In the 19th century, when the castle was largely restored, the slates of the old roof were in perfect condition requiring only renewal of the wooden pegs by which they were suspended. Reliable records began in 1745 when the Earl of Breadalbane established the Marble and Slate Company and opened slate quarries on Easdale Island. This increase was due largely to the introduction of pumping machinery which made it possible to quarry the slate below sea level even at high tide. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account. A ferry sails from Easdale to Ellenabeich on the nearby island of Seil, which is separated from Easdale by only a narrow channel. ( Log Out / As the basin fills up, there is an increasing supply of turbidites, giving way gradually to carbonate deposits which have become limestone.
It was only when I arrived to explore them for myself, that I discovered the true extent of the slate industry’s influence on the land and its people. The first written reference to Easdale slate occurs in the account of the region of Netherlorn, given by Dean Munro, in 1554. Package Holidays. Production ceased completely during the First and Second World Wars and in both cases a few quarries never reopened afterwards. Firth of Lorn Special Area of Conservation, Views over the Southern Hebrides from other Islands, Images and Text Copyright Southern Hebrides. Luing is the largest of the Slate Islands and had a population of over 600 in the late 1800s, but nowadays the island is inhabited by barely 200 people. Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. Production reached a peak at the end of the 19th century, producing 10 million slates annually. There is an abrupt change from coarse-grained sediments, which have been metamorphosed to quartzite, to fine-grained muds which have been metamorphosed to slate. Once the centre of the Scottish slate industry, there has been some recent island regeneration. The island boasts a unique community hall and is home to the annual World Stone Skimming Championships each September. Easdale is a small island in Argyll on the west coast of Scotland, 16 miles south of Oban. The last slates to be taken from the Easdale quarries on a commercial scale were shipped in 1911. Easdale Island can be seen in the background. In 1879, the night of the Tay Bridge disaster, several of the islands were swept by exceptionally high tides flooding quarries and houses alike. It is not known precisely when quarrying began, but there is a report of a cargo of slates being sent to St Andrews in 1168. Confusingly, Ellenabeich is sometimes known as Easdale as a result of its traditional connections with the island. However, this identification is not conclusive, as crennulation cleavage is also present in Ballachulish although generally not as well-developed as in Easdale. As the demand for slate increased, the company expanded rapidly, establishing several quarries on the adjacent islands of Ellanbeich, Luing and Seil. More. Easdale Island Tourism: Tripadvisor has 211 reviews of Easdale Island Hotels, Attractions, and Restaurants making it your best Easdale Island resource. Natural disasters also threatened the survival of the quarries. mehr, Beginnen Sie noch heute mit der Planung für. The great storm of 1850 flooded most of the quarries and without the means to pump the water away this was more or less the end of the slate industry on the island. At about the same time, the Norwegians discovered slate on the Island of Belnahua nearby. The Scottish slate industry probably started on the island of Easdale on the west coast of Scotland. (Ellanbeich is no longer an island but connected to Seil by slate waste.) Erstellen Sie eine Reise, um all Ihre Reiseideen zu speichern, zu organisieren und auf einer Karte anzuzeigen. He set about putting the Easdale quarries into as full production as possible, using equipment from the submerged Ellenabeich quarry to better effect on the island. The companys directors relied entirely upon their manager, Mr McColl, who often, through no fault of his own, was less than efficient as a manager.
It is possible that the slate, exposed at high tide, was taken prior to this date and that early inhabitants of the coast would have used the thin rock slabs to floor their dwellings and … Easdale Island can be seen in the background. In 2005 funding was secured for the purchase of the island’s historic harbour and an adjacent area of land for community development. Car Hire. However, this identification is not conclusive, as crennulation cleavage is also present in Ballachulish although generally not as well-developed as in Easdale. By the year 1800, the production rate had risen to 5 million. However, this identification is not conclusive, as crennulation cleavage is also present in Ballachulish although generally not as well-developed as in Easdale. As the basin fills up, there is an increasing supply of turbidites, giving way gradually to carbonate deposits which have become limestone. Easdale slate, a black carbonaceous pyritic slate, had been collected from the shores of Easdale and quarried from the surface on an ad hoc basis for centuries before the quarries were developed commercially during the first half of the 18th century. They also have a well-developed crenulation cleavage which is often used to distinguish between Ballachulish and Easdale slates.