Land Matters

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Who Owns Castle Tioram?
Sep 28, 2026 · original
Castle Tioram is located on the tidal island of Eilean Tioram located near the mouth of the River Shiel in Loch Moidart (see map below). The castle was granted to Clan Macdonald of Clanranald by Robert II in 1371 as part of the wider lands of Eigg, Rum, Uist, Harris, Sunart and Lochaber. It was occupied by Government forces in 1692 but recaptured by Clanranald following the Jacobite rising of 1715 following which he torched it leaving it in the ruinous state that it remains today. Useful historical information can be found here from the Moidart Local History Group. Allan Macdonald, Chief of Clanranald sold the island in 1905 to the owner of Lochshiel Estate, Francis Fitzalan Howard, Baron Howard of Glossop. In 1926 the island was then sold to James Wiseman Macdonald from Los Angeles. In 1997, Castle Tioram was put up for sale by the grandchildren of Wiseman Macdonald. The Caisteal Tioram
Hugh MacLeod Owns the Cuillin
Sep 23, 2026 · original
In March 2000, the late John MacLeod announced that he intended to sell An Cuiltheann (the Cuillin). Savills were appointed as the selling agent and advertised the land at offers over £10 million. Extract from sales brochure for the Cuillin Extract from sales brochure of the Cuillin There followed a public outcry. Some questioned how someone could own such mountains. Others railed at the exorbitant price tag. And some of us wondered whether MacLeod owned the Cuillin in the first place. MacLeod had been granted land in Bracadale in a Charter of 1611. Extract from 1611 Crown Charter It described the lands as four unciates of land in Bracadale, an old form of land measurement that equated the the extent of land that would yield 4 ounces of silver in rent. Since the rocky wastes of the Cuillin had no economic value to any pastoralists, they were excluded from this Crown grant. An expert in s
What is the Flesh Market and who owns it?
Sep 10, 2026 · original
The Left Behind Series (1) Investigating who owns Scotland over the years has revealed many fascinating aspects of geography, law, history and politics. This blog is the first in a series that investigates bits of land that have been “left behind”. Undertaking the regular monthly updates for the www.whoownsscotland.org.uk website last month, I was reminded of one such instance. I had meant to write a blog about it some years ago. In the hills of Galloway, there is a place marked on the Ordnance Survey map as Flesh Market. It is one of two locations in Kirkcudbrightshire. The other is at the northern end of Cairnsmore of Fleet (see map below) Flesh Market to north of Cairnsmore of Fleet @Crown copyright and database rights 2026 In 2004, Grobdale of Girthon, a 2300 hectare hill farm, was put up for sale by the owner, William Graham. On the sale plan, the western boundary runs in an almost
Parliament can now scrap the Council Tax
Sep 2, 2026 · original
The Scottish Parliament will very soon have the opportunity to scrap the Council Tax. This is the first time in the history of devolution that this has been possible. This blog explains why and how this has come about. Earlier this summer, the Scottish Government consulted on plans to introduce High Value Property Bands (popularly referred to as a Mansion Tax). The consultation closed on 24 August 2026. The proposal is for two new bands to be added to the existing eight Bands A-H. The new bands will be for properties valued at between £1 – £2 million (Band I) and for properties worth over £2 million (Band J). The new rates will be administered as part of the existing Council Tax system. However (and this is important), properties in the new Bands will be subject to a new updated valuation. The existing bands will all remain based on property values from 1991. The proposals are separate f
Vital Highland Broadband Service Closes
Aug 25, 2026 · original
There are many examples across Scotland where landowners large and small are continuing to frustrate the ambitions of individuals, businesses and social enterprises through the exercise of the fundamental monopoly control of land. In short, if you own land and someone else wants to use it, you have the power of veto. The only general exceptions are statutory undertakings (gas, electricity, water) and local authorities and other public bodies who have powers of compulsory purchase. The problems can range from a ransom being demanded for a servitude across land to provide access to to a development site to frustrating access to land through unreasonable demands in leases. Last week I blogged about the problems facing the Isle of Skye Ferry CIC due to a lease of the ferry rights and landing slip that endures for 30 years with no break clauses, demands the tenant maintain the slips, and inco
MINISTERS CONFIRM SCOTTISH LAND COMMISSION MEMBER REDUCTION
