UKC

Does anybody happen to know anything about the history of the wall on top of Suilven? All we could find was a bit of speculation here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/borderglider/432890358/

It's a remarkably well-built wall in an outrageous location - what could possibly make it worthwhile? Not sure I can quite believe either of those explanations. I'd like to think it was some sort of "labours of hercules" thing to marry the local chieftain's daughter...

In reply to jonny taylor:

I recall hearing that it was probably a labour creation scheme during the Highland potato famine:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Potato_Famine

In reply to jonny taylor:

I'll go with the work-for-food thinking as well. I believe the wall on Beinn Dearg (Inverlael) and the section of the A832 near An Teallach known as Destitution Road are work-for-food projects as well.

In reply to drmarten:

Ironically, the work that was done that had no real purpose, just meant that the men involved needed more food than they otherwise would have needed if they weree not doing manual labour.

In reply to drmarten:

Thanks guys, interesting.

In reply to Jim C:


I seem to recall from James Hunter's The Making of the Crofting Community that the work was created because the prevailing Victorian attitude was that people couldn't just be given subsistence money or rations for "nothing".

In reply to drmarten:

There were a number of these "destitution roads" in Wester Ross and elswehere; the one forming part of the A832 is just the most well-known one of them.

In reply to jonny taylor:

Interesting, thanks. Had wondered the same thing myself.

In reply to jonny taylor:

Not only was it to make sure that you only got money for doing something but it was a deliberate decision to make the work totally pointless. The wall serves no useful purpose. By giving the men work that was no more useful than being on a treadmill it also encouraged them to try to find more worthwhile work.

In reply to jonny taylor:

There are similiar examples on some of the Irish hills with known dates - mid 1800's, famine and the local landlord offering work in return for food/wages. Here's one on the hills on the border of Tipperary. http://david-perry.tripod.com/sitebuildercontent/sitebuilderpictures/galtee...

This one too runs over a 3000ft mountain for several miles and in Ireland these are known as 'famine walls'.

In reply to jonny taylor:

I think the justification for building walls is that under old scots' law, you had to build a boundary round your land otherwise someone else might claim it.

In reply to jonny taylor:

did you check the maps, are you sure its not just the march wall, thats often what walls in the most unlikely places are

In reply to Seocan:

Can you tell me what that is?

In reply to jonny taylor:
I heard it was built to stop stock going over the cliffs, aas suggested with picture.

In reply to joan cooper:

As there are crags on both sides of the wall that is unlikely.

In reply to Seocan:

And me!! ?????

In reply to jonny taylor:


March = boundary

In reply to Dave Perry:

boundary, the march fence/line/wall is the boundary etc. I'm nae sure if its peculiarly scottish, but i dont think so.

In reply to jonny taylor:

boundarys used to be just stones,ie march stones, or meith, now they're as likely to be a march dyke or fence, having said that, I cant see any indication on any maps i've looked at

In reply to Seocan:

Interesting and very likely. Our moors are covered with rows of boundary stones. One or two of the parishes and estates 'march' their boundaries every few years and in one location the boundary stones are painted white. I can't see them forking out for walls though!

In reply to Dave Perry:

not at all unlikely, the hills are covered with march fences where steel posts are drilled and cemented into bedrock, no different from building a march dyke.

In reply to jonny taylor:

I always reckon the wall on Garbh Bheinn to be the most impressive. Built up a rock face!
These would likely be estate boundaries. In Victorian times the rich were incredibly rich and labour was cheap. Some estates employed hundreds of employees working the land and most impressive of all are some of the tracks running for miles they built just so their employer found it easier to access. There were also some dirty tactics from some estates allowing wild life to access the estate but unable to leave. I suppose most impressive of all are some of these estate buildings built to such grandour in remote locations. Remote even today but when built must of been some logistical nightmare.

In reply to Seocan:


That must be English or Welsh hills in Scotland they fitted them into the rock with molten lead. This allows for expansion that cement doesn't as it soon breaks up.

In reply to Seocan:

I wasn't disagreeing with you! I was referring to modern estates not wanting to incur the now expensive costs of building big new walls. They obviously could in the eighteen hundreds - and did build them.

In reply to jonny taylor:

Fascinating question you ask. Always puzzled me too - especially their size and labour required. Great responses too. So, are they Famine walls or March/Boundary walls? Could they be a bit of both? Drilling in metal fence posts would be an easier option to cover lengthy distances. I think estates also used to put goats on the crags to keep the sheep off. Stob Ghabhar -Goat's Peak. Ghabhar appears all over the highlands.