Landscape

Nestling on the eastern side of one of the worlds most celebrated rift valleys, and born of the cataclysmic upheavals of more than 600 million years ago, the formation of the island is largely of schist and slate with the lower ground to the west as raised beach from the island.

The partly submerged Crannog, or fortified dwelling, dating from the Bronze Age around 200BC and situated some 200 metres in the Channel to the east of the bridge, marks the earliest recorded human history of the island. 

From the surge of Norse invasions, Notably Erik the Red, which swept the west coast of Scotland in the 10th Century, the name of the island is derived.