The Island's Historical Background

Easdale is the smallest permanently-inhabited island of the Inner Hebrides, off Scotland's west coast. Situated in the Firth of Lorn, about 15 miles south of Oban, it covers an area of less than 10 hectares but has a permanent population of about 60, plus a similar number who own residential property and visit regularly. Many visiting residents live in other parts of Scotland but have ancestral connections going back several generations. The Island lies about 200 metres off the Island of Seil which itself is connected to the mainland by the 200- year-old Clachan Bridge, the "Bridge over the Atlantic". There is no vehicular access to the Island which is served by a small ferry able to carry 10 passengers.

The Island has had a colourful history. From the middle of the 17th century to the early 20th century it was an important centre for slate quarrying. The Island had as many as seven working quarries, some of which extended down to 300 feet below sea level. Together with other quarries on the neighbouring islands of Seil, Luing and Belnahua the Island gave its name to the famous Easdale Slate which was exported to Glasgow, Ireland and beyond. At the peak of the industry in the second half of the 19th century the population was in excess of 500. A storm in 1881 flooded the quarries, and thereafter the industry declined until the last slate was cut in the 1950's. By the early 1960's the population had dwindled to only 4. However since then the population has steadily increased and most of the dwelling houses have now been reconstructed and modernised.

The economic baseline of the Island community today is completely different from that of the past. The main industry of the area is tourism, which indirectly or directly accounts for much of the locally-generated income. Other important sources of income derive from external sources such as pensions, people working on the mainland and in Oban or temporarily overseas, and people for whom their house on the Island is a second home and who spend money on repairs and renovations. Several houses can be regarded as "electronic cottages" and a high proportion of permanently occupied houses are connected to the Internet. Several houses are run as self-catering holiday cottages, and others offer bed-and-breakfast facilities.

The social baseline has attained a well-balanced state with 13 children, 12 of school age, amongst the present population whose age ranges from 6 months to 82 years. There is a small museum which attracts over 5000 visitors a year, and a pub and restaurant which serve as a focal point for both visitors and residents. The drill hall was bought in 1996 by a resident and turned over to Eilean Eisdeal, The Easdale Island Trust. This is a charity established with the express intent of renovating the Drill Hall for the use of the Islanders, and also of enhancing the social, economic and environmental fabric of the community.


http://www.easdale.org/abouteasdale_general.htm#history


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