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Mina Villa As
previously indicated, the need for extra teaching space at Miller necessitated
the use of Mina Villa, a substantial house to the west of the school and lying
in extensive grounds near to the station. I
am told that the house was called Mina Villa after the owner’s wife,
Williamina. Research in the
censuses for 1871 and 1881 indicated the occupants to be a Tait family.
In the census of 1881 William Tait, a widower, and his daughter
Williamina, along with servants were in the house called Mina Villa.
In the 1871 census the house appears under the name of Shrubbery Lane
House with 6 year old Williamina and servants in residence.
Neither father nor mother were there at the time of the census.
The ordnance survey map of 1872 shows the house with no name but a little
distance away is Shrubbery Bank while the 1906 map shows the name Lovers Lane
running outside the Mina Villa grounds. It
seems likely that the name of the house was changed from Shrubbery Lane House to
Mina Villa and possibly on the death of Williamina Tait.
In the 1878-79 valuation roll for Thurso, the owner of the house is given
as William Reid Tait, Civil Engineer and Factor to the Murkle Estate.
He owned a considerable amount of other property including, at least,
part of the Pavement Yard, Thurso occupied by the Caithness Flagstone Quarrying
Company. In the valuation roll the
entry states, ‘ Mina Villa Garden
Grounds, Offices and Grass Park adjoining.’
William Reid Tait was a member of the first Thurso Parish Schools’
Board formed in 1873. On
first examination of the maps and census records the name of Shrubbery Lane
House caused some confusion. The
writing in the 1871 census was unclear and it was at first difficult to tell
exactly which house reference was being made.
A reference to a property and owner in the notes on the 1872 Ordnance
Survey map contains the following entry;- ‘This
name (Shrubbery Bank) applies to a
dwelling house, small steading and garden attached in good repair.
The property of Sir T Sinclair, Bart.’ This
entry at first appeared to refer to Shrubbery Lane House but further research
indicated that a house at Shrubberybank, and named Shrubberybank House, was
being described. It would therefore
appear that within the area which is now the school grounds there was a house,
later re-named Mina Villa, called Shrubbery Lane House while just outside the
south eastern boundary was situated Shrubberybank House. Shrubberybank
House is to be found in the censuses taken in 1841, 1851 and 1861.
In the valuation rolls of 1878 and later rolls up to about the 1950s it
is recorded and is mentioned by Donald Grant in his ‘Thurso Events’ in an
article on the visit of the Prince and Princess of Wales to Thurso in 1876.
In 1841 this house was occupied by Will Wilson, aged 80 years, and of
independent means. It is possible
he was the Chief Magistrate in Thurso in 1833 and mentioned by Donald Grant in
his book ‘Old Thurso’. He was
there with his sister Ann and three other family members.
Ten years later the occupant was Peter Wilson who was described as the
Commissariat Clerk to the Commissary of Caithness.
By 1861 the occupier had again changed to the Williamson family of
Banniskirk and headed by Catherine Williamson.
She is described, along with her daughters, as fund-holders - presumably
of private means. This house was
situated on the edge of the steep drop to the river and close to the old Mina
Villa boundary and, as noted above, close to the present school playground
boundary. The present house on the
site is Camfield, built in 1891, this name appearing in the mid-20th
century. It would appear that it
was constructed to replace the former dwelling in the late Victorian period and
continued as Shrubberybank House until the name was changed by one of the
owners, Mr McConnell. He named the
house after the home of authoress Barbara Cartland who lived in a property
called Camfield Place. The
ground on which Shrubberybank was built belonged to Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster
and was sold to the Innes family of Reay in 1800.
Copies of title deeds supplied by Mr and Mrs Sutherland of Camfield show
that the ground, and presumably the dwelling built thereon, changed hands a
number of times in the 19th century.
Those deeds also indicate that the area was the site of the ‘Mill of
Ormly’, houses and offices, mill yard and cornfield.
In
1891 the occupier, and presumably owner, of Mina Villa was still the Tait
family. William, by then aged 65
years, and his 25 year old daughter were in residence at the time of the census.
