Eriska

Last updated

Eriska
Scottish Gaelic nameùruisg,
Old Norse nameAoraisge
Meaning of name'water nymph island' or 'Erik's island'
Location
Argyll and Bute UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Eriska
Eriska shown within Scotland
OS grid reference NM902429
Coordinates 56°31′55″N5°24′43″W / 56.532°N 5.412°W / 56.532; -5.412
Physical geography
Island group Loch Linnhe
Area145 hectares (360 acres) [1]
Area rank124= [2]
Highest elevation47 metres (155')
Administration
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Country Scotland
Council area Argyll and Bute
Demographics
PopulationNo estimate available
Lymphad3.svg
References [3] [4] [5]

Eriska is a flat tidal island at the entrance to Loch Creran on the west coast of Scotland.

Contents

Privately owned by the Buchanan-Smiths [3] from 1973 until August 2016, Eriska is now owned by Creation Gem, a family-owned business from Hong Kong. [6] The island is run as a hotel with wooded grounds. The island is evidently populated although no record for the total was provided by the census in 2001 [7] or 2011. [8]

Geography

Eriska Eriska looking South West from Hotel - geograph.org.uk - 104722.jpg
Eriska

The island is largely of schist and slate with the lower ground to the west as a raised beach. To the east of the bridge, there is a partly submerged crannog, or fortified dwelling, dating from the Bronze Age around 200 B.C. [9] It is part of the Lynn of Lorn National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland. [10]

The estate as a whole includes about 20 hectares (49 acres) on the mainland with a Site of Special Scientific Interest. [11] The island itself has been measured at 145 hectares (360 acres) in total. [1]

Eriska House

Isle of Eriska Hotel Eriska Hotel.jpg
Isle of Eriska Hotel

Eriska House was built in 1884 by the Stewarts of Appin. It was built in the Scottish Baronial style by architect Hippolyte Blanc, who was highly acclaimed for his meticulous attention to detail and for a very high degree of specification in materials.

Eriska was occupied by the Blairs and Clark Hutchisons, who built the bridge over the drying channel, connecting the island to the mainland at all states of the tide. When they left in 1930 little upkeep was done until the island was purchased by the Buchanan-Smith family in 1973. The house remains essentially the same with the surrounding buildings converted to become part of the hotel. [9]

Sculpture

Public sculptures near the shoreline [12] include the carved stone horse [13] by Ronald Rae and Otter by Kenneth Robertson at Otter Point overlooking Loch Linnhe. [14]

Footnotes

  1. 1 2 Rick Livingstone’s Tables of the Islands of Scotland (pdf) Argyll Yacht Charters. Retrieved 12 Dec 2011.
  2. Area and population ranks: there are c.300 islands over 20ha in extent and 93 permanently inhabited islands were listed in the 2011 census.
  3. 1 2 Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN   978-1-84195-454-7.
  4. Mac an Tàilleir, Iain (2003) Ainmean-àite/Placenames. (pdf) Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  5. Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 49 Oban & East Mull (Map). Ordnance Survey. 2007. ISBN   9780319229774.
  6. " Isle of Eriska to be operated by Inverlochy Castle Management Company". The Caterer. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  7. General Register Office for Scotland (28 November 2003) Scotland's Census 2001 Occasional Paper No 10: Statistics for Inhabited Islands . Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  8. National Records of Scotland (15 August 2013). "Appendix 2: Population and households on Scotland's Inhabited Islands" (PDF). Statistical Bulletin: 2011 Census: First Results on Population and Household Estimates for Scotland Release 1C (Part Two) (PDF) (Report). SG/2013/126. Retrieved 14 August 2020.
  9. 1 2 "Eriska Island". Isle of Eriska Hotel. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  10. "National Scenic Areas" Archived 2017-03-11 at the Wayback Machine . SNH. Retrieved 30 Mar 2011.
  11. "Estate". Isle of Eriska Hotel/Wayback Internet Archive. Originally retrieved 18 Dec 2011. This site states that the estate comprises "350 acres (142 ha) of which the majority is on the island but also 50 acres (20 ha) on the mainland", suggesting that they estimate the islands area at circa 120 ha.
  12. "Isle of Eriska circuit, near Benderloch".
  13. "Ronald Rae with his sculptures on the Isle of Eriska". 27 July 2010.
  14. "Kenneth Robertson - Gallery".

56°31′54″N5°24′45″W / 56.53167°N 5.41250°W / 56.53167; -5.41250


Related Research Articles

Lismore is an island of some 2,351 hectares in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The climate is damp and mild, with over 166 centimetres (65 in) of rain recorded annually. This fertile, low-lying island was once a major centre of Celtic Christianity, with a 6th-century monastery associated with Saint Moluag, and later became the seat of the medieval Bishop of Argyll. There are numerous ruined structures, including a broch and two 13th-century castles.

