Gometra
| Gometra Gòmastra |
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|---|---|---|
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| Waters | Atlantic Ocean | |
| Archipelago | Inner Hebrides | |
| Geographical location | 56 ° 29 '24 " N , 6 ° 17' 24" W | |
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| surface | 4.25 km² | |
| Highest elevation | 155 m | |
| Residents | 2 (2011) <1 inh / km² |
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| main place | (Gometra House) | |
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Gometra ( Scottish Gaelic : Gòmastra ) is a Scottish island that belongs to the Inner Hebrides and is about 15 kilometers west of the Isle of Mull . It is connected to the island of Ulva in the west by a small bridge. It belongs to the administrative district of Argyll and Bute .
etymology
The origin of the word is uncertain. Goðr Maðr Ey ( English : God Man's Island , German Insel des Gottesmanns ) was borrowed from the Norse language of the Vikings , who established their own rulers on the Scottish islands from the 9th century .
The Gaelic name Gu Mòr Traigh (English: only at low tide , German only at low tide ) could have been derived from this.
geography
Gometra is a tidal island . When the tide is low , the narrow waterway ( Am Brú ) between Gometra and Ulva is dry.
Adjacent islands (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean ) and skerries ( Sgeir ) clockwise are:
- Dùn Ban
- Eilean a 'Choire
- Eilean Dioghlum , associated with Gometra at low tide
- Sgeir na Skeineadh and Little Colonsay
- Maisgeir
The islands, like the main island of Mull, were formed during volcanic activity in the Paleocene . Gometra consists of dark, fine-grain igneous rock, predominantly basalt . On the coast it also appears columnar.
The highest point on the island is given as 155 m, which is why Gometra is one of the so-called Marilyns .
Vegetation and wildlife
The island, almost treeless due to deforestation, has extensive moorlands with numerous rivulets as well as areas of fern and grass.
Scottish Blackface sheep and some horses are kept on the islands . In addition, live deer and feral goats on the island. Otherwise the fauna typical of the region prevails. Country dwellers are mountain hares , ermines and hedgehogs . Local bird families form u. a. Buzzards , snipes and terns . Gray seals and sea otters live on the coast .
Gometra is part of the Loch na Keal nature reserve .
Infrastructure
There is only one unnamed and unpaved main path on the island. The locals on Ulva and Gometra use quads to get around . Access to the island is via the bridge to Ulva and a ferry connection between Ulva and Mull. In addition, there is a natural harbor ( Acairseid Mhór ) in the north and a pier in the south of the island.
There are no mailboxes, schools or other public buildings on the island. However, own stamps are issued. The island was temporarily connected to the power grid, as evidenced by some dilapidated overhead lines.
To the north of the island there is also a net pen where salmon are raised. The residents fear negative effects on the environment.
tourism
Due to its isolated location, the island is hardly developed for tourism. There are a few simple furnished houses ( bothies ) for individual travelers.
history
The history of the island was largely analogous to Ulva. It has been settled since the Iron Age at the latest . There are ruins of a ( modern ) settlement in the interior, a cemetery and the remains of several fortifications ( Dùn ).
On Eilean Dioghlum there were also remains of a fortification and a settlement that may be prehistoric .
Gometra was under the influence of the Abbey of Iona and belonged to the Kingdom of the Islands , later to the county of Argyll.
| 1841 | 1851 | 1861 | 1881 | 1891 | 1931 | 1951 | 1961 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 | 2011 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 78 | 31 | 23 | 30th | 31 | 37 | 10 | 15th | 4th | 0 | 5 | 2 |
The population of Gometras has decreased since the middle of the 19th century, triggered by the potato blight (1842) and the so-called clearances .
On Ulva, under its new owner, Francis William Clark , who acquired it in 1845, 3/4 of the island's population were expelled. There were also evictions on Gometra, which at the time belonged to the family of Ranald McDonald von Staffa. As a result of further migration, the islands' population was reduced to a handful of residents. The neighboring island of Little Colonsay has been uninhabited since the 1940s.
Hugh Ruttledge acquired the island in 1932 and lived on Gometra until 1950. In the 1980s the island was temporarily uninhabited and was put up for sale. It has been privately owned since 1991 by Roc Sandford, descendant of screenwriters Jeremy Sandford and Neill Dunn .
There is currently one family still living on the island permanently.
literature
- Hamish Haswell-Smith: The Scottish Islands , 2nd ed., UK 2004.
Web links
- Official website (with a detailed history of the island)
Individual evidence
- ^ A b David Ross: Residents of tiny island to fight plan for salmon farm. In: Scottish Herald. 2012, accessed on September 7, 2019 .
- ↑ Entry on fortification on Gometra in Canmore, the database of Historic Environment Scotland (English)
- ↑ a b c Hamish Haswell-Smith: The Scottish Islands . 2nd Edition. UK 2004.
- ↑ 2011 Census: Population and Household Estimates for Scotland. August 15, 2013, accessed September 6, 2019 .
- ↑ a b Amiria Salmond: Inhabitants of the Islands of Ulva Gometra & Little Colonsay. 2019, p. 2 , accessed on September 8, 2019 (English): "Gometra's population was reduced by two thirds, in part through removals [...] though it does not appear to have been subjected to a process of systematic clearance"
- ↑ Obituary. In: The Guardian. 2003, accessed on September 5, 2019 .