New methods of agriculture, the enthusiasm of improving landowners and a revolution in transport all combined to bring about ‘a great change upon the face of the country’. These are the words of the factor on the Lovat estate in 1765, predicting a transformation in the area when the old system of runrig cultivation ended.
By 1850 the landscape was regular and ordered, with larger farms, fields enclosed by hedges or dykes, plantations of tress, a developing communications network of canals, roads and railways and a growing number of villages. Landscape change is a continuous process. Rural industries, better housing, the advent of a piped water supply and electricity, as well as changes in land ownership have all brought changes to the landscape.
Like the highly acclaimed exhibition which preceded it, this book makes use of the extensive plans holdings of the National Archives of Scotland (formerly the Scottish Record Office) to illustrate the great change on the face of the country. A selection from the 100,000 plans gives a flavour of this unique collection, to show the value of these sources for many aspects of Scotland’s past and to display snapshots of the landscape through three centuries of change.
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