Slate Islands

The Slate Islands lie scattered off Scotland’s west coast, north of Jura and south-west of Oban. The main islands are Seil, Easdale, Luing, Shuna, Torsa and Belnahua, with smaller skerries and tidal islets between them. Easdale Sound once held the island of Eilean-a-beithich, now quarried away to a hollow below sea level. The islands sit in deep waters where the Firth of Lorn reaches over 200 metres. Raised beaches of sand and gravel mark where the sea once stood higher. Quarrying shaped the islands’ history. From 1630 slate was cut here in large quantities, peaking at eight million slates a year around 1900. Easdale, Belnahua, Luing and Seil supplied most of the stone. Belnahua thrived until 1914, then emptied when work stopped. Torsa was lived on until the 1960s, while smaller islets like Fladda kept only a lighthouse keeper’s cottage. The slate formed part of the Dalradian sequence laid down in the Neoproterozoic era. Today the islands show both industry and nature. Seil and Luing still carry traces of old quarries and limekilns. Shuna and Torsa offer quiet shores and tidal walks to Eilean Fraoch. Fladda’s ruined cottage stands on its skerry, exposed at low tide. The Garvellachs lie to the south-west, separate from the main group. The islands’ Gaelic and Norse names recall past settlers and tell of waterfalls, valleys and Thorir’s island.