An Orkney Estate

Graemeshall belonged to the Sutherland-Graeme family whose members directed their orcadian factors from afar. Nonetheless, in 1827 the Graemes and their family trustee ordered that the entire estate be improved, not in a piecemeal fashion, but suddenly, in its entirety. At that time, large-scale agricultural improvement had not yet arrived in Orkney and, therefore, the improvements of Graemeshall involved considerable risk. This book follows the fortunes of Graemeshall from the 1820s until the twilight of Britain's agricultural prosperity in the 1880s. The study is largely based on estate papers, and reveals a story which sheds light on the peculiarities of improvement. Things did not go smoothly for the estate, and there were moments when the protagonists felt that they were enduring a near-death experience. But the perils of premature improvement were not fatal and the estate participated in the heyday of agricultural prosperity in Orkney. For several decades it was considered a vanguard property in the islands.