Berneray is an island and community in the Sound of Harris, Scotland. It is one of fifteen inhabited islands in the Outer Hebrides. It is famed for its rich and colourful history which has attracted much tourism. It lies within the South Lewis, Harris and North Uist National Scenic Area, one of 40 such areas in Scotland which are defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to ensure its protection from inappropriate development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Luing</span>

Luing is one of the Slate Islands, Firth of Lorn, in the west of Argyll in Scotland, about 16 miles (26 km) south of Oban. The island has an area of 1,430 hectares and is bounded by several small skerries and islets. It has a population of around 200 people, mostly living in Cullipool, Toberonochy, and Blackmillbay.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kyles of Bute</span> Channel in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, UK

The Kyles of Bute form a narrow sea channel that separates the northern end of the Isle of Bute from the Cowal peninsula in Argyll and Bute, on the Scottish mainland. The surrounding hillsides are roughly wooded, and overlooked by rocky tops and areas of moorland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Brother Isle</span>

Brother Isle is a small, uninhabited island in Shetland, Scotland. It lies between the islands of Yell and Shetland Mainland. It is 40 hectares in size.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Inch Kenneth</span>

Inch Kenneth is a small grassy island off the west coast of the Isle of Mull, in Scotland. It is at the entrance of Loch na Keal, to the south of Ulva. It is part of the Loch na Keal National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland. It is within the parish of Kilfinichen and Kilvickeon, in Argyll and Bute.

Little Colonsay is an uninhabited island west of the island of the Isle of Mull in Scotland. The geology of the island is columnar basalt, similar to that of neighbouring Staffa. It is part of the Loch Na Keal National Scenic Area, one of 40 in Scotland.

Eorsa is an uninhabited island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isle of Ewe</span>

The Isle of Ewe is a small Scottish island on the west coast of Ross and Cromarty. The island is inhabited by a single family, the Grants, who have lived at the Main House in the south of the island since the mid-19th century.

The island of Lunga is the largest of the Treshnish Isles in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The Isles are part of the Loch Na Keal National Scenic Area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Càrna</span> Island in Loch Sunart, Scotland

Carna or Càrna is an island in Loch Sunart, an arm of the sea, close to the Ardnamurchan peninsula, on the west coast of Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Island of Danna</span> Inhabited tidal island in Argyll and Bute

The Island of Danna or Danna, is an inhabited tidal island in Argyll and Bute.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shuna Island</span>

Shuna Island or simply Shuna is an island in Loch Linnhe, offshore from Appin, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The island is approximately two kilometres long and one kilometre wide, and extends to some 155 ha in total. The island is characterised by a table topped hill at its southern end. The name Shuna is probably derived from the Norse, for "sea island". The island is separated from Appin by the Sound of Shuna.

Oldany Island is an uninhabited island in Assynt, Sutherland, north-west Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jura, Scotland</span> Island of the Inner Hebrides off Great Britain

Jura is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, adjacent to and northeast of Islay. With an area of 36,692 hectares (142 sq mi), and 196 inhabitants recorded in the 2011 census, Jura is more sparsely populated than Islay, and is one of the least densely populated islands of Scotland: in a list of the islands of Scotland ranked by size, Jura comes eighth, whereas by population it comes 31st. The island is mountainous, bare and largely infertile, covered by extensive areas of blanket bog.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eilean Choraidh</span> Island in Loch Eriboll, north coast of Scotland

Eilean Choraidh, also known as Horse Island is an island in Loch Eriboll in Sutherland on the north coast of Scotland. It is about 26 hectares in extent and the highest point is 26 metres (85 ft) above sea level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Innis Mhòr</span>

Innis Mhòr is a tidal island in the Dornoch Firth of Easter Ross off the east coast of Scotland. It is about 26 hectares in extent and is largely, if not exclusively made up of moving sand dunes. No point on the island is greater than 5 metres (16 ft) above sea level. It has almost certainly never been permanently inhabited. The nearest settlement is Inver to the south, and the town of Tain is 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) to the east.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ceallasaigh Beag</span> Island in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland

Ceallasaigh Beag is a low-lying island in Loch Maddy off North Uist in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland. This an area of shallow lagoons filled and drained by the tides each day. Ceallasaigh Mòr lies to the south and these two islets are connected by a narrow strip of sand during some low tides.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eilean dà Mhèinn</span>

Eilean dà Mhèinn, is a small inhabited island in Loch Crinan and one of the Inner Hebrides of Scotland.