The Sound of Mull is a sound between the Inner Hebridean island of Mull and mainland Scotland. It forms part of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Sound of Mull Project is a Scottish Sustainable Marine Environment Initiative (SSMEI) spatial plan of Argyll and Bute Council which sets out details on the marine, environmental and coastal activities in the Sound. [1]
The largest settlement on the Sound is Tobermory on Mull, which lies near the northern entrance of the Sound.
There are several ferry routes that use the Sound, most of which originate from Oban. These include the ferry between Oban and Craignure, the main ferry port on Mull, whose main pier was built in 1964. [2] [3] Other ferry routes across the Sound include Tobermory to Kilchoan and Fishnish to Lochaline. [3]
The Sound has long been used for navigation, linking ports such as Oban and Tobermory with the Atlantic. As such, there are a number of wrecks in the Sound. The SS Thesis was a cargo steamship which was wrecked in October 1889 in the Sound. [4]
The SS Hispania , was a Swedish cargo ship that sank on 18 December 1954 after striking a rock. [5]
The wreck of the SS Shuna is located in the Sound. [6] The Shuna was a Glasgow steamer, owned by Messers Glen & Co., that was carrying a cargo of coal and iron from Glasgow to Gothenburg when it struck on the Grey Rocks during a storm in May 1913 and subsequently became a total loss. [6]
The SS Rondo was a First World War US cargo ship that sank in the Sound on 25 January 1935 whilst seeking shelter from a storm. [7]
In 1973, divers from Bristol discovered the wreck of HMS Dartmouth, a fifth-rate ship of the English Council of State. [8] On 11 April 1974, the 1690 wrecksite was one of the first to be designated under the Protection of Wrecks Act. It was redesignated on 25 June 1992. The site became a Historic Maritime Protected Area in 2013. [9]
Settlements on the Sound include:
There are several islands in the Sound. These include Calve Island, an uninhabited low-lying island. [10]
Bays on the Sound include Ardtornish Bay and Inninmore Bay on the Morvern peninsular.
The western edge of the Sound is guarded by Rubha nan Gall, a lighthouse operated by the Northern Lighthouse Board. The name means "Stranger's Point" in Scottish Gaelic. It was built in 1857 by David and Thomas Stevenson. [11]
The eastern edge of the Sound is marked by two lighthouses, one on each side. Eilean Musdile (Lismore Lighthouse) built in 1833 is on the Isle of Lismore and Duart Point built 1900, in memorial to Scottish novelist William Black on Mull. [12] [13] [14] [15]
Traditionally, the local economy was based on fishing and agriculture. There are three castles that face the Sound, these are Ardtornish Castle (a 14th century castle ruin of Clan Donald) and Aros Castle (a ruined 13th century castle originally of the Clan MacDougall). [16] [17] Duart Castle (Caisteal Dhubhairt) dates back to the 13th century and is the seat of Clan MacLean. [18]
There are two Scotch whisky distilleries sited adjacent to the Sound, these are Nc’nean distillery on the Morvern peninsular and Ardnamurchan distillery on the Ardnamurchan peninsular of Lochaber. [19]
Argyll and Bute is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current Lord-Lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod. The administrative centre for the council area is in Lochgilphead at Kilmory Castle, a 19th-century Gothic Revival building and estate. The current Council leader is Councillor Robin Currie, a councillor for Kintyre and the Islands.
Tobermory is the capital of, and until 1973 the only burgh on, the Isle of Mull in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It is located on the east coast of Mishnish, the most northerly part of the island, near the northern entrance of the Sound of Mull. The village was founded as a fishing port in 1788; its layout was based on the designs of Dumfriesshire engineer Thomas Telford. It has a current population of about 1,000.
The Isle of Mull or just Mull is the second-largest island of the Inner Hebrides and lies off the west coast of Scotland in the council area of Argyll and Bute.
Duart Castle, or Caisteal Dhubhairt in Scottish Gaelic, is a castle on the Isle of Mull, beside the Sound of Mull off the west coast of Scotland, within the council area of Argyll and Bute. The castle dates back to the 13th century and is the seat of Clan MacLean. One source states that the castle was "brought back from ruin in 1911".
Craignure is a village and the main ferry port on the Isle of Mull, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The village is within the parish of Torosay.
HMS Dartmouth was a small frigate or fifth-rate ship, one of six ordered by the English Council of State on 28 December 1654 and built in 1655.
Torosay Castle is a large house situated 1+1⁄2 miles south of Craignure on the Isle of Mull, in the Scottish Inner Hebrides.
Ardtornish Castle is situated in the grounds of the Ardtornish estate in Morvern, on the west coast of Scotland. It stands at the seaward end of a promontory which extends in a southerly direction into the Sound of Mull, about 1 mile south-east of the village of Lochaline, Highland. It is protected as a scheduled monument.
Calve Island is an uninhabited low-lying island off the east coast of the Isle of Mull in Argyll and Bute on the west coast of Scotland. A whitewashed farmhouse with substantial outbuildings stands on the western shore, used as a summer residence. The island is 1+1⁄4 miles in length, and 1⁄2 mile wide at its widest point. Calve is owned by the Cotton family who make use of it in the summer months.
Salen is a settlement on the Isle of Mull, Scotland. It is on the east coast of the island, on the Sound of Mull, approximately halfway between Craignure and Tobermory. The full name of the settlement is 'Sàilean Dubh Chaluim Chille'. In 1991 it had a population of 500.
West Highland Yachting Week is a sailing regatta that moves from centre to centre, providing an ever-changing scene for competitors, both afloat and ashore. It is based in Oban, Tobermory and Croabh on the west coast of Scotland. It is usually held in the first week of August each year.
Oban is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William. During the tourist season, the town can have a temporary population of up to over 24,000 people. Oban occupies a setting in the Firth of Lorn. The bay forms a near perfect horseshoe, protected by the island of Kerrera; and beyond Kerrera, the Isle of Mull. To the north, is the long low island of Lismore and the mountains of Morvern and Ardgour.
SS Hispania was a Swedish 1,323 GRT triple-expansion engine steamer built in Belgium in 1912. She sank in the Sound of Mull on 18 December 1954 after striking a rock.
SS Thesis was a steamship which was wrecked in October 1889 in the Sound of Mull, on Scotland's west coast. She is now a popular dive site with scuba divers.
Rubha nan Gall lighthouse is located north of Tobermory on the Isle of Mull beside the Sound of Mull. The name means "Stranger's Point" in Scottish Gaelic. It was built in 1857 by David and Thomas Stevenson and is operated by the Northern Lighthouse Board. The lighthouse was automated in 1960 and the nearby former keepers' cottages are privately owned.
Ardtornish Bay is coastal embayment, on a chord of 0.89 miles, on a 161° orientation, in the Morvern peninsula in Lochaber, in the western coast of Scotland. There is good anchorage in the bay, with a depth of 7 fathoms. It is well protected, except from winds from the south.
Inninmore Bay is a small shallow coastal embayment, on a chord of 1.74 miles, on a 215° orientation, in the Morvern peninsula in Lochaber, in the western coast of Scotland, and is some three miles east-south-east of the entrance to Loch Aline.
The geology of the Isle of Mull in Scotland is dominated by the development during the early Palaeogene period of a ‘volcanic central complex’ associated with the opening of the Atlantic Ocean. The bedrock of the larger part of the island is formed by basalt lava flows ascribed to the Mull Lava Group erupted onto a succession of Mesozoic sedimentary rocks during the Palaeocene epoch. Precambrian and Palaeozoic rocks occur at the island's margins. A number of distinct deposits and features such as raised beaches were formed during the Quaternary period.
