A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
Strath, a parish in the Isle of Skye, Inverness-shire, containing the villages of Broadford and Kyle-Akin, and including the islands of Scalpay, Pabba, and Longa. It is bounded E and SE by Sleat, W by Bracadale, NW by Portree, and on all other sides by the sea. Its utmost length, from E by N to W by S, is 197/8 miles; its breadth varies between 3½ and 10¼ miles; and its area is 1164/5 square miles or 74,751 acres, of which 2644½ are foreshore, 678 water, and 171/6 tidal water. The northern coast is indented by Loch Ainort at the Portree boundary, Broadford Bay, and Loch na Beiste; the southern by Loch Eishort at the Sleat boundary, Loch Slapin, and Loch Scavaig at the Bracadale boundary. Of eighteen fresh water lakes the largest and most interesting is Loch Coruisk, which, lying on the Bracadale border, is 114½ acres in extent; whilst of several streams the largest is the Sligachan. The surface is everywhere hilly or grandly mountainous, the chief elevations being Beinn na Caillich (2396 feet), Sgiur na Coinnich (2401), and Beinn na Seamraig (1839) on the Sleat boundary; a second Beinn na Caillich (2403) and Beinn Dearg (2323), to the W of Broadford; and Marsco (2414), Blabhein or Blaven (3042), and Ben Meabost (1126), still further to the W. According to the Ordnance Survey, 62, 040 acres are moorland, leaving less than one-seventh of the entire land area for arable grounds and woodlands. Where limestone abounds the pasture is rich and luxuriant; but where the primitive rocks occur, they are of a kind to yield little soil, and maintain a scanty and inferior herbage. The soil of the arable grounds is partly clay, partly black loam, and partly reclaimed moss. Sandstone, chiefly of a light-blue colour, has been quarried for building, and limestone worked both as a manure and as a coarse yet ornamental marble. Remains of preReformation chapels exist at Ashig, Kilbride, and Kilmorie; and ruins of seven circular towers, each in sight of the next, and all surmounting rocks, stand in the W. From the southernmost commences a series in Sleat, and from these again a series on the opposite shore of Arisaig. A number of tumuli in the E are traditionally said to mark the scene of a conflict with the Danes. A cave in the N is an object of interest to the curious as having, during several nights, in 1746, afforded shelter to Prince Charles Edward. A rockingstone, consisting of a prodigious block of granite, and movable by a single finger, stands on the glebe. The landowners are Lord Macdonald and Alex. Macalister, Esq. of Strathaird. Strath is in the presbytery of Skye and the synod of Glenelg; the living is worth £370. The parish church was built at Broadford in 1841, and contains 900 sittings. There are also a Free church and a Baptist chapel at Broadford, and a chapel of ease at Kyle-Akin. Seven new public schools, with total accommodation for 439 children, had (1884) an average attendance of 251, and grants amounting to £243, 9s. 3d. Valuation (1860) £3684, (1884) £5538. Pop. (1801) 1748, (1841) 3150, (1861) 2664, (1871) 2562, (1881) 2616, of whom 2523 were Gaelic-speaking.
(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)
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| Feature Description: | "a parish" (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions") |
| Administrative units: | Strath ScoP Inverness Shire ScoCnty |
| Place: | Strath |
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