Old Photographs Auchindrain Scotland

Old photograph of cottages in Auchindrain located six miles South of Inveraray, Scotland. It is the only township to survive substantially unaltered from the many hundreds that existed across the Scottish Highlands before the Highland Clearances of the late 18th and 19th centuries. In 1776 the Duke of Argyll reacquired the township, the Duke and his factor were early enthusiasts for the principles of agricultural improvement. Auchindrain is included in a list from 1779 of all those living on the Duke’s land. A plan was made in 1789, by the surveyor George Langlands, for the township to be rebuilt and reorganized into crofts as many of the other townships in were. In Auchindrain this was never implemented, possibly because the investment required would not have justified the financial return. In 1875, when Queen Victoria was staying at Inveraray Castle, she visited what she called the primitive villages of Auchindrain and Achnagoul, between here and Inveraray.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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