During 1933, Mr John Brownlie Bain, stood at the door of a cottage once in the ownership of his family in Barnhill to mark an approaching important occasion. The cottage had been there nearly 400 years, the date on the lintel painted on as “1536”. Brownlie Cottage sits across from the then Barnhill Tavern, at Barnhill. The Brownlie family had owned the cottage for much of this time.
John was the older brother of Aggie Bain, whom in 1933, lived at this cottage. Aggie was brought up by her aunt Marion Brownlie, who passed the cottage to Aggie, following her death in 1919.
Brownlie cottage, or Aggie Bains Cottage incredibly is well on its way to becoming 500 years old and should it still be standing, will be an incredible half a millennium old in 2036.The cottage for many years was presumed to be the oldest inhabited property in Blantyre, although has recently relinquished that title to the renovated Crossbasket Tower in 2015. The beautiful cottage is still there today and is now officially called Bardykes Cottage.
The Barnhill Tavern, now the Hoolets Public House is thought to be the oldest Public House in Blantyre dating to around 1701 (previously thought to be 1745), although it should be noted, it was rebuilt at the start of the early 20th Century.
I’ve uploaded the high resolution image for the first time online.