Mr Tait, the son of Andrew Tait and Christine Paterson, died in February
1897 at Mina Villa and was at that time still described as ‘Factor for Murkle’.
Just outwith his ‘garden’ wall the new house of Shrubberybank was
being constructed. The
1872 ordnance survey map, reproduced by permission of the Trustees of the
National Library of Scotland, shows
Mina Villa separated from a large field by some sort of less than substantial
boundary. Within the area of the
property there is a similar boundary separating what may be a garden area from a
paddock. To the Princes Street side
of the Villa grounds, at that time called Ulbster Place, there are some trees
but the rest of the area within what is now the present school playground is
shown as treeless. The boundary
wall with Ulbster Terrace turns up in the direction of the foot of the present
Castlegreen Road. This corner of
the grounds was rounded by the time of the 1906 ordnance survey map creating a
more open entrance to the railway station.
It is probable that the alteration to the wall took place at the time of
the arrival of the railway in Thurso in 1874 or shortly afterwards.
The
1872 map clearly shows the shape of the original Miller building.
Nearby in the vacant ground, later to be the site of the Station Hotel,
is a well. Closer to the River
Thurso can be seen the Thurso bowling green before its removal to Millbank.
Janet Street is not yet shown complete and a later additional entry to
the Miller Institution is not in evidence.
Pupils at this time still proceeded along Sinclair Street to school. The
1906 map shows Mina Villa in its extensive grounds and with garden areas.
Unlike the map of 1872 the area is shown as fairly heavily treed from the
front of the Villa down to Janet Street and along the Janet Street boundary wall
and taking up an area approximately two thirds of the distance across the
present playground. There is also a substantial row of trees indicated around
the edge of what is now the grass area behind the toilet block and Nursery
demountable classroom. The trees
around the boundary are still to be found but the trees within the rest of the
property in this area were removed to provide the school playing fields.
There are a few trees shown to the Princes Street side of the property,
behind the house, but those seem less in number than at present, though it is
known that there were rather more trees there for a time in the first half of
the 20th Century. The
first indication of the plan to remove trees at Mina Villa is in 1930 when a Mrs
Boase of Shrubbery Bank wrote to the Thurso Schools’ Management Committee
objecting to the plan to remove the trees at Mina Villa.
The Committee pointed out that it would be necessary to remove trees to
make a playground at Miller Institution but that a fringe would be left.
Soon afterwards the scale of planned felling became obvious when the
Committee were told that 82 trees should be removed.
The trees to go were marked and indicated on a plan by Rector Ironside.
It was also said at this time that all inside dividing walls in the area
should be removed and the dividing walls at Janet Street and Princes Street
bounding Mr Wilson’s premises should be raised in height.
At
the October meeting of the Miller Institution Committee only the planned work on
the trees was approved and a day later the full Thurso Committee decided not to
proceed with felling meantime. This
decision was backed by the Education Authority at the November meeting.
The trees did eventually come down as planned in 1932 to make way for
both the playing fields and the new school.
I
am told by James Wilson that the biggest and most impressive copper beech in
Caithness was removed from the grounds. John
Dallas adds that the heavily treed garden with its long grass was a fertile
ground for many hedgehogs. Mr
Wilson also informed me that the present fairly high wall between the gate and
Lovers Lane continued in a straight line at that height as far as the entrance
to the rear of what is now Bain and Gibson’s shop.
This wall had loose coping stones and those, along with some other
courses, were knocked down in a minor gang warfare!
The gate, now set back within two curved sections of wall, was at that
time within this straight section of boundary wall. From
the 1906 map it is clear that the
entrance to the present school is closer to the site of Mina Villa than the
entrance drive shown here in 1906. There
is no obvious sign on the ground of this former driveway into the Villa.
The new driveway was approved at a meeting of the Caithness County
Council Education Committee in 1936 along with an offer of £427 10s from
William Tawse Ltd for the completion of the work.
This price included the tarring of the terrace in front of the new
building.
