Settlements Please choose one ADMINISTRATION AGRICULTURAL BUILDINGS COMMUNICATIONS CONFLICT CULTIVATION ENCLOSURES ENERGY EXTRACTION FLOODING GRAZINGS HOUSING KNOWLEDGE LEISURE MANUFACTURE PERCEPTION SETTLEMENTS TRADES Pre-Improvement Villages Planned villages and towns Industrial New settlement Crofting settlement, North Tolsta, Lewis, Western Isles The crofting settlements of the north-west Highlands and Islands were the product of radical change. Most were created in the late 18th and 19th centuries, as inland areas were turned over to extensive sheep farms. Those displaced by these changes either emigrated or turned to burning kelp – a seaweed, used to make an important industrial chemical. Others were expected to take up fishing. The new crofting townships were laid out in a more or less regular fashion, with a small plot of land, house and outbuildings. Further afield there were common grazings. The buildings in the left foreground are part of the original settlement which was started in the 1820s. Most of those beyond are part of a later re-building, probably after the 1884 Napier Commission Report, which set better conditions for the crofting community. Resource pack   1     2     3     4