GRAZINGS Please choose one ADMINISTRATION AGRICULTURAL BUILDINGS COMMUNICATIONS CONFLICT CULTIVATION ENCLOSURES ENERGY EXTRACTION FLOODING GRAZINGS HOUSING KNOWLEDGE LEISURE MANUFACTURE PERCEPTION SETTLEMENTS TRADES Shielings Hill and marginal grazings Droving Clearance for livestock Sheep, shelters etc Crofts, Aird of Sleat, Skye, Inverness-shire When Highland and Island settlements were cleared for sheep farming, some of the displaced population was re-housed on small plots of land known as crofts. Initially, one reason for doing so was the income to be had from harvesting and burning kelp (seaweed), as a raw material in the chemical industry. Once the price of this collapsed, there was less incentive to keep a large population, but the settlements remained. Further evictions and subsequent discontent prompted a government enquiry, the Napier Commission. Its report, adopted in 1886 as the Crofters' Holdings Act, guaranteed security of tenure, fair rents and rights to inherit holdings. The patterns set by the 1886 Act have remained to this day. Most crofters, unable to make a living solely from these small holdings, have supplementary jobs in other activities. Resource pack   1     2     3