Sgeir na Craoibhe

Island in Argyllshire

Scotland

Sgeir na Craoibhe

Luing - Looking across Black Mill Bay to Ardlarach A view across the semicircular Black Mill Bay from the eponymous settlement of Blackmillbay to the land around Ardlarach with Cnoc Mòr rising behind it to the left (west). — Luing - Looking across Black Mill Bay to Ardlarach Credit: Rob Farrow

Sgeir na Craoibhe, also known as Sgeir na Creagach, is a small uninhabited island located off the west coast of Scotland in Argyllshire. Situated in the Inner Hebrides, it lies approximately 2 kilometers northwest of the Isle of Luing and 16 kilometers south of Oban.

The island is characterized by its rugged and rocky landscape, with steep cliffs rising from the surrounding sea. It measures around 300 meters in length and 100 meters in width, with a highest point of approximately 32 meters above sea level.

Sgeir na Craoibhe is home to a variety of seabirds, including nesting colonies of common guillemots, razorbills, and kittiwakes. These birds take advantage of the rocky ledges and crevices for breeding, making the island an important site for ornithologists and bird enthusiasts.

The area surrounding the island is known for its rich marine life, with a diverse range of fish species found in the surrounding waters. This makes Sgeir na Craoibhe a popular spot for anglers looking to catch fish such as mackerel, herring, and cod.

Access to Sgeir na Craoibhe is limited, as it is an uninhabited and privately owned island. However, visitors can admire its natural beauty from the sea or nearby vantage points on the Isle of Luing. The island serves as a picturesque example of the rugged and untamed beauty of Scotland's west coast.

Show me another place!

If you have any feedback on the listing, please let us know in the comments section below.

Sgeir na Craoibhe Images

Images are sourced within 2km of 56.236431/-5.6599213 or Grid Reference NM7310. Thanks to Geograph Open Source API. All images are credited.

Luing - Looking across Black Mill Bay to Ardlarach

A view across the semicircular Black Mill Bay from the eponymous settlement of Blackmillbay to the land around Ardlarach with Cnoc Mòr rising behind it to the left (west).

Rob Farrow

Luing - Luing Cattle - a small herd

A little group of the good-looking Luing Cattle a breed named after the island. The breed is three quarters Beef Shorthorn and one quarter Highland. They are a very hardy beef cow that can raise their calves in harsh conditions. See Wikipedia article here: Link

Luing Cattle Society webpage here: Link

Rob Farrow

Luing - A small herd of Luing cattle on a ridge

This little group of the Luing Cattle were moving slowly across the ridge north of the lane from Blackmillbay to Toberonochy on the island from which they get their name. The breed is three quarters Beef Shorthorn and one quarter Highland. They are a very hardy beef cow that can raise their calves in harsh conditions. See Wikipedia article here: Link

Luing Cattle Society webpage here: Link

Rob Farrow

Luing - A Luing cow

This fine beast was munching on the grassland of the Isle of Luing from which the breed gets its name. The breed is three quarters Beef Shorthorn and one quarter Highland. They are a very hardy beef cow that can raise their calves in harsh conditions. See Wikipedia article here: Link

Luing Cattle Society webpage here: Link

Rob Farrow

Felsic Intrusion

Felsic rock is igneous rock that is low in iron and magnesium and high in silica. It is usually pale in colour. Here at Black Mill Bay the Easdale Slates are cut by several sheets of felsic rock, and the outcrop in the foreground is part of the largest of these. It continues beneath the vegetation to form the Cobblers of Lorn, one of which is the conical rock just left of centre a little further north.

Anne Burgess

Raised Beach

Raised beaches are a feature of much of the coast of Scotland, and especially noticeable in parts of Argyll. They occur when sea level falls fairly rapidly relative to the level of the land, leaving former shores high and dry. You can see that there is a level area between the low cliffs and the present shore right up the length of the coast here.

Anne Burgess

The Cobblers of Lorn

The row of rock stacks at the shoreward side of the raised beach is a prominent feature of the west coast of Luing, and a useful landmark for sailors. They are parts of a thick sheet of felsic rock that has been intruded into the Easdale Slates which are the commonest type of rock in this area. Felsic rock is pale-coloured igneous rock which is low in iron and magnesium but high in feldspar and silica. The felsic sheet was eroded into stacks by the action of the sea when the relative level of the sea was higher, and what is now grassland was the shore. Compare with NM7209 : The Cobblers of Lorne.

Anne Burgess

Fold on the Foreshore

The rock pool occupies the eroded hinge zone of a fold in the Easdale Slate. You can just about make out the curve of the beds round the fold.

Anne Burgess

Sound of Luing

In the foreground is a forest of kelp, probably Oarweed or Tangle. The hill at the far side of the Sound is the island of Scarba.

Anne Burgess

Truncated Slate

The dark rock here is Easdale Slate, and you can easily make out that it is folded. It has been cut through by the pale rock on the left, which is a felsic sheet. Felsic rock is a pale igneous rock rich in feldspar and silica but low in magnesium and iron.

Anne Burgess

Pyrite Holes

Pyrite is a sulphide of iron, a mineral that forms in anoxic conditions. It crystallises in little cubes a few millimetres across, and its colour when fresh is brassy gold, so that it is commonly called Fool's Gold. When exposed to air, it weathers away quite readily. Each of these square holes once held a pyrite crystal which has weathered out, and most of the holes are surrounded by a ring of chemical alteration. One rusty-looking crystal is still in its hole at the very top of the image.

Anne Burgess

The Cobblers of Lorn

Looking towards the former sea stacks from the south. The Cobblers are actually just in the next square, but the slate outcrop at left and all of the grassy land are in this square.

Anne Burgess

Old Coastline

This view is along what was once the shore line. To the right is a line of former sea cliffs, and to the left is a raised beach, a roughly horizontal area left high and dry when the sea level fell relative to the land. This must have occurred after the end of the last Ice Age about 10,000 years ago, but long enough afterwards for the beach to have formed.

Anne Burgess

Ardlarach

Ardlarach is a substantial farm, the home of the Cadzow family who developed the Luing cattle breed.

Anne Burgess

Isle of Luing

This is a rather featureless part of the centre of Luing, with boggy ground used mainly for grazing.

Anne Burgess

Grazing Land

The nearer land has evidently been improved and is providing grazing for sheep. Further away is unimproved rushy, probably quite boggy land. The houses are at Ardlarach Farm, and the hill on the skyline is on the island of Scarba.

Anne Burgess