- Seil
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Seil Location 
SeilSeil shown within Scotland OS grid reference NM742172 Names Gaelic name Saoil Area and summit Area 1,329 hectares (5.13 sq mi) Area rank 42 Highest elevation Meall Chaise 146 metres (479 ft) Population Population 560 Population rank 21 out of 97 Main settlement Ellenabeich Groupings Island group Slate Islands Local Authority Argyll and Bute 
References [1][2][3][4] If shown, area and population ranks are for all Scottish islands and all inhabited Scottish islands respectively. Population data is from 2001 census. One of the Slate Islands, Seil (Scottish Gaelic: Saoil) is a small island on the east side of the Firth of Lorn, 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Oban, in Scotland.
From Ellenabeich village looking over Easdale Sound to Scarba island in the distance.
Seil has been linked to the Scottish mainland since 1792 when the Clachan Bridge was built by engineer Robert Mylne. Also known as the Bridge Over the Atlantic, the bridge is still used today and in early summer is covered in fairy foxgloves (Erinus alpinus).
The main settlement on Seil is former slate-mining village Ellenabeich, where parts of Ring of Bright Water were filmed. The Ellenabeich Heritage Centre which opened in 2000, is run by the Scottish Slate Islands Trust. Located in a former slate quarry-worker's cottage, the centre has displays on life in the 19th Century, slate quarrying and the local flora, fauna and geology.[5] Another village is Balvicar. Ferries sail from Ellenabeich to Easdale, and from Cuan on the island to Luing.
Wildlife concerns
According to wildlife experts the entire badger population of the island may have been deliberately exterminated in 2007. Forty of the animals, whose setts were believed to be long established, may have been gassed to death, according to the police. The police also expressed concerns that two Golden Eagles and one White-tailed Sea Eagle have been found poisoned near Seil in recent years, involving use of the banned substance Carbofuran.[6]
Footnotes
- ^ 2001 UK Census per List of islands of Scotland
- ^ Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 1841954543.
- ^ Ordnance Survey
- ^ Iain Mac an Tailleir. "Placenames" (PDF). Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/vli/language/gaelic/pdfs/placenamesP-Z.pdf. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
- ^ "Ellenabeich Heritage Centre". Gazetteer for Scotland. http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst10016.html. Retrieved 2007-07-25.
- ^ " Police fear island's historic badger population has been exterminated" wildland-network.org.uk reporting Press and Journal article (25 April 2007). Aberdeen. Retrieved 18 February 2008.
Inhabited islands of the Hebrides Inner Hebrides 
Outer Hebrides Baleshare · Barra · Benbecula · Berneray · Eriskay · Flodaigh · Fraoch-eilean · Great Bernera · Grimsay (North) · Grimsay (South) · Lewis and Harris · North Uist · Scalpay · South Uist · VatersayIslands of Scotland Northern Isles 
Hebrides Other Coordinates: 56°18′0″N 5°37′12″W / 56.3°N 5.62°W
Categories:- Slate Islands
- Islands of the Inner Hebrides
- Argyll and Bute geography stubs
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