Grimsay ( gd, Griomasaigh) is a
tidal island
A tidal island is a piece of land that is connected to the mainland by a natural or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide. Because of the mystique surrounding tidal islands, many of them have been sites of ...
in the
Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
Geography
Grimsay is the largest of the low-lying stepping-stones which convey the Oitir Mhòr (North Ford) causeway, a arc of single track road linking
North Uist
North Uist ( gd, Uibhist a Tuath; sco, North Uise) is an island and community in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.
Etymology
In Donald Munro's ''A Description of the Western Isles of Scotland Called Hybrides'' of 1549, North Uist, Benbecula and ...
and
Benbecula
Benbecula (; gd, Beinn nam Fadhla or ) is an island of the Outer Hebrides in the Atlantic Ocean off the west coast of Scotland. In the 2011 census, it had a resident population of 1,283 with a sizable percentage of Roman Catholics. It is in a ...
via the western tip of Grimsay.
Until it opened in 1960, a ferry linked
Carinish (on North Uist) with Gramsdale (on Benbecula), but could only operate at high tide.
[ There was also a ford which could only be crossed close to low water, usually only with a guide.][ For significant parts of each day the North Ford was too wet to ford and not wet enough to cross by ferry.]Ronay
Ronay ( gd, Rònaigh) is an island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland, which lies a short distance off the east coast of Grimsay.
Geography
Ronay has a highly indented coastline with Bàgh nan Uamh being the biggest up in the north west. The i ...
which was inhabited until 1931.
Inhabitants
The island's population was 169 as recorded by the 2011 census[ a drop of over 15% since 2001 when there were 201 usual residents. During the same period ]Scottish island
This is a list of islands of Scotland, the mainland of which is part of the island of Great Britain. Also included are various other related tables and lists. The definition of an offshore island used in this list is "land that is surrounded by ...
populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702. The main settlements are Baymore (''Bàgh Mòr'') and Kallin (''Ceallan'') at the eastern end of the island. Grimsay has a harbour at Kallin, which is the base to a sizeable shellfish industry,[ Grimsay is encircled by a single-track road that links most of the island's small croft and fishing settlements together.
]
History
There is a fine example of an Iron-Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly a ...
wheelhouse on the northeast coast of the island at Bagh nam Feadag. It is one of the best examples of a wheelhouse on North Uist but does not appear on Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was a ...
maps.
See also
* List of islands of Scotland
This is a list of islands of Scotland, the mainland of which is part of the island of Great Britain. Also included are various other related tables and lists. The definition of an offshore island used in this list is "land that is surrounded by ...
Footnotes
{{coord, 57, 29, 31, N, 7, 14, 39, W, display=title, region:GB_type:isle
Uist islands
Tidal islands of Scotland