View source for Kerrera

{{Short description|Island in the Scottish Inner Hebrides}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox Scottish island
|Image=Gylen Castle, Kerrera - geograph.org.uk - 1640107.jpg
|ImageCaption=[[Gylen Castle]]
|coordinates = {{coord|56|23|53|N|05|32|19|W|display=inline,title}}
|location_map=Scotland Argyll and Bute
|caption=Kerrera shown within Argyll and Bute
|GridReference=NM813281
|celtic name=Cearrara
|gaelic pronunciation={{IPA|gd|ˈkʲʰarˠəɾə||Cearrara.ogg}}
|norse name= Kjarbarey
|meaning of name= Norse for 'Kjarbar's island' or possibly 'copse island'
|area=  {{cvt|1214|ha|sqmi|frac=8}}   
|area rank=44  
|highest elevation= Carn Breugach {{cvt|189|m|ft|0}}   
|Population=61<ref name=RESAS>{{RESAS}}</ref>
|population density ={{cvt|5|PD/km2}}<ref name=RESAS/><ref name=Smith/>
|population rank=51=
|main settlement=[[Balliemore]]
|island group= [[Isle of Mull|Mull]]
|local authority=[[Argyll and Bute]]
|references=<ref name=Smith>{{Haswell-Smith}}</ref><ref name=MacanT>{{Gaelic Placenames}}</ref><ref>{{Ordnance Survey}}</ref><ref>{{Orkneyinga}}</ref>
}}

'''Kerrera''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|k|ɛ|r|ə|r|ə}} {{respell|KERR|ə|rə}}; {{langx|gd|Cearara}}<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.gaelicplacenames.org/databasedetails.php?id=843 | title=Gaelic Place-Names of Scotland database | publisher=[[Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba]] | access-date=1 December 2012 | archive-date=21 December 2016 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161221065145/http://www.gaelicplacenames.org/databasedetails.php?id=843 | url-status=dead }}</ref> or ''Cearrara''<ref name=MacanT/>) is an island in the [[Scotland|Scottish]] [[Inner Hebrides]], close to the town of [[Oban]]. In 2016 it had a population of 45, divided into two communities in the north and south of the island.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/divided-island-seeks-funds-for-first-road-zxfc86xgd|title=Divided island seeks funds for first road|last=Humphries|first=Will|date=2016-12-14|newspaper=The Times|url-access=subscription |access-date=2016-12-14}}</ref>

== Geography ==
The island is around {{cvt|7|km|0}} long and around {{cvt|2|km|frac=4}} wide, and is separated from the mainland by the Sound of Kerrera, about {{cvt|500|m|mi|frac=4}} wide. The highest point on Kerrera is Carn Breugach at {{convert|189|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}. The island is linked to the mainland by two ferry services. In the middle of the island, the [[Caledonian MacBrayne]] passenger ferry [[MV Carvoria|MV ''Carvoria'']] operates from the Gallanach Road (about {{cvt|3|km|0|disp=or}} southwest of Oban). From the landing place, tracks lead to the scattered settlements in the centre and south of the island. The south end circular walking loop takes around 3 hours to walk. The northern tip of the island can be accessed by a separate marina ferry service operating from North Pier in the centre of Oban. The service runs to Oban Marina near Ardentrive Farm,<ref name=":0" /> which is now linked by a road to the rest of the island.

== History ==
The island is known for the ruined [[Gylen Castle]], a small tower house built in 1582. It was also the place where [[Alexander II of Scotland]] died in 1249. The artist [[J. M. W. Turner]] visited Kerrera in 1831 and made 25 sketches of the castle<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ardill|first=Thomas|date=2012-12-01|title=Gylen Castle, Kerrera and the Firth of Lorn from the North 1831 by Joseph Mallord William Turner|url=http://www.tate.org.uk/art/research-publications/jmw-turner/joseph-mallord-william-turner-gylen-castle-kerrera-and-the-firth-of-lorn-from-the-north-r1135246|journal=Tate|language=en|volume=J.M.W. Turner: Sketchbooks, Drawings and Watercolours}}</ref> which are in the [[Tate Gallery]], London.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldscotland.com/life_style/13110163.Scotland_to_a_tea__Kerrera_Tea_Garden/|title=Scotland to a tea: Kerrera Tea Garden|last=McLennan|first=Louisa|date=2013-06-19|website=The Herald|access-date=2016-12-14}}</ref>

