What work is being done at Harry Kelly's Cottage?

Extensive conservation work is being undertaken on a 19th century cottage in the south of the Isle of Man - but why, and what is the cottage's history?

Manx National Heritage is carrying out the work at Harry Kelly's Cottage in Cregneash following damage to the building's thatched roof caused by heavy rainfall.

Connie Lovel, executive director of Manx National Heritage, said: "Harry Kelly's Cottage is one of the Isle of Man's most historic buildings and a cornerstone of Cregneash."

But what makes the cottage so special and what exactly is the work being undertaken?

A registered ancient monument, Harry Kelly's cottage is one of only a handful of traditionally thatched dwellings surviving on the island.

They are particularly significant for retaining the roof structure of straw laid over a base of thinly cut turf, known as scraa.

Believed to date back to the 1830s, the property is recognised for its association with Harry Kelly, a renowned Manx speaker.

After his death in 1935, his family donated the cottage to the Manx Museum Trustees in 1938, establishing Cregneash as the first open air folk museum in the British Isles.

A renowned speaker and teacher of the Manx language, Harry Kelly spent much of his life as a Cregneash crofter, going fishing in the summer months and earning his living in a variety of ways in the winter.

From the age of seven, he worked in the fields of Cregneash at harvest time, and by 13 he left school to work as a cook at sea.

He worked at sea for 40 years, having become a full crew member when he was 16.

Typical of Manx fishermen at the time, he had extensive knowledge of the area, and was steeped in the traditions and superstitions of his trade, the iMuseum notes.

He had told a Manx language researcher that while he had learned Manx hearing his parents talking to each other, he only gained "complete mastery" of it when he went to sea.

In 1929, Norwegian linguistics professor Dr Carl Johan Sverdrup Marstrander traveled to Cregneash to meet Kelly, having heard of his expertise as a Manx speaker.

Having tested his proficiency of the language and, in a bid to preserve it, Marstrander documented Kelly speaking.

Although only some of those recordings remain, the Norwegian government donated transcriptions of them to the Manx Museum in 1953.

Lovel said that damage "caused by recent adverse weather highlights how vulnerable these rare thatched structures are," but added that "by acting quickly, we can protect the cottage and its interior".

Currently, comprehensive scaffolding surrounds the cottage, which has been put in place to provide safe access to all areas of the building and aims to allow work to continue regardless of weather conditions.

Repairs to cracked masonry and the chimney stack are also being completed before re-thatching will begin.

Although the building material highlights the building's historic and cultural value, it makes the roof vulnerable, as should the roof lose its weatherproofing, rainwater can turn the scraa into mud, Manx National Heritage has said.

Full re-thatching of the cottage is scheduled to be completed over spring, when visitors will have the opportunity to watch craftsmen at work, using traditional methods to restore the building.

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