Eriska
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| Eriska | |
|---|---|
| Location
|
|
| OS grid reference: | NM902429 |
| Names | |
| Gaelic name: | ùruisg, |
| Norse name: | Aoraisge |
| Meaning of name: | 'water nymph island' or 'Erik's island' |
| Area and Summit | |
| Area: | 310 ha |
| Area rank (Scottish islands): | 86= |
| Highest elevation: | 47 m |
| Population | |
| Population (2001): |
|
| Groupings | |
| Island Group: | Loch Linnhe |
| Local Authority: | Argyll and Bute |
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| References: | [1][2][3][4] |
Eriska is a flat, tidal island at the entrance to Loch Creran on the west coast of Scotland. Privately owned, the island is run as a hotel with wooded grounds.[2]
[edit] Geography
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.[5]
[edit] Eriska House
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.[5]
[edit] Footnotes
- ^ 2001 UK Census per List of islands of Scotland
- ^ a b Haswell-Smith, Hamish (1997). The Scottish Islands. ISBN 0862415799.
- ^ Pàrlamaid na h-Alba placenames
- ^ Ordnance Survey
- ^ a b Eriska Island. Retrieved on 2007-07-20.
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