Scotland's Foreshore ― Public Rights, Private Rights and the Crown 1840-2017

The ownership of Scotland's foreshore has been a matter of a prolonged controversy. In the past, the debate centered on whether the shore was owned by the Crown or by adjacent proprietors and on how, and by whom, Crown-owned foreshore should be managed. Scotland's Foreshore tells the story of the battle that took place during the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century between the Crown and private proprietors over the ownership of the foreshore. Drawing on his expert knowledge of law and its evolution, MacAskill provides new and valuable insights into the foreshore controversy and the contest between proprietors and the Crown and he discusses the important issues as to the management of the foreshore, issues that culminated in responsibility for the management of Scotland's Crown-owned foreshore being devolved to the Scottish Parliament at a time when the question of land ownership is central to Scottish political debate.

John MacAskill is a retired solicitor and an Honorary Fellow in the School of History, Classics and Archaeology, University of Edinburgh. He is the author of We Have Won the Land: The story of the purchase of the North Lochinver Estate by the Assynt Crofters Trust (1999) and The Highland Destitution of 1837: Government Aid and Public Subscription (2013).