Family's old possessions used to recreate Victorian farmhouse

The farmhouse, seen from the outside, is a traditional built property with a small annex with a green front door. There is a turfed roof, stone-built farm building and drystone dyke that runs from the farm building to the foreground of the image. In a small enclosure is a red and blue painted horse-drawn cart.

Boloquoy Farm was run by generations of the Fea family

Rob Flett
BBC Scotland News

Household items and personal possessions that an Orkney family held on to and refused to throw away for more than 150 years have been used to create a new period-themed visitor experience.

Clothes, documents and interior fixtures inside Boloquoy farmhouse in Sanday look almost exactly as they did in Victorian times.

Generations of the Fea family, who ran the farm, carefully looked after the items, which are now being used to create a Victorian experience and holiday retreat.

The Victorian era spanned more than 60 years during the reign of Queen Victoria, who died in 1901.

The scrapbook is open and on the pages are pictures showing paintings of a brown and white dog, roses, a child sitting on a stone wall, a cockatoo and a child standing with their arms folded and standing in a snowy street. There is writing on one of the pages and the date 1881.

Family possessions, including a scrapbook, are a feature of the restored farmhouse

The image shows a room inside the house. There are various period pieces, including a mirror in an oval frame, a chair, wooden chest of drawers and a fireplace.

The restoration work includes items stored away in boxes, bags and chests in buildings on the farm

Bill Drever, whose father married into the Fea family, spent a happy childhood at Boloquoy before training as a teacher and then moving away from the island.

Now 78, he has returned home to Orkney with his family and grandchildren to see for himself how the farmhouse has been returned to what it would have been like in the 1880s.

He said: "I remember these ceilings being covered in layer upon layer of paper.

"Now the beams are exposed and there is an exact replica of the cast iron range my grandfather installed in 1889.

"The room still has a cosy feel to it, and there's a dash of elegance it didn't have before. It's a pleasure to see it."

Bill Drever and his wife Winifred sit on chairs outside the farmhouse. Behind them are some of their grown-up children and their spouses and halso their grandchildren.

Bill Drever, his wife Winifred and their family have returned to Boloquoy to see the restoration for themselves.

The farmhouse has been restored by its new owners - Jackie Sinclair and Dave Walker, who run a holiday business. They have almost entirely used original period pieces found around the house and outbuildings.

The items have been cleaned up and put back in their rightful place in the farmhouse.

The restoration work has taken two years.

Jackie said when they started the project they had no idea they were uncovering a historic family archive.

She said: "When we took over the house we started emptying out the barns, the byres and the lofts."

The possessions were in boxes, bags and chests called kists.

"It had all been packed away in case it came in handy," Jackie said. "There were even bundles of feathers tightly wrapped together to use as feather dusters. Nothing was wasted."

"We've taken it all out and we've got nearly everything the family would have had around them in their parlour in the late 19th Century."

Two bundles of feathers tied with string are placed on top of a wooden kitchen unit which also has two enamel jugs, an enamel bowl and an earthenware jug.

Bundles of feathers tightly tied together were kept for use as feather dusters

Jackie has white hair, and strands of it are lifted from her head by a breeze. She is wearing dark rimmed glasses and is smiling. She has a brown cardigan over a top with a floral pattern. She is standing outdoors next to an ivy bush.

Jackie Sinclair said a family archive was uncovered at the farm

Jackie said the restoration had the blessing of the Fea family.

She said: "For the family to be pleased with it means a huge amount to us. Spending time with these objects and stories has made us feel really attached to Bill's ancestors who used to live here."

Dave is standing inside the room with a wooden-framed mirror. He has brown hair and a beard, with strands of grey in it. He is wearing a tweed coast over a light brown shirt. He is smiling as he looks into the camera.

Dave Walker said the farm was part of Sanday's heritage

Jackie and Dave originally saw potential for Boloquoy as a quirky holiday let for their business, Orkney Retreats.

But now Dave said their ambition had grown.

He said: "Renovating the house is only stage one.

"Phase two is renovating the water mill down by the shore with a renewable energy theme.

"Then we'd like to renovate the outbuildings where people can try heritage crafts and see farm implements, which we will use for demonstrations."

Income generated by visitors' stays at the farmhouse will create a sustainable source of funding to continue this work.

Dave said: "This is all part of Sanday's heritage and we can't afford to lose it."

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