Monument record MHG6139 - Lusta

NG25NE 16 270 560.

The crofting township of Lusta was established in the first half of the 19th century, following its acquisition by the British Fisheries Society in 1790 from Colonel MacLeod. It was subsequently sold to MacDonald of Skeabost in 1837 (J Dunlop 1978). The present lay-out of the crofts was in place by 1877 on the 1st edition of the Ordnance Survey map of 1880 (Island of Skye &c., Inverness-shire, 1880, sheet xv). The full extent of the township is taken to include all land bounded by the sea to the W, the Stein burn to the N, the Allt a'Chaim to the S and the long straight bank, which runs between the Stein Burn and the Allt a'Chaim to the E. Within this area are a cairn, the crofts of Lusta and Camuslusta, some traces of buildings, possibly pre-dating the crofts, an area of ridging mainly to the E of the crofts and a farmstead and a shieling group at Cnoc a' Chrochaire. Modern cultivation within the crofts has, by and large, removed any trace of earlier phases of activity, a notable exception being the cairn on the shore. The modern focus on the crofts lies along the road, but it is evident that the farmstead of the crofts above the road were located towards the upper end of their plots at the time of the 1st edition of the Ordnance Survey map (Island of Skye &c., Inverness-shire, 1880, sheet xv). All fourteen of these have been abandoned. The farmsteads of those to the W or lower side of the road have always been situated along the road, and the remains of abandoned buildings have suffered accordingly.
Camuslusta is a group of eight crofts established along the sea-shore, several of which have been abandoned. The crofting township of Lusta comprises 14 crofts each with its own plot or croft of 3 to 5 acres on the E side or upslope of the public road and a similar number to the W of the road.

16.01 NG 2718 5528 Cnoc a' Chrochaire: Farmstead; Stack-stands; Field- System (657-658)
16.02 NG 2725 5536 Cnoc a' Chrochaire: Huts (653-655)
16.03 NG 2723 5564 Cnoc a' Chrochaire: Shieling-mounds; Shieling-huts (640-650)
16.04 NG 2711 5529 Cnoc a' Chrochaire: Hut (656)
16.05 NG 2734 5600 Lusta (Eastside): Farmstead (659-660)
16.06 NG 272 560 Lusta (Eastside): Farmsteads (661-662, 672-674, 679)
16.07 NG 2728 5610 Lusta (Eastside): Farmstead (675-678)
16.08 NG 2729 5615 Lusta (Eastside): Farmstead (680-683)
16.09 NG 272 562 Lusta (Eastside): Farmsteads (684-686, 709-710) 16.10 NG 2725 5629 Lusta (Eastside): Farmstead (711-712)
16.11 NG 2720 5643 Lusta (Eastside): Farmstead (716-717)
16.12 NG 2710 5646 Lusta (Eastside): Farmstead (718-720)
16.13 NG 2706 5652 Lusta (Eastside): Farmstead (721-723)
16.14 NG 2704 5656 Lusta (Eastside): Farmstead (724-726)
16.15 NG 2687 5646 Lusta (Eastside): Building (703)
16.16 NG 2693 5655 Lusta (Eastside): Farmstead (704)
16.17 NG 2690 5664 Lusta (Eastside): Farmstead (705-708)
16.18 NG 2686 5629 Lusta (Westside): Buildings (700-702)
16.19 NG 2670 5611 Lusta (Westside): Buildings (691)
16.20 NG 2688 5618 Lusta (Westside): Farmstead (692-696)
16.21 NG 2689 5622 Lusta (Westside): Farmstead (697-699)
16.22 NG 2637 5628 Lusta (Westside): Building (690)
16.23 NG 2712 5584 Lusta (Eastside): Farmstead; Cultivation-Remains (651-652)
16.24 NG 2691 5532 Camuslusta: Building; Enclosure (663-664)
16.25 NG 2694 5537 Camuslusta: Buildings (665-666)
16.26 NG 2698 5556 Camuslusta: Farmstead (667-668)
16.27 NG 2671 5587 Lusta: Building; Farmstead (670)
16.28 NG 2689 5572 Camuslusta: Building (669)
16.29 NG 2663 5592 Lusta (Westside): Building (671)
16.30 NG 2651 5600 Lusta (Westside): Building (687)
16.31 NG 2638 5619 Lusta (Westside): Building (689)
16.32 NG 2747 5637 Lusta: Pen (713)
16.33 NG 2654 5600 Lusta: Cairn (688)
16.34 NG 27 56 Lusta: Cultivation Remains
16.35 NG 273 564 Lusta: Boundary Banks

Visited by RCAHMS (PJD) November 1990.

A crofting township, comprising seventy-four roofed, two partially roofed and thirteen unroofed buildings is depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Inverness-shire, Isle of Skye 1880, sheet xv). Twenty-seven roofed, four partially and thirty-nine unroofed buildings are shown on the current edition of the OS 1:10560 map (1968).
Information from RCAHMS (AKK) 15 October 1996.