In June of this year, several important historic buildings in Portsoy and Whitehills were passed into the ownership of the North East Scotland Preservation Trust (NESPT) from the late Tom Burnett-Stuart. These buildings include the four listed warehouse buildings at the historic Portsoy Harbour, the Granary Warehouse (Category B), Corf Warehouse (Category A), Portsoy Marbles Workshop (Category B), and the Rag Warehouse (Category C).
In 2023, the NESPT received grant funding from the Architectural Heritage Fund (AHF) and commissioned Nicoll Russell Studios and Indigo Project Solutions to undertake a condition survey of all buildings. They also ran various community consultation events to hear the local communities’ views about the uses for the buildings.
After consulting the local community, it is proposed that the Corf Warehouse and Marble Workshop be transformed into the Portsoy Marbles Creative Hub, with a mixed use of spaces including artist studios, craft workshops, a gallery and artist in residence accommodation. They are still in the early stages of development as they await the necessary planning consents and successful grant applications. However, these are very exciting developments for NESPT and Portsoy!
Paul Higson, Project Director at NESPT expressed his excitement at the journey ahead: “We are delighted to take ownership of the buildings, and although it is a great challenge, we are really looking forward to developing them and bringing them back into productive use.”
Furthermore, as part of the generous legacy of Tom Burnett-Stuart, the NESPT have become the proud owners of three beautiful holiday cottages; 6 & 7 Shorehead at Portsoy harbour, and a former fisherman’s cottage, located right next to the beautiful shoreline, in the coastal village of Whitehills.
Funds generated by these cottages will be used by the NESPT to save and bring back into use other historic buildings in the area.
There has been a great deal of excitement for the NESPT recently and we know this is only the beginning. Good luck and we look forward to keeping up date with the developments!
