Croft of Balmuir

Image: © Anne Burgess Taken: 13 Sep 2007

Balmuir Croft was also known as the 'Beadle's Croft' because traditionally the beadle lived here. It is not clear whether the tenant was obliged to act as beadle, or whether the tenancy was a perk of being the beadle. The croft was seven acres, and the house stood at the northern apex of its ground. The field boundaries are on the mid-Victorian six-inch Ordnance Survey map, but the fences have been taken out so they are not on the modern maps. The croft is part of Hatton Castle estate, but the house was sold to the Water Board in the 1960s. They demolished it and built a reservoir where the house used to be. The modern house in this view was built later in a corner of a field across the road. My thanks to Eric Stephen for information, and to Claire Jordan and Alison Jaffrey for putting me in touch.

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