Year built :
1785
Telfords task :
designer
Area :
Current use :
Floors :
Material :
Grid Reference.:
NG 26300 56500
Comments :
The British Fisheries Society (BFS), funded by public subscription and private initiative, was formed in 1786 to improve prospects for displaced crofters and remote populations by developing the fishing industry, in alliance with efforts to provide new roads in the interests of stimulating the Highland economy. The BFS constructed harbours and designed four model fishing villages. Its idea was to acquire land, build the core buildings, and then feu out plots to settlers to build their own houses according to a master plan. When in 1796 Thomas Telford was appointed surveyor to the BFS, he transformed their approach to town planning, conceiving schemes that were more complex and architectural than the simple grid plans of Tobermory and Ullapool. [RCAHMS] [HIGHI] 551
