Print

MHG64652 - Pre-crofting settlement - Harrapool

Summary

Pre-crofting settlement to the south of Harrapool, Skye.

Type and Period (3)

Protected Status

Full Description

Pre-crofting settlement to the south of Harrapool, Skye.

A township comprising eleven unroofed buildings, four enclosures and a sheep wash is depicted on the current edition of the OS 1:10560 map (1968). Two unroofed buildings are shown on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Inverness-shire, Isle of Skye 1881, sheet xlvi).
Information from RCAHMS (SAH) 3 December 1996

In the 1760s Sir James Macdonald, the chief of Clan Macdonald, commissioned a surveyor, Matthew Stobie, to produce a map of his whole estate at Strath. Over two years, Stobie produced five area maps. In the Harrapool Map, the line going up the middle is the join between two sheets of the original paper. Stobie shows the boundaries of each township, the area of cultivated ground and also buildings. The runrig system of farming by a group of joint tenants was the norm at this date and the pattern of the areas of cultivated ground show this very well. The map also shows the original line of the road along the shore. A number of areas of settlement and/or farmsteads are shown. <1>

In 1799 Lord Macdonald commissioned John Blackadder to survey his estate at Strath and to write a report about it. Blackadder returned 10 years later when Lord Macdonald had decided to change the runrig system on his estate to crofting. Blackadder produced a series of maps usually with at least one map for each township. He showed the existing land (arable, pasture etc) as colour washes, and also most of the settlement. He then added the layout of the new crofts in red ink. It is noticeable that the new crofts usually did not incorporate all the arable land in each township and in Harrapool most of the former areas of settlement and farmstead were excluded from the new crofts. The boundary of the new regular crofting township of Harrapool is shown on Blackadder's map to include the whole area of the former runrig system township with its more dispersed settlement pattern but the crofts themselves were now all focused on the area immediately adjacent to the coast to the north, where the previous survey by Matthew Scobie in 1766 had shown relatively little actual settlement. <2>

NG 648 223 - NG 662 215 As a follow-up to the survey undertaken by ACFA in the Broadford to Ord area, in 1995 a detailed field survey was undertaken by students in the 2nd year of the Glasgow University Certificate in Field Archaeology course, in the hinterland to the south of Harrapool and southwest of Skulamus. Over fifty rectangular to sub-rectangular buildings were recorded, varying in building material from turf to stone, together with associated small enclosures, field banks, rig cultivation and sheep-washes, indicative of pre- and post-clearance land use. <3> [Probably included within the survey area - IS-L 15/09/2025]

The boundaries of the original township can still be traced in modern vertical aerial photography and these include both dykes and water courses, as can areas of settlement (see also MHG6367 and MHG18226) and cultivation which have all been left relatively undisturbed since the formation of the crofting township to the north. These can be compared very easily with Stobie's 1766 map, which shows how accurate a survey it was. The largest area of settlement is centered at roughly NGR 165259 822220 with numerous buildings, some with attached small enclosures and probably kaleyards. This area is shown by both Stobie and Blackadder but is even more extensive and may represent several phases of creation and abandonment. <4> <5> <6>

Sources/Archives (6)

Map

Location

Grid reference	Centred NG 6525 2218 (545m by 326m) (2 map features)
Map sheet	NG62SE
Geographical Area	SKYE AND LOCHALSH
Civil Parish	STRATH

Finds (0)

Related Monuments/Buildings (1)

Related Investigations/Events (1)

External Links (1)