Township (Scotland)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In northern and western areas of Scotland, many people live in small crofting townships such as here on the Isle of Skye.

In the Highlands and Islands of Scotland a crofting township is a group of agricultural smallholdings (each with its own few hectares of pasture and arable land (in-bye land)) holding in common a substantial tract of unimproved upland grazing. Like older Scottish landmeasurements, such as the davoch, quarterland and oxgang, the extent of a township often varies according to the quality of the land it is on, and this can range from a hundred to a few thousand hectares.

Each Crofting Township comprises a formal legal unit.

There is often a substantial tract of unimproved upland common grazing - known as a "shieling" or "àirigh" which is held in common. This tends to be used in the summer, but with the advent of fertilisers it is often used in colder times as well.

[edit] References

This article does not cite any references or sources. (May 2007)
Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed.