About
Session Cottage is a two-room but and ben on Castle Street in Turriff, around two hundred and fifty years old, furnished throughout as the home of an ordinary Aberdeenshire household of about a century ago. It was the first project undertaken by the Turriff and District Heritage Society, which fitted the cottage out and opened it to the public in the 1980s, and it has been shown that way ever since.
The but and ben is the classic small Scottish dwelling: two rooms end to end, the but the outer room used as kitchen and general living space, the ben the inner room kept for sleeping and for best. Most families in rural Scotland lived in accommodation of this size and layout well into the twentieth century, and yet almost none survive furnished and open to view, because such houses were either demolished, extended out of recognition or absorbed into larger properties. That is what makes the cottage worth the visit — not any single rare object, but the completeness of an ordinary interior that has otherwise almost entirely disappeared.
The collection concentrates on social and domestic history, with furniture, furnishings, household equipment, some clothing and personal possessions belonging to inhabitants of Turriff in the years around 1880 to 1900. Presented in place rather than in cases, these objects explain themselves: the arrangement of a range and its cooking irons, the placing of a box bed, the storage of food and clothing in a house with no fitted anything, and the sheer amount of labour that keeping such a home in order demanded. Visitors who have seen the same objects behind glass elsewhere generally find them far more legible here.
Session Cottage is a separate site from the Turriff Museum and Heritage Centre, which is run by the same society in a different building and covers the town's broader history. The two complement each other rather than overlapping. The cottage opens on a limited seasonal pattern with several months available by appointment only, and it is closed from mid October until the end of April, so contacting the society before travelling is essential.
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Plan Your Visit
⏱️ Recommended Visit Duration
💡 Visitor Tips
- Opening varies month by month and much of the season is by appointment — contact the Turriff and District Heritage Society before travelling.
- The cottage is closed from mid October until the end of April.
- In July it opens daily 2pm to 4pm; in June it opens Saturdays and Sundays 2pm to 6pm.
- August arrangements are not published, so ask the society directly if you are planning a summer visit.
- No admission charge is published, but bring a donation for the volunteers who maintain the cottage.
- The cottage is small and low, and cannot be made wheelchair accessible — contact the society to discuss what is possible.
- Ask the volunteer showing you round whose possessions you are looking at; the provenance is often well known locally.
- Combine the visit with Turriff Museum and Heritage Centre nearby, run by the same society but covering the town's wider history.
Highlights
A Complete But and Ben Interior
The cottage is a but and ben — two rooms end to end, the but serving as kitchen and living space and the ben kept for sleeping and for best — furnished throughout as the home of an ordinary household of about a century ago. Most rural Scots lived in accommodation of exactly this size and plan well into the twentieth century, and yet almost none survive intact and furnished, having been demolished, extended or absorbed into larger houses.
It is the completeness of the interior rather than any individual object that makes the cottage significant.
Two Hundred and Fifty Years Old
The building itself dates back roughly two and a half centuries, which places its construction in the later eighteenth century — the era in which the agricultural improvements were remaking the Aberdeenshire countryside and the pattern of rural settlement now visible was being laid down.
Vernacular buildings of that date rarely survive in towns, where pressure to rebuild is greatest, so the cottage's persistence on Castle Street in the middle of Turriff is itself unusual and gives the collection a genuinely old container.
Furnished to About 1900
The interior is presented as it would have appeared around the turn of the twentieth century, with the collection concentrating on the years roughly 1880 to 1900. Choosing a specific date rather than assembling a general impression of 'the old days' is the right decision and much the harder one, because it forces consistency across every object in the room and rules out anachronisms that a vaguer approach would let through.
The result is a coherent single moment rather than a collage of periods.
Household Equipment in Place
The collection includes the furniture, furnishings and household equipment of an ordinary Turriff home, and the crucial point is that it is displayed in position rather than in cases. Cooking irons beside a range, storage where storage actually was, and beds where beds actually stood explain themselves in a way that the identical objects behind glass in a larger museum never manage.
Visitors quickly grasp how much physical labour keeping such a house involved, and how little of what a modern household takes for granted was fitted, plumbed or powered.
Collections
Session Cottage is a two-room but and ben on Castle Street in Turriff, around 250 years old, furnished throughout as the home of an ordinary Aberdeenshire household of about a century ago. The collection concentrates on social and domestic history, comprising furniture, furnishings, household equipment, some clothing and personal possessions belonging to inhabitants of Turriff in the years around 1880 to 1900, presented in position within the rooms rather than in display cases.
The cottage was the first project of the Turriff and District Heritage Society, which fitted it out and opened it to the public in the 1980s.
It is a separate site from the society's Turriff Museum and Heritage Centre, which occupies a different building and covers the town's broader history. Opening is limited and seasonal, with several months available by appointment only, and the cottage is closed from mid October to the end of April.
The Furnished Cottage
The but and ben presented as a working Aberdeenshire home of about 1900, with furniture, household equipment and personal possessions in position.
Turriff Domestic Life, 1880-1900
Clothing, furnishings and personal effects belonging to identifiable inhabitants of the town in the closing decades of the nineteenth century.
Themes
Time Periods
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.