Eriska

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

Not to be confused with Eriskay.
Eriska
Scottish Gaelic nameùruisg,
Old Norse nameAoraisge
Meaning of name'water nymph island' or 'Erik's island'
Location
Eriska
Eriska shown within Scotland
OS grid referenceNM902429
Coordinates56.532°N 5.412°W / 56.532; -5.412
Physical geography
Island groupLoch Linnhe
Area145 hectares (360 acres)[1]
Area rank124= [2]
Highest elevation47 m
Administration
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryScotland
Council areaArgyll and Bute
Demographics
PopulationNo estimate available
References[3][4][5]

Geography
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 House was built in 1884 by the Stewarts of Appin. 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]

Footnotes
  1. 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 20 ha in extent and 93 permanently inhabited islands were listed in the 2011 census.
  3. 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. "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.

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