Shoe shop stuck in time for 70 years to be restored
The Soutar's Shop has remained largely untouched for seven decades
- Published
Repair work will start next year on a 128-year-old Aberdeenshire shoemaker's shop left largely untouched for seven decades, which is thought to be the last surviving one of its kind.
The Soutar's Shop at Birse, near Aboyne, closed towards the end of the 1940s.
It has been described as a time capsule and still contains tools, stock and other items left there since it shut.
The category A-listed building needs repair work before it will be able to reopen to visitors.
The shop closed in the late 1940s
After years of fundraising, new grants worth more than £100,000 from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) and £74,500 from Historic Environment Scotland (HES) will allow preservation work to begin.
The Birse Community Trust (BCT) - which was donated the property - plans to reopen the shop for small tours and create an online website so people can view it from anywhere in the world.
Souter is the Scottish word for a shoemaker or cobbler.
Toni Watt from the trust said the shop was thought to be the last of its kind remaining left as it was.
"It is a magical place", she said.
"It is completely unique because it's such a small, delicate place.
"James Merchant the shoemaker started the shop in about 1897 and he carried on until he died in 1941.
"The family kept the shop for a little bit but it has been closed since the late 1940s and it wasn't until the late 1990s the remaining family realised there was this time capsule of tools and machinery just lying there, still in in the shed, untouched."
James Merchant (middle, back) opened the shop in 1897
Listed as a category A building in 2000, the Soutar's Shop is recognised as nationally significant and the only known example of its kind in Scotland.
Work set to start in 2026 will begin with removing, cataloguing and restoring items from the shop.
By February or March it is hoped investigatory work can begin on what repairs are needed to the building, with the aim of finishing by August.
Toni Watt from Birse Community Trust said the shop is a "time capsule"
Ms Watt added: "It really is a tiny little place, it is on the bend of a road.
"Because it is such a small, delicate place we are just going to do small tours to let people in.
"We are going to have a much larger digital presence and have a virtual tour which will just be magical."
HES head of grants Dr Susan O'Connor said it was a "fascinating building with an important story to tell".
"We are excited to support the trust's efforts to unlock this story with the community and the wider public," she added.
The NLHF, Aberdeenshire Council, Garfield Weston Foundation, Museums and Galleries Scotland, The Strathmartine Trust and individuals have contributed to the project.
It is hoped the shop will be ready to open to visitors in 2026