Melness, a Crofting Community on the North Coast of Sutherland"

Dr. James Coull
Scottish Studies, 7, (1963).

Used by Kind Permission of Dr Coull

Achininver also has its three houses in a cluster, on a terrace at about 25 feet O.D. above the low-lying delta flat on which is most of its arable land; and in the strath the houses are attached to the crofts but are fairly well dispersed. The soils of the Melness crofts are nearly all more or less peaty and thin; the material overlying bedrock is generally a thin veneer of gravelly boulder clay, in which a shallow hard pan has formed. In the more broken terrain at the north end, part of the old arable was on more or less pure peat in hollows, and was formerly cultivated in lazybeds, but these have now been abandoned. The lowest lying part of the old delta at Achininver is very wet and has been left in lazy-beds, but the remainder gives a deep (if rather sandy) soil which is the best in the district. In the Strath, croft land is mainly on terrace gravels which are fairly well drained, if rather stony. Most of the croft land has never been artificially drained, although with the help of Crofters Commission grants, drainage has improved some of the land recently.

Where the land is still actively worked, it is 'now coming more or less into a six-course rotation, although there are often more than three consecutive years of grass between the crop of oats, potatoes and oats. Much of the hay now cut was seeded down several years ago, or may indeed come from natural grass. It is cut in late August and September for hay, and half a dozen crofters are now overcoming the uncertain autumn weather by putting it up on tripods and fences.

Contact Iain on E-Mail @

Email Iain

Copyright rests with Dr Coull - Design © Iain Morrison 2005 - 2006 - All Rights Reserved.