Skomer Island was farmed during the prehistoric period and the physical remains of field systems with cultivation marks, enclosures, clearance cairns, huts, dams and even settlements, survive more-or-less undisturbed in this peripheral area, which occupies nearly two-thirds of the island. The remains cannot be closely dated but Evans noted that 'nothing like the arrangement of the fields or the shape of the huts is known from the Roman or later periods' and ascribed to the features to a date-range from the neolithic to the iron age periods. Their exceptional survival is due to the fact that though the island was rented for the seasonal depasturing of cattle during the middle ages, and was rented annually for £4 7s in the 16th century, there appears to have been little permanent settlement until the 18th century when the present farm was established in the central part of the island.
Sources: Dyfed Wildlife Trust n.d.; Evans 1986; Evans 1990
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