There
are lines on the map indicating barriers to the rear of the 1862 and 1900
buildings and these demarcate the
separation line between boys and girls playgrounds. The small buildings in those
playgrounds, which had brick red coloured doors, were the toilet facilities for
the boys and girls.
This
map does not show the original horse and gig gateway situated in the uppermost
left corner of the Mina Villa grounds. The
pillars for this gateway can still be seen though there is now a tree just
beside one of the pillars which might not have been there when the gate was in
use. The map does indicate the
tight, slightly greater than 90°,
corner at the lower left hand side of the property which was removed to make a
gentle and more easily negotiated corner. It
is said that the corner was initially removed to allow large vehicles, at the
time of Dounreay construction, to take this route through the town and that up
to half a dozen trees had to be removed. I
believe further changes may have been made to the corner and wall in more recent
times and certainly the pavement line has been more recently altered. Over
the years there have been many repairs and alterations carried out to the Janet
Street and Lovers Lane walls. Highland
Omnibuses have ‘punched’, and repaired, a number of holes in the boundary
wall and just two years ago a bus almost entered the playground through a large
hole made by itself! This
early 20th century map shows many changes in the area of the school
from the first ordnance survey. Springbank
House on Janet Street is now clearly visible, Janet Street is complete and
Princes Street much changed. There
is record of a Springbank Villa, in valuation rolls, before the time of the
building of the present property but no indication on the 1872 map of a house at
the location of the present property. The
footpath up to the Miller Institution from Janet Street and the Mall is clearly
shown on the 1906 map. Photographs of about that time show it to be a stone,
wall lined lane with the wall being about eight feet on one side and of similar
construction but of half the height on the other boundary.
The
area where Mina Villa stood is now the school car park but photographs show the
Villa as an impressive building
that should probably have been preserved. On
the wall separating the present school playground and Lovers Lane it is still
possible to see the outline of what was clearly a gardener’s gate leading out
from the grounds. The gate appears
to be low in height but this is due to the progressive building up over the
years of the road level in Lovers Lane.
The
building continued in use until the 1970s and was, if I remember correctly, used
for some art classes when I taught in the school in 1971.
Heather Sinclair (nee MacLean) entered school as an Easter entrant in
1970 at the time when two entrance dates to school operated.
Heather got her first taste of school from Mrs Mackay in a large room in
Mina Villa before she moved into the demountable classroom now occupied by the
Three Bears Nursery. At that time
there were three Primary one classes and an intake of around 90 children.
The room in Mina Villa used for the Easter intake later became a TV room. The
ground around Mina Villa was clearly a super play area for pupils.
Anne Baird describes the time she spent creeping around the outside of
the Villa with friends telling each other creepy stories – ‘We
really believed it to be haunted and full of dead people,’ she says.
She recalls a red cross in one of the upstairs windows which only goes to
prove that the Red Cross were one of the many groups that used the building.
The trees behind were a fertile ground for the imagination and no doubt
the children’s name for that area, Ravens’ Wood, added to the mystery.
Fiona Matthews also remembers a haunted Mina Villa but no classes in it
in her time, she thinks. Since she
was in the school from 1975 to 1982 it is likely that in her memory it was more
or less deserted since in her early years she would have been a pupil in the
infant classrooms at Janet Street and generally playing in that area.
Another pupil enjoying the surrounds of the Villa was Grant Coghill who
practised his running in races round the building.
No doubt the efforts proved valuable as he became school sports champion. The
demolition of the building took place in 1978 and it is doubtful if it would
have been allowed to happen today. It
was a wonderful piece of architecture and though requiring internal work and
some external renovation it had some years of useful life left.
As early as April 1932, in discussions regarding the future of the
building, a Thurso School Management Committee member, Mr D. C. Campbell, said
when demolition was proposed, ‘It
is sheer vandalism.’ Later
he put forward the view that Mina Villa should be utilised as a hostel or as a
place for visitors as the interests of the town as a health resort demanded the
existence of Mina Villa. In
the school log, at the start of session 1978-79,
the removal of the Villa is reported by the Head Teacher, Mr McIvor.
