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The Great Britain Guide

Islands · Scottish Highlands

Gruinard Island

Also known as: Eilean Ghruinneard

Free admission

Gruinard Island — island in Highland, Scotland, UK.

Gruinard Island, islands in Scottish Highlands

Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
4 h–12 h
  • Free entry
  • Dog-friendly

About

Gruinard Island is a island in the United Kingdom. It covers approximately 2 km². Part of Inner Hebrides. Wikidata describes it as: "island in Highland, Scotland, UK". Coordinates: 57.8900°, -5.4700°.

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From the Wikipedia article

Gruinard Island ( GRIN-yərd; Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Ghruinneard) is a small, oval-shaped Scottish island approximately two kilometres (1+1⁄4 miles) long by one kilometre (5⁄8 mi) wide, located in Gruinard Bay, about halfway between Gairloch and Ullapool. At its closest point to the mainland, it is about one kilometre (one-half nautical mile) offshore. In 1942, the island became a sacrifice zone, and was dangerous for all mammals after military experiments with the anthrax bacterium, until it was decontaminated in 1990.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

The island was mentioned by Dean Munro who travelled the area in the mid-16th century. He wrote that it was Clan MacKenzie territory, "full of woods" (it is treeless today), and that it was "guid for fostering of thieves and rebellis". Historically, the counties of Ross-shire and Cromartyshire have both laid claim to Gruinard Island due to the position of the island in between Gairloch and Ullapool. In the late 1780s, the villages became substantial fishing and sheep farming communities leading Gruinard Island to be utilized as an area of land for grazing sheep or as a small dock for fishing. By 1881, the population on the island was six, soon becoming uninhabited with