Aug 24, 2026 · original
WEDNESDAY 26 AUGUST UPDATE Further to my blogs (below and 21 August), the Cabinet Secretary has now provided an on the record statement to Third Force News yesterday (25 August) as follows; Cabinet Secretary for Climate Action and Rural Affairs, Gillian Martin, told TFN: “ I intend to lay regulations in parliament to amend the number of Land Commissioners at the Scottish Land Commission. This will reduce the number of land commissioners from five to four. “ Whilst there will be a vacancy ahead of this Scottish Statutory Instrument coming into force, this does not affect the ability of the Scottish Land Commission to carry out its functions and Scottish Ministers remain compliant with the requirements of the 2016 Act. “ This decision has been taken in the context of our public service reform agenda. It is right we seek opportunities to make savings, however modest, when appropriate opport
Scottish Government in Breach of the Law on Public Appointments to the Scottish Land Commision
Aug 21, 2026 · original
On 14 August 2026, Emily Johns was appointed as a member of the Cairngorms National Park Authority to serve a four year term. The appointment was made under the relevant legislation governing Ministerial appointments in order to fill a vacancy created by an existing member coming to the end of their term of office in October 2026. If you have nothing better to do with your time you can read all about this and other appointments here . Meantime, at a meeting of the Board of the Scottish Land Commission on 5 March 2026 , one of the Commissioners, Calum Macleod, announced his intention to stand down from the Commission. The minutes read as follows; At the start of the meeting Calum MacLeod notified the board of his intention to stand down from his role as a Land Commissioner due to changes in his other time commitments. He confirmed he has written to the Cabinet Secretary giving notice and
Ferry Rights and the Skye Ferry
Aug 19, 2026 · original
The image above appeared on the front cover of the Sunday National on 16 August 2026. The story highlighted the ongoing charges faced by the Isle of Skye Ferry CIC , the community company that operates the Glenelg – Kylerhea ferry and the impact this could potentially have on the viability of the community run ferry service. You can read a transcript of the story on the walkhighlands website here . This blog explores some of the background to this situation, how it came about and how it might be resolved. First of all (and to get this off my chest) this is yet another story about an archaic aspect of Scots land law that joins a long list of topics that have not yet been addressed in any of the land reform legislation of the past 25 years. It is is closely related to the need to modernise the law of the foreshore and the seabed, a topic referred to the Scottish Law Commission by Jim Walla
In Conversation with Jim Hunter
Jul 16, 2026 · original
The first CLAN (Community Land Academic Network) conference took place at UHI in Perth on 16-17 June 2026. The lead organiser was Dr Bobby Macaulay from UHI Centre for Mountain Studies and co-ordinator of the CLAN network of researchers. You can read a summary from Bobby here . I was delighted to participate as a panellist together with Professor Chris Whatley , Professor Annie Tindley and Dr Ryan Dziadowiec exploring the history of community landownership. The concept dates back to pre-feudal times and emerged as parish commons and common good land in the 13th and 14th centuries before being re-imagined by the Chartists, Highland Land League and others in the 19th century. The development of modern community landownership dates back to the acquisition of the parish of Stornoway by the Stornoway Trust in 1923 and the more recent acquisition so the 1990s in Eigg , Assynt , Knoyart and Gig
Scottish Parliament Committee Elections
Jun 26, 2026 · original
The Scottish Parliament has made some welcome changes to its procedures to increase transparency and accountability but, unfortunately, they do not appear to be making much of a difference. The first alarm bells rung for me when the Parliamentary Bureau [1] set about deciding from which political party the Convenors would be selected from. On 3 June 2026, the Parliamentary Bureau met. It agreed a motion to be lodged in Parliament the next day proposing these party allocations. The motion was taken on 4 June and passed without a vote . What surprised me and others was the fact that on three Committees (Criminal Justice, Finance and Public Administration and Public Service Reform, both the Convenor and Deputy Convenor are from the governing party – the SNP. The Minutes of the Bureau tell us nothing about how this decision was reached and so I contacted each member to ask them to explain wh

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