He states, ‘Mina Villa
demolition completed during the summer vacation and area now ready for
tarmacadam, exit points and car parking space.’
The
picture below shows Miss Anderson and Mrs Gunn in front of Mina Villa with their
classes and it is possible to see something of the elegance of the stonework
from this photograph. Though a very
old building the structure was one which could stand improvement and renovation
under the correct circumstances. Lack
of resources for local authority premises, the need for playground and parking
space and its location within the school grounds must have all been influential
in it being declared surplus to requirements.
The
school log entry of 12th October 1928 records the taking over of the
Villa and indicates that a re-arrangement of rooms throughout the school took
place. A new timetable came into
operation and the extra rooms allowed the much needed two science rooms and
science sections to be run at one and the same time. The
purchase and transfer of Mina Villa was
not without a little controversy. The
John O’ Groat Journal of 17th
August 1928, in a report entitled ‘Janitor
for Mina Villa,’ stated; ‘A
recommendation from Thurso S.M.C. suggested that George Macleod, Janitor of the
West Public School, Thurso, should be appointed janitor of Mina Villa, at a
salary of £40 per annum, the janitor and his wife to reside on the premises.
Mr Alex. Miller moved that they should not adopt the recommendation. They
had purchased Mina Villa for educational purposes and not for quarters for the
caretaker. Mr Coghill said the
caretaker had never asked for the quarters, but the committee thought it would
be desirable to have a man on the property – on which there was a great deal
of work to be done. In his opinion,
the committee who had to deal with the place were best fitted to make
arrangements. The recommendation
was agreed to, and it was remitted to the S.M.C. , with powers, to decide which
rooms were to be occupied by the caretaker.’ It
would also appear that at the time of the actual transfer of Mina Villa to the
school that further janitorial changes took place.
The John O’ Groat Journal of the 12th October reports an
interesting and amusing meeting of the local authority with regard to the
janitorial cover for Thurso. The
part of the report concerning Mina Villa and the Miller Institution is worth
reporting in full. ‘Mr
Alexander Angus, Janitor of Miller Academy, Thurso intimated his resignation. Mr
Coghill reported that the Thurso S.M.C. had had the matter before them and had
recommended that the present janitor at Mina Villa should take over the duties,
at an inclusive salary of £140 a year, and that the post of janitor at the West
Public School (which he present held) should be advertised. Mr
Alex. Miller moved that there be only one janitor appointed for all the Thurso
Schools, as had been done in Wick. Mr
Coghill pointed out that the Janitor also did the cleaning. Mr
Miller – His wife does the cleaning. You
don’t think that, in a democratic town like Thurso, a man is going about all
day with a “scouring cloot” in his hand? On
a division, seven voted for Mr Miller’s amendment and four for the motion.
It was therefore agreed that the janitor should act for all schools and
that cleaners be appointed for the West Public School. Provost
Asher, Thurso, brought up the question of the retiring allowance for Mr Angus,
but it was considered that a recommendation should first come from the S.M.C.’ The
fixing of Mr Angus’s retiring allowance was not long in coming as it was
reported in December 1928 that, ‘A
letter was submitted (to the Caithness Education Authority)
from the Education Department intimating consent to the award of a retiring
allowance of £1 per week to Mr Alexander Angus, ex-janitor, Thurso.’ From
the above it is clear that while at this time both the West Public School and
Mina Villa came under the supervision of the Rector of the Miller Academy there
was still a tendency to refer to those annexes as schools.
This, indeed, was probably often the perceived status of the West Public
until it became surplus to requirements in 1966. Repairs,
alterations and appointments seem to have been expedited rather more quickly in
those days than at present. In
December 1928 the John O’ Groat Journal reports a special meeting of the
Caithness Education Authority in Thurso. ‘The
monthly meeting of the Caithness Education Authority was held on Tuesday in the
Library at Miller Academy, Thurso instead of the Authority’s offices in Wick
as customary for the purpose of giving members an opportunity to inspect Mina
Villa.’ The
members of the Authority were clearly pleased with the work undertaken at their
recent acquisition. ‘After
business had been concluded the members were shown over Mina Villa by Mr McHardy,
Director of Education, and Mr T.G. Ironside, M.A., rector.
