp, according to the last entry on the Buildings at Risk Register, in 2020, “deterioration continues at pace”.

Carnsalloch House, Kirkton

Carnsalloch House, Kirkton, Dumfries and Galloway is among Scotland's 'at risk' buildings (Image: Colin Kinnear/Geograph/Creative Commons)

Carnsalloch House in Kirkton, Dumfries and Galloway, tells a familiar story of empire, wealth and, eventually, decay.

In ancient times, the lands of Carnsalloch were linked to the Knights Templars. Eventually, they would provide the setting for a grand two storey Palladian villa with flanking wings, built for Alexander Johnston in 1759.

The Johnston family would go on to have high ranking links to the army, one would serve as the Chief Justice of Ceylon who brought Sri Lanka’s historical epic, the Mahavamsa, to European attention.

Once a grand home, it was later a private school and Leonard Cheshire home but despite being at the centre of various efforts to develop and revive it, the A Listed property has deteriorated.

These days it’s often referred to as one of Scotland’s most haunted buildings.

According to the Buildings at Risk Register, an inspection in May last year found the property a roofless ruin. Its condition was moved to “Ruinous”.

Drumdryan Quarry Powder Magazine, Cupar

Drumdryan Quarry Powder Magazine, Cupar (Image: Historic Environment Scotland)

Some buildings are hidden well from view – perhaps making them even harder to save.

Drumdryan Quarry Powder Magazine is a small pre-1850s Gothic arched gunpowder magazine near Cupar that is slowly being consumed by undergrowth and woodland.

Said to be a rare example of its kind, it’s a flashback to when all royal burghs had powder magazines.

Nitogren-based explosive in the later 19th century meant the use of gunpowder was no longer so prevalent. By the mid-20th century gunpowder production was being phased out.

Only a handful of gunpowder magazines remain, among them the engine and gunpowder house at Fort Augustus, and the former municipal magazine at St Magdalene's Hill, Friarton Quarry in Perth.

According to the Buildings at Risk Register it is in ‘very poor condition’ and ‘at risk’.

Avondale House, Polmont

Avondale House, Polmont near Falkirk is said to be 'at risk' (Image: Historic Environment Scotland) Avondale House has all the Gothic turrets and battlements that tourists love and a history dating back to the 16th century. 

Its owners include the Duke of Hamilton and, in the 1920s, the Salveson family. It was used during the Second World War - one of many grand properties to be turned into hospitals. 

Proposals have come and gone for redevelopment but its location, near a landfill site, may not be helping. 

The B-Listed property is currently 'at risk' on the Buildings at Risk Register.

Calton Police Building, Tobago Street, Glasgow

The former police building at Tobago Street, Glasgow (Image: Colin Drysdale)

Calton Police Building, Tobago Street, Glasgow

Opened in 1869, the new police station for the Eastern Division in Tobabo Street, Calton contained a court room, mortuary, muster hall and 30 cells.

In its day, it would have witnessed all manner of Glasgow life, perhaps the more unusual among them, the ‘guest’, known as Charging Thunder.

A Native American Indian member of Buffalo Bill’s travelling Wild West Show, Charging Thunder spent a night in the Tobago Street cells after a well-oiled altercation involving another member of the Show and a wooden club.

The B-Listed building went out of use in 1981 and has deteriorated, with part of the roof collapsed, vegetation sprouting from masonry and widespread damp.

The Buildings at Risk Register puts it “at risk”.

Caledonia Road United Presbyterian Church, Caledonia Road, Gorbals

Alexander 'Greek' Thomson's Caledonia Road church (Image: Euan Nelson/Geograph/Creative Commons)

Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson's first church, built in the 1850s, the former United Presbyterian Church is one of the few remaining structures from the 19th century Gorbals to remain.

At the junction of Caledonia Road and Cathcart Road, it tells of a changing city: as the population of the Gorbals departed in the early 1960s, its congregation fell.

It was purchased by Glasgow Corporation in 1963 for less than £4000 but gutted by fire just two years later which left only the frontage standing.

According to the Buildings at Risk Register, it is in a ‘ruinous’ condition and at a high level of risk, with signs of stone decay, dampness and buddleia plants growing from its masonry.

Leyland Motor Company, Salkeld Street, Laurieston, Glasgow

The former Leyland Motor Company building in Salkeld Street (Image: Richard Sutcliffe/Geograph/Creative Commons) A rare example of Glasgow’s Art Deco heritage, the building would have been at the very cutting edge of design in its 1930s heyday.

When Leyland Motor Company moved out, it was used by Strathclyde Police Mounted and Dog Branch as a stable block and kennel.

Unoccupied for at least 15 years, according to the Buildings at Risk Register, the B-Listed building has attracted vandalism, graffiti and antisocial behaviour.

Birds and water can get in, there’s fly tipping in the area and its once impressive towers with their curved windows are damaged, and it is said to be ‘at risk’.

Search Historic Environment Scotland's Buildings at Risk Register here