== Community ==
Most of the island is owned by the McDougalls of Dunollie, who are descended from the [[Norse-Gael]] [[Somerled]]. The {{convert|4|acre|adj=mid|spell=in}} tidal island at the north-east tip of Kerrera, Rubh a' Chruidh, was sold for £426,000 in 2010 to Lanarkshire businessman David Hamilton.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.scotsman.com/scotland/Scottish-island-Rubh39a-Chruidh-sells.6071248.jp| title=Scottish island Rubh'a Chruidh sells for £426,000| author=Moira Kerr | publisher=[[The Scotsman]]| date=15 February 2010| access-date=16 February 2010}}</ref>

In the 2011 census, Kerrera had a population of 34. However in 2019, residents said that the population had doubled to 68 people, including 18 children. There are no public buildings or facilities on the island (apart from two [[compost]] loos provided by the community). In July 2019, the Isle of Kerrera Development Trust community organisation<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.isleofkerrera.org |title=community organisation}}</ref> purchased the old primary school building, close to the public ferry slip near the centre of the island; the building had been empty and deteriorating since closing in 1997. The community plans to restore the building into a multi-functional centre.

The main industries on the island are farming (sheep and [[Highland cattle]]) and tourism. There was an exotic bird sanctuary, closed {{asof|2017|lc=y}}. There is a tea room/café (Kerrera Tea Garden & Bunkhouse) at the south end near Gylen Castle<ref name=":1" /> but {{asof|2016|lc=y}} no shop and no pub.<ref name=":0" /> The castle itself was restored to some extent in 2006 and is open to the public.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/4763707.stm|title=Castle reopens after restoration|date=2006-05-12|website=News, UK,  Scotland, Glasgow and West|publisher=BBC|access-date=2016-12-14}}</ref>

In August 2021 work began to connect the small communities in the north and south of the island by road. A forestry track was initially constructed, and in October 2022 a metalled single track road was opened.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-63425672|title=Tiny Kerrera gets first tarred road across island|date=2022-10-28|website=News, UK,  Scotland, Glasgow and West|publisher=BBC|access-date=2022-10-28}}</ref>

== Geology ==
The oldest bedrock of Kerrera is black [[slate]] ascribed to the Easdale Subgroup of the [[Dalradian]] [[Argyll Group]].  Overlying this across half of the island are [[conglomerate (geology)|conglomeratic]] [[sandstone]]s and [[basalt]] and [[augite]]-[[andesite]] [[lava]]s of early [[Devonian]] age, the former being the local representative of the [[Old Red Sandstone]] and the latter constituting part of the [[Lorne plateau lavas|Lorne Plateau Lavas]]. [[Ripple mark]]s and [[mudcrack|sun cracks]] are preserved in  [[shale]] strata on the south coast, belying the subaerial environment in which deposition of these sediments took place. There are thin [[limestone]]s within both the Easdale Slate Formation and the younger sandstones. All of these strata are cut by NW-SE aligned [[igneous]] [[dike (geology)|dykes]] forming part of the [[North Atlantic Igneous Province|North Britain Palaeogene Dyke Suite]] associated with early [[Palaeogene]] [[volcanism]]. A number of [[fault (geology)|geological faults]] cut across Kerrera, the majority are aligned NE-SW.
Modern beach deposits and [[raised beach|raised marine deposits]] of [[Holocene]] age are found around the island particularly on the north coast and along the Sound of Kerrera.<ref>{{cite web |title=Onshore Geoindex |url=https://mapapps2.bgs.ac.uk/geoindex/home.html |website=British Geological Survey |publisher=British Geological Survey |access-date=5 February 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= Lismore, sheet 44E (Scotland), Solid Edition |url=http://www.largeimages.bgs.ac.uk/iip/mapsportal.html?id=1002389 |website=BGS large map images |publisher=British Geological Survey |access-date=5 February 2020}}</ref>

==Gallery==

<gallery class="center">
File:Kerrera Outline Map.svg|Outline map of Kerrera.
File:Kerrera from Oban.jpg|Sunset over Kerrera, viewed from Oban.
File:KerreraChurch2014.jpg|Disused school on Kerrera
</gallery>

{{wide image|Oban Bay from McCaig's Tower.jpg|512px|View of Kerrera from McCaig's tower in Oban}}
<br />
{{wide image|Kerrera southern panorama.jpg|2048px|Landscape of the south of Kerrera showing [[Gylen Castle]]}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==

{{Commons category-inline|Kerrera}}

{{Argyll Islands}}
{{hebrides}}
{{Islands of Scotland}}
{{Portal bar|Scotland}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerrera}}
[[Category:Kerrera| ]]
[[Category:Islands of Argyll and Bute]]
[[Category:Islands of the Inner Hebrides]]