Sanday

Sanday is one of the Small Isles in the Scottish Inner Hebrides. It is a tidal island linked to Canna by sandbanks at low tide and also connected by a bridge. Canna and Sanday form a single community, usually described together as Canna. The whole island belongs to the National Trust for Scotland and lies in the Lochaber area of Highland Council. Parts of Sanday are used for crofting while Canna is run as a single farm. The island’s most striking feature is the deconsecrated Catholic church of St Edward. It stands alone on elevated ground away from the cottages clustered around the bay facing Canna. The church has been restored and converted into a hostel and Study Centre by the Hebridean Trust. The project was opened in 2001 by the Princess Royal and is linked to the Archive of Gaelic language and culture created by John Lorne Campbell. Water damage to the interior is now being addressed by the National Trust for Scotland. Sanday supports a variety of wildlife including puffins, great skua and Manx shearwater. The island can be reached from Mallaig on the mainland by Caledonian MacBrayne ferries. Its rocks belong to the Paleocene and Eocene British Tertiary Volcanic Province, among Scotland’s youngest geological formations. A footbridge built in 1905 once allowed pupils from Canna to reach the small primary school on Sanday regardless of the tide.