Harbour Loft in Portsoy | Portsoy Sail Loft
Skip to content
Loading...
Sail Loft Story
Sail Loft Story
Sail Loft Story
Sail Loft Story
ptn-admin
2025-09-17T17:47:32+01:00
Step inside Portsoy’s seafaring past at the Sail Loft
Set on the shoreline of Links Bay on the beautiful Moray Coast, the buildings which make up the Sail Loft bunkhouse were once a vital part of the north east’s maritime heritage.
Dating back to the 1700s, the Sail Loft comprises of a former sail making loft, a finely detailed Georgian house and two associated cottages. The buildings are listed as Category B (of regional importance) by Historic Environment Scotland.
The Sail Loft is in an area called Back Green, which was used as an industrial site for the manufacture of thread for flax. The flax was bleached using the water from the nearby burn and is where Back Green got its name as the former ‘bleaching green’. The finished thread was then exported to Nottingham and Leicester.
By the early 1800’s, two groups of buildings were contained in the site, one providing rope making and the other manufacturing sails. Whilst the rope works fell into decline and were lost to the sea, the former sail making factory, house and cottages continued. Three generations of the Nicol/Peterkin family operated the rope and sail making businesses from the buildings at Back Green. After the sail making closed, the family continued to live in the cottages as a small holding, with a dairy operated in other areas of the building.
In 2006, North East Scotland Preservation Trust acquired the former buildings from Seafield Estate and, in partnership with Portsoy Community Enterprise, restored and converted them into coastal accommodation. The £2 million project received funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, Coastal Communities Fund, and Historic Environment Scotland (via the Portsoy CARS). Loan funding for the construction phase was provided by the Architectural Heritage Fund. The Sail Loft was opened in 2017 by HRH King Charles and is managed by Portsoy Community Enterprise, which also organises the annual Scottish Traditional Boat Festival and operates The Salmon Bothy, The Boatshed and Portsoy Links Caravan Park.
Page load link
Go to Top