Plockton was laid out as a modern village in about 1794 for Lord Seaforth. The new owner of the estate in 1801, Sir Hugh Innes, provided homes for his cleared tenants here, who derived their main income from shipbuilding and fishing for many years. The white house in the photograph has now been split into two separate houses. Just in front of this house is a refurbished cast iron pump, one of a few standpipes which were still in working order in the 1950s, and which supplied drinking water for the public before water was piped into each house. Sir Kenneth Matheson, owner of the Lochalsh Estate from 1886 to 1919, was instrumental in making the railway company, who were extending the railway line to Kyle of Lochalsh from Stromeferry, to lead a water main to Plockton from Loch Lundie, down Bank Street and Harbour Street to standpipes. Seven cast iron pumps were spaced at 200 yard intervals. The village is now well known for the mild climate brought on by the flow of the Gulf Stream, which allows palm trees to flourish along the main street. It was also the setting for the popular BBC Television series 'Hamish Macbeth'
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Skye and Lochalsh Archives
