Oblique aerial view of the crofting township and field-system with farmstead adjacent taken from the WSW.

Description Oblique aerial view of the crofting township and field-system with farmstead adjacent taken from the WSW.

Date 10/4/2003

Collection RCAHMS Aerial Photography

Catalogue Number SC 1699305

Category On-line Digital Images

Copy of E 35357 CN

Scope and Content Cleadale Township from west, Eigg, Small Isles, Highland Eigg is one of the Small Isles along with Canna, Rum and Muck. It lies 16km off the west coast of Scotland and has been inhabited since at least Neolithic times (c.4000-2500 BC). The island was bought in 1997 by its residents in conjunction with the Scottish Wildlife Trust and the Highland Council. This shows the sheer cliffs of Beinn Bhuidhe (top) towering over the crofting township of Cleadale below. The irregular lines of pre-improvement field boundaries dating from the 18th century can be seen below the rigid strips allotted to the crofters by their landlords in 1809. Crofters used the rocky ground to keep a small number of animals and grew crops like potatoes, kale and oats on the more fertile land nearer the sea. With tenants restricted to their strips, wealthy landowners could use more of their land to graze sheep, which proved much more profitable than the crofting rents. Source: RCAHMS contribution to SCRAN.

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/collection/1699305

File Format (TIF) Tagged Image File Format bitmap