| Coll | |
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| Location | |
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Coll
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| Coll shown within Argyll and Bute | |
| OS grid reference | NM207584 |
| Names | |
| Gaelic name | Cola |
| Pronunciation | [kʰɔlˠ̪ə] ( listen) |
| Meaning of name | Hazel |
| Area and summit | |
| Area | 7,685 hectares (29.7 sq mi)[1] |
| Area rank | 18 |
| Highest elevation | Ben Hogh 104 metres (341 ft)[1] |
| Population | |
| Population | 164 |
| Population rank | 35 out of 99 |
| Main settlement | Arinagour[1] |
| Groupings | |
| Island group | Mull |
| Local Authority | Argyll and Bute |
| References | [1][2][3] |
| If shown, area and population ranks are for all Scottish islands and all inhabited Scottish islands respectively. Population data is from 2001 census. | |
Coll (Scottish Gaelic: Cola)[4] is a small island, west of Mull in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Coll is known for its sandy beaches, which rise to form large sand dunes, for its corncrakes, and for Breachacha Castle.
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Coll is about 13 miles (20.9 km) long by 3 miles (4.8 km) wide and has a population of fewer than 200. Coll's sandy beaches rise to form large sand dunes. The highest point on Coll is Ben Hogh in the south west of the island, which rises to a height of 341 feet (104 m).
There are only two main roads on Coll. The main hub of the island is the island's largest settlement—Arinagour. About 1.5 km (1 mi) south of Arinagour is the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry terminal.[17] The ferry travels from Oban to Coll to Tiree; and a return trip from Tiree, to Coll, to Oban.[18][18] The ferry between Oban and Castlebay on Barra goes via Coll and Tiree once a week.
The airport on the island, (IATA: COL) is located between Uig and Arileod. Highland Airways who originally operated the route to Oban went into administration in 2010,[19] but a new operator, Hebridean Air Services now operates the route under a PSO with flights to Oban, Tiree and Colonsay. The aircraft used for the flights are a BN2 Islander (G-HEBS). Hebridean headquarters are at Cumbernauld Airport, North Lanarkshire.
Coll was home to a branch of the Clan Maclean for 500 years, not all of which were peaceful. In 1590 the Macleans of Duart invaded their cousins on Coll with the intention of taking the island for themselves. A battle was fought at Breachacha Castle where the Coll clan overwhelmed the Duarts, chopped off their heads and threw them in the stream, which is still known as "the stream of the heads". The Macleans of Coll retained their baronial fief and Castle of Breachacha until 1848 when Alexander Maclean of Coll emigrated to Natal, South Africa where he died unmarried.
Coll, like other Hebridean islands, has several crannógs (artificial islands) located in some of its lochs. One such crannog is Dun Anlaimh, which is thought to date to at least the later Middle Ages. Local tradition states that the dun was the fortress of a Norse chieftain who was defeated in battle by the Macleans.
Breachacha Castle on the south coast dates from the 15th century. It was restored by the Project Trust,[20] a gap year organisation that sends school leavers abroad for a year's voluntary work. They send 17-19 year olds on a whole year abroad, and have extensive selection and training weeks.[21] An 18th century mansion house stands nearby.
The population of Coll was much higher in the past. In the late 18th century there were about 1,000 people supported by agriculture and fishing.[1] During the Highland Clearances of the 1830s and 1840s, half the population left, many of them moving to Australia, Canada or South Africa.
| Branches | |
| Maclean of Duart · Maclean of Coll · Maclean of Ardgour | |
| Lands | |
| Ardgour · Coll · | |
| Castles | |
| Duart Castle · Glensanda Castle | |
| Septs | |
| Beath · Beaton · Black · Garvie · Lean · MacBeath · MacBheath · MacBeth · MacEachan · Macilduy · MacLaine · McLean · MacLergain · Maclergan · MacRankin · MacVeagh · MacVey · Rankin | |
Project Trust, founded by Nicholas Maclean-Bristol and based on the island, has sent over 6,000 volunteers overseas, many of them gap year students. In 2008 this organisation, which brings over £370,000 per annum to Coll's economy, celebrated its 40th anniversary.[22][23]
There is an extensive RSPB reserve towards the west end of the island.[24] One of the main attractions is the rare corncrake. Traditional local farming practices have helped this once common British bird survive.
In 2010, a colony of short-necked oil beetles was found on the island. The beetle, thought to be extinct in the UK, is now known only to occur in southern England and Coll. It is parasitic on ground-dwelling bees, and is also flightless, begging the question of how it arrived on the island. It does not appear to be found on neighbouring Tiree, possibly because of a difference in terrain. Modern farming methods had partly caused its demise elsewhere.[25]
Mairi Hedderwick, the illustrator and author, lives on Coll and has used the island as the setting for her Katie Morag series of children's books. In the books, Coll is known by the fictional name of the Isle of Struay.[26]
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