Sanday (; ) is one of the
Small Isles, in the
Scottish Inner Hebrides
The Inner Hebrides ( ; ) is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, which experience a mild oceanic climate. The Inner Hebrides compri ...
. It is a
tidal island linked to its larger neighbour,
Canna, via sandbanks at low tide, and also connected to the larger island by a bridge. Canna and Sanday form a single community, and are usually described as Canna.
Like its neighbour, Canna, the whole island is owned by the
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...
(NTS), and is part of the
Lochaber
Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...
committee area of
Highland Council
The Highland Council (' ) is the local authority for Highland, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The council is based at the Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness.
History
The Highland area had been created as an administrative a ...
.
Whereas Canna is run by the NTS as a single farm, parts of Sanday are used for
crofting
Crofting (Scottish Gaelic: ') is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production peculiar to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man. Within the 19th-century townships, individual crofts were est ...
.
A small
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...
on Sanday served the communities of both islands, although is currently closed.
A footbridge to the island was built in 1905 to allow pupils from Canna to reach the school regardless of the state of the
tide
Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another.
Tide tables ...
. This bridge was destroyed by storms in 2005, and has been replaced by a road bridge which was completed in April 2006. This new bridge allows vehicular access at all tide levels between the two islands, although parts of the road on Sanday were still covered by water during high tides until the completion of a new road in 2018.
From the mainland the island can be reached by the
Caledonian MacBrayne ferry system from the port of
Mallaig. Sanday includes rocks that are
geologically part of the
Paleocene
The Paleocene ( ), or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), ...
and
Eocene
The Eocene ( ) is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (Ma). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes ...
British Tertiary Volcanic Province, among some of the youngest rocks found in Scotland.
The largest and most conspicuous building on Sanday is the deconsecrated
Catholic church of St Edward, which stands alone on an elevated part of the island, away from the cottages which, together with the school, cluster around the bay facing Canna.
The church, which is also owned by the
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...
, was restored and converted into a hostel and Study Centre by the
Hebridean Trust. This project was undertaken at the invitation of the owners. The centre is linked to the Archive of
Gaelic language
The Goidelic ( ) or Gaelic languages (; ; ) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages.
Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isle o ...
and culture that was created by the former owner of Canna and Sanday,
John Lorne Campbell. It was successfully completed and opened in 2001 by
the Princess Royal. Subsequently, there was water ingress, which caused damage to the interior. This challenge is in the hands of the
National Trust for Scotland
The National Trust for Scotland () is a Scottish Building preservation and conservation trusts in the UK, conservation organisation. It is the largest membership organisation in Scotland and describes itself as "the charity that cares for, sha ...
.
The island is home to a number of different types of wildlife, including
puffins,
great skua and
Manx shearwater
The Manx shearwater (''Puffinus puffinus'') is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. The scientific name of this species records a name shift: Manx shearwaters were called Manks puffins in the 17th century. Puffin is an ...
.
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 ...
References
External links
{{Small Isles
Tidal islands of Scotland
Islands of Highland (council area)
Islands of the Inner Hebrides
Canna, Scotland