History of Cuil an Daraich Guest House
Our history at Cuil an Daraich guest house begins in the beautiful village of Logierait. The village lies at a junction of the rivers Tay and Tummel. The name Logierait means ‘little hollow’ by the rait or castle, situated just north of the village was a rait holding an Iron Age Fort.
Apart from the guest house two other historic buildings exist. The Logierait Inn is situated on the site of the old courthouse, from here justice was handed out until 1746. The church in Logierait was founded around 650 by St Cedd, a missionary of the Celtic church of Iona. The current church, founded approximately 1800 is built on the grounds of the original Culdee church. It’s a great place to visit with a Pictish cross believed to be over 1000 years old and tombstones depicting biblical times thought to be 300 years old. The other significant item is a stone built into the church wall, commemorating one Alexander Mackenzie who was the first liberal Prime Minister of Canada.
The wonderful history of Cuil an Daraich Guest House goes back to 1864. A meeting held on 31/01/1860 estimated the cost to build the poor house as £2,500. On 25/01/1864 the first 27 paupers were admitted. Men and women were separated upon admittance. The men worked outside on nearby farm, the women helped the sick and undertook housework.
The poor house later became an old persons home which closed in 1985. Later in 1992 the Heritage Centre opened, offering a insight into a childs life between 1920 -1950. In approximately 2002 the building was converted to be as it is now, a guesthouse and individual apartments.
The building today retains all the character from 1864 and the bell that would be rung to indicate to poor house inmates that the working day was done and dinner was being served still exists.
Ruth Washbrook Website & Dissertation – Ruth stayed with us in 2022 and was quite excited when she arrived. It turned out Ruth had spent some considerable time reading and writing about the history of Cuil an Daraich.
Ruth’s website Spinstorian is a great read and features the Logierait Poor House.
More in depth is her quite amazing dissertation detailing the history of the former Poor House, now Guest House and can be downloaded from the link below.
Enjoy a stay with us at this accommodation near Pitlochry and get a feel for the wonderful local history.
