Cromarty House - c1918
This shows the Big House in good repair, and being used as a social focal point. There is a tennis court on the lawn, and cricket matches used to be played in the field behind the photographer, often against crews from ships in the firth. Another view can be seen on picture #254.
Albums: Buildings
Groups: Cromarty House and Gardens
4 Comments
Were the two wings blocked off? Why are the windows and doors bricked up?
Comment left on 22 June 2009 at 21:37 by Kirsten Fleetwood
I'm not sure if this is the case for Cromarty house but many big houses bricked over windows to avoid paying tax. In 1696, William III of England introduced a type of property tax that required owners of houses with more than six windows to pay a levy. This tax persisted for over 150 years until 1851. You can still see many older houses in the UK which have windows bricked up to reduce the window total to six or under, which was a legitimate way of avoiding the tax.
Comment left on 24 June 2009 at 14:39 by Fiona Feilberg
Thanks Fiona. I knew about the window tax but not the dates. I've seen lots of old houses with one or two windows blocked off in order to avoid the window tax, but it seems odd to block off all the windows in both wings. Maybe the house's owners were either skint or very mean! Horrible tax, anyway, don't you think?
Comment left on 24 June 2009 at 21:26 by Kirsten Fleetwood
Guess there is always another way to tax people! Another interesting fact is that this may have been the source of the phrase 'daylight robbery'.
Comment left on 25 June 2009 at 09:59 by Fiona Feilberg
Comment left on 25 June 2009 at 09:59 by Fiona Feilberg
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