The Slate Islands are an island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

 group in the Inner Hebrides

Inner Hebrides

The Inner Hebrides is an archipelago off the west coast of Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which enjoy a mild oceanic climate. There are 36 inhabited islands and a further 43 uninhabited Inner Hebrides with an area greater than...

, lying immediately off the west coast of Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, north of Jura

Jura, Scotland

Jura is an island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland, situated adjacent and to the north-east of Islay. Part of the island is designated as a National Scenic Area. Until the twentieth century Jura was dominated - and most of it was eventually owned - by the Campbell clan of Inveraray Castle on Loch...

 and southwest of Oban

Oban

Oban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...

. The main islands are Seil

Seil

One of the Slate Islands, Seil is a small island on the east side of the Firth of Lorn, southwest of Oban, in Scotland.Seil has been linked to the Scottish mainland since 1792 when the Clachan Bridge was built by engineer Robert Mylne...

, Easdale

Easdale

Easdale is one of the Slate Islands, in the Firth of Lorn, Scotland. Once the centre of the British slate industry, there has been some recent island regeneration....

, Luing

Luing

Luing is one of the Slate Islands, Firth of Lorn, in the west of Argyll in Scotland, about 16 miles south of Oban. It has a population of around 200 people, mostly living in Cullipool, Toberonochy , and Blackmillbay...

, Lunga

Lunga, Firth of Lorn

Lunga is one of the Slate Islands in the Firth of Lorn, Scotland. The "Grey Dog" tidal race, which runs in the sea channel to the south, reaches 8 knots in full flood. The name 'Lunga' is derived from the Old Norse for 'isle of the longships', but almost all other place names are Gaelic in origin...

, Shuna

Shuna, Slate Islands

Shuna is one of the Slate Islands lying east of Luing on the west coast of Scotland.-History:Shuna Castle was built as recently as 1911 for a rumoured cost of £300,000...

, Torsa

Torsa

Torsa is one of the Slate Islands in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.Lying east of Luing and south of Seil, the island was inhabited until the 1960s. There is now only one house on the island, which is used for holiday lets. Its main industry is farming, with cattle brought over from the neighbouring...

 and Belnahua

Belnahua

Belnahua is one of the Slate Islands, in the Firth of Lorn in Scotland, known for its slate quarriesIt lies north west of Luing west of Argyll, and east of the Garvellachs. Although it once had a population of nearly 200 people, it has been uninhabited since World War I. Famed for its slate, the...

. Scarba

Scarba

Scarba is a small island, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, just north of the much larger island of Jura. The island is owned by Richard Hill, 7th Baron Sandys and has not been permanently inhabited since the 1960s. It is now covered in heather and used for grazing animals...

 and Kerrera

Kerrera

Kerrera is an island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides, close to the town of Oban. In 2005 it had a population of about 35 people, and it is linked to the mainland by passenger ferry on the Gallanach Road....

 which lie nearby, are not usually included.

The underlying geology

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

 of the islands is Dalradian

Dalradian

Dalradian in geology describes a series of metamorphic rocks, typically developed in the high ground which lies southeast of the Great Glen of Scotland...

 slate

Slate

Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. The result is a foliated rock in which the foliation may not correspond to the original sedimentary layering...

, which was quarried widely until the mid-twentieth century. Quarry working began in 1630 and at the turn of the 20th century, the quarries were yielding some eight million slates every year. Eilean-a-beithich

Eilean-a-beithich

Eilean-a-beithich was once one of the Slate Islands, located in Easdale Sound between Easdale and Seil, in the Inner Hebrides....

 ("island of the birches") was once one of the Slate Islands, located in Easdale Sound. However, it was quarried to a depth of 76 metres (249.3 ft) below sea level leaving only the outer rim of the island. This was eventually swept away by the sea and little visible sign of the island now remains.

The Garvellachs

Garvellachs

The Garvellachs or Isles of the Sea form a small archipelago in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Part of the Argyll and Bute council area, they lie west of Lunga and northwest of Scarba and have been uninhabited since World War II.The islands include Garbh Eileach, Dùn Channuill and Eileach an...

lie immediately southwest of the islands.

External links

• The Scottish Slate Islands Heritage Trust