The premises, which are situated immediately behind the school, have
undergone various alterations. Three
commodious classrooms have been fitted, as well as rooms for the rector and
staff and quarters for the Janitor. All
the members expressed very great satisfaction with the alterations and several
expressed the view that the Authority had made a wise purchase when they had
bought the premises.’ The
satisfaction with Mina Villa was not long lived and by 1932 it was being
suggested that all, or part, of the building should be demolished.
A new school was in prospect and the Villa was now seen as both
unnecessary and a source of building material.
The new Thurso and District Management Committee, in January 1933, were
at odds with their predecessors who had wanted to dispense with the building.
This only a year after there had been a recommendation from the
Council’s Works committee that an expert should be employed for the laying out
of the grounds of Mina Villa and Miller Academy but no mention of the removal of
the Villa itself. The
demolition cost, it was thought, would save £700 in building materials but the
cost of demolition itself might eat into this amount.
There was also concern regarding the removal of only part of the building
and how it might affect the rest or how only part could be removed.
Suggestions that the building might in future years be required as a
Rector’s house, janitor’s house or a hostel and the observation that it
would be vandalism to destroy such a fine piece of architecture seemed to carry
some weight. The matter was eventually sent back to the Works Committee and
after a meeting between this group and the Management Committee the demolition
plan was abandoned. Throughout
the 1930s, 40s, 50s and 60s the building provided useful accommodation for the
school and was regularly used by a great variety of outside groups.
It was requisitioned in wartime and functioned as a distribution point
for passes for servicemen passing through Thurso to and from Orkney.
Some of those servicemen would also have been fed there by the ladies of
the Naval Canteen who also served refreshments in the Town Hall.
Many of those passing through would have journeyed by way of the
‘Jellicoe’train on the Thurso – London route and some recorded their
memories in the booklet ‘Passing Through’ produced by Mr A. Budge,
former Depute Head at Miller Academy, and his P7 class. Some
other groups making use of the building included the Red Cross, the Society of
Caithness Artists who had it for their Summer Exhibition of paintings and for
some years up to 1957 the Department of Agriculture had been using part of the
facility. This last group
terminated their let in that year but were able to hold onto two rooms in which
they were to store furniture. The
vacating of the premised allowed the Education Authority to proceed with
alterations required to classrooms. The
use by the Department of Agriculture with information on staffing levels is
noted in the Thurso Town Guide published about 1953. ‘To
the west of the Miller Academy is Mina Villa, formerly a private residence and
more recently part of the Miller Academy. The ground floor still provides one
class-room which is also used as a dining-room. The upper floor contains the
headquarters of the Department of Agriculture for Scotland (Northern Area) for
the four counties of Caithness, Sutherland, Orkney and Shetland. About twenty
people are employed there.’ There
was always work to do on the building. Alterations
were a regular occurrence due to the changing needs of the school but repairs
too were all too often required. In
1953, the gateway had to be built up, a fence was to be re-erected around the
Janitor’s garden and ‘Out of Bounds’ signs were required.
The cost was estimated at £20 and the go-ahead was given by the
Education Committee. Mini
Villa meant much to many people and is remembered in many of the memories
submitted. The picture below, taken
with Mina Villa in the background, is of one of the 1962-63 centenary year P7
classes, with their teacher, Elizabeth Cameron.
Back
Row: John Falconer, Ian Forbes,
David Evenden, Wm. Adamson, Trevor Shaw, Wm. McKeaveney. Middle
Row: Ian Davidson, Gordon Hodgins, Tommy Reid, Michael Rennie, David MacDonald,
Andrew Gourlay. Front Row: Mrs E. Cameron, David Seaman, Irene McBeath, Irene Munro, Helen Findlay, Irene Mackay, Mary McPhee, Peter Watt |
