Eilean Chaluim Chille
Scottish Gaelic nameCalum Cille
Meaning of nameisland of Saint Columba
Location
Eilean Chaluim Chille is located in Outer Hebrides
Eilean Chaluim Chille
Eilean Chaluim Chille
Eilean Chaluim Chille shown within the Outer Hebrides
OS grid referenceNB385215
Coordinates58°07′N 6°26′W / 58.11°N 6.44°W / 58.11; -6.44
Physical geography
Island groupLewis and Harris
Area110 ha[1]
Area rank144 [2]
Highest elevationCreag Mhor 43 m
Administration
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
CountryScotland
Council areaNa h-Eileanan Siar
Demographics
Population0
Lymphad
References[3][4]

Eilean Chaluim Chille (Gaelic: island of Saint Columba, Calum Cille) is an unpopulated island in the Outer Hebrides.

It lies off the east coast of Lewis at the mouth of Loch Erisort. The island reaches a height of 43m (141 feet) in the northeast.[5] At low tide Eilean Chaluim Chille is connected by a causeway to the mainland of Lewis at Crobeag. There are two lochs in the centre of the island.[6]

History

At the southern end of the island lie the ruins of Teampall Chaluim Chille (St Columba's Church).[7] Local tradition has it as the site where Columban monks first arrived in Lewis. Another tradition is that it was built by a man named Columb Kill.[8]

It is cited in a report of 1549 as the main place of worship for the parish of Lochs. There was probably a church there from the medieval period. The cemetery was in use until 1878. Eilean Chaluim Chille is protected by Historic Environment Scotland as a scheduled monument.[9]

Causeway to Eilean Chaluim Chille

Footnotes

  1. ^ Rick Livingstone’s Tables of the Islands of Scotland (pdf) Argyll Yacht Charters. Retrieved 12 Dec 2011.
  2. ^ Area and population ranks: there are c. 300 islands over 20 ha in extent and 93 permanently inhabited islands were listed in the 2011 census.
  3. ^ 2001 UK Census per List of islands of Scotland
  4. ^ Ordnance Survey
  5. ^ "Eilean Chaluim Chille from The Gazetteer for Scotland". www.scottish-places.info. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  6. ^ "Eilean Chalium Chille". Islandeering. 10 December 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  7. ^ "ST. COLUMB'S CHURCH, EILEAN CHALUIM CHILLE, LEWIS | Hebridean Connections". www.hebrideanconnections.com. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  8. ^ Barrowman, Rachel C.; Francoz, Charlotte; Hooper, Janet; Rennie, Christine; Tompsett, Gary (17 February 2020). "Chapel-sites on the Isle of Lewis: Results of the Lewis Coastal Chapel-sites Survey". Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports. 88: 1–134. doi:10.9750/issn.2056-7421.2020.88. ISSN 2056-7421.
  9. ^ "Cromore Village". Lochs Community. Archived from the original on 9 December 2007. Retrieved 12 December 2007.
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58°06.3′N 6°26.3′W / 58.1050°N 6.4383°W / 58.1050; -6.4383


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