Shorehead, West Wemyss Harbour, West Wemyss

Single and 2-storey, 5-bay, rectangular-plan house with timpany gable. Harl and rubble with stone cills. SW (HARBOUR) ELEVATION: symmetrical. 5 regularly disposed windows to each floor, timpany gable breaking eaves at centre. SE ((ENTRANCE) ELEVATION: single storey, rubble elevation with boarded timber door to right of centre, blinded opening to left and 2 small blinded windows in gablehead. NE ELEVATION: single storey elevation with small windows to centre and left bays. NW ELEVATION: single storey gabled elevation with window slapping to right of centre. 12-pane glazing pattern in timber sash and case windows. Grey slates. Coped and harled stacks, sawn off stack to SE; ashlar-coped skews. BOUNDARY WALLS: semicircular- and flat-coped brick boundary walls.

This former pilot's house was once a tenement of four dwellings. (Historic Scotland)

October 2007: From external inspection the property appears to have been vacant for some time. The building is in overall fair condition. There may be a risk of vandalism or rainwater ingress should regular maintenance not be carried out.

August 2010: External inspection finds no significant change from the last site visit. Planning permission in principle was granted conditionally in June 2010 for a residential/ leisure/ commercial development including harbour regeneration works. The outline plan notes a potential risk of cliff collapse onto Shorehead Cottage and proposes stabilisation works to enable the re-use of the property as part of the overall development plan. Conditon 8 of the approval decision notes that all listed buildings within the boundary of the potential development should be retained and incorporated as part of any development. 05/00047/COPP

31 July 2014: External inspection finds the building remains in much the same condition as seen previously. An application for approval required by conditions is being sought for the erection of 54 dwellings along with associated works to included the re-profiling and stabilising of the cliff face. The restoration and re-use of the property is noted within the current application ref: 13/01684/ARC.

24 April 2019: External inspection reveals no significant change from previous visit. Garden has been cleared but no work has been undertaken on the house. No sign of large development mentioned in previous update.

3 May 2024: Desk-based assessment suggests the building remains At-Risk.