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2 duplicate copies of a plan showing the low water channel in Inver Bay between the village of Inver and the Dornoch Firth on August 18th 1886, drawn by Edward Millar Cunningham. A section across the mouth of the channel is also shown. The height of the tide and the depth of the water on the given date have been plotted, showing that the depth of the channel varied between 6 inches at the mouth to 8 feet 6 inches in places. Inver was a fishing village and access to the firth was therefore an important issue. Comparison with the modern Ordnance Survey map shows that the sand bars in the firth have built up considerably since 1886 and the mouth of the channel has been pushed 400 yards eastwards. Sand is scoured out from the shore to the east of Tain and carried round the point to be deposited here. Over the centuries this erosion and desposition has resulted in the loss of recorded natural features near Tain such as Paul MacTyre's Hill, which was the location of one of the girth crosses that marked the extent of the medieval sanctuary of Tain. The plan also shows the location of two stake nets, one near the village and the other at the mouth of the channel, used for catching salmon. A salmon shed and ice hut are marked near the second of these.

Plan showing the low water channel at Inver Bay near Tain, 1866.

Drawn up by H Morrison, land surveyor, Inverness, during a boundary dispute between Sir Charles Ross of Balnagown and others in 1866. Although this commonty was not part of the burgh lands of Tain, the sub-division illustrated on this plan is typical of what happened to large parts of Tain's common lands which had included about 3000 acres of moorland. Encroachments on these lands were common, for example, fencing off land or cutting peats without permission. Until the early 19th century there were regular perambulations of the boundaries by the town council in order to identify any encroachments and deal with them. The route passed to along the eastern edge of the Commonty of Breannachy then along the road westwards to Bearnischlay or Bearn a' Chladheimh (see smaller plan) which was near the location of one of the four girth crosses marking the extent of the medieval sanctuary of Tain. In an attempt to avoid encroachments by neighbouring heritors such as Balnagown and to generate revenue, the burgh lands were gradually feuded out at 6 pence an acre. The plan illustrates the type of complex pattern of tenure that resulted and which led to continuing boundary disputes.

Plan of the Commonty of Breannachy or Garrack Moor, near Tain, Ross-shire, 1866.

Detailed map of the burgh of Tain, Ross-shire, prepared by George Gordon & Co, architects, Inverness and dated 23rd March 1935, showing the locations of a proposed new sewage outfall and of a proposed bathing pool on the River Tain. The existing sewerage system within the town is shown by dotted blue lines and corresponds exactly to the lines of the burns which flowed through the town before gradually being bridged and enclosed from the early 19th century on. The old outfall discharged onto the mudflats at low tide. The new outfall would have taken the sewage much further out into the river itself. The location of the bathing pool was a local beauty spot, already popular for both walks and bathing, and was just upstream from the picturesque Alexandra suspension bridge, designed by David Reid and made at the Rose Street Foundry, Inverness in 1901/02. The plans went to the P T & R Scottish Grants Committee in June 1939 but were never implemented, presumably because of the start of World War 2. A new sewage treatment plant was eventually built to the West of the town in the 1970s.

Map of sewers and proposed bathing pool at Tain, Ross-shire, 1935

This map (with west at the top) was drawn by Alexander Sangster in about 1750 to show the boundaries of the Tain burgh lands, during a dispute between the town and Roderick Macleod of Cadboll, who was accused of

Map of Tain, 1750