Monument record MHG54536 - Skye, Sgeir Claigan

RCAHMS Canmore description:
There are three old, stone field drains in the SE corner of ‘Tin Shed Field’ field. The first is approximately 120m N of the boundary ditch running along the S boundary of the field. It runs parallel to the ditch and can be traced for approximately 100m. The second and third drains run at angles of 45 degrees into this ditch, joining it approximately 50m and 80m W of the SE corner of the field. About 70m S of the boundary ditch (in the neighbouring field) two further short lengths of drain can be followed, aligned WSW and SE from NG23529 54299.

Around 1811 the 24th Chief, John Norman MacLeod, took Claigan Farm into his own hands and began a program of agricultural improvements. As part of his scheme of improvements, he spent around £3000 on drainage. In the 1840s to alleviate the effects of the potato famine, the 25th Chief, Norman MacLeod borrowed £3000 under the Drainage Act, £50 of which was spent on Claigan. Stone field drains were made in the arable land, some still functional today. The surveyed drains lie in the arable land belonging to Claigan Farm and are thought to date from these nineteenth century drainage schemes. Source: ‘The Book of Dunvegan’ (Aberdeen: Third Spalding Club, 1936, vol II p 107).
Information from Marjorie MacInnes, August 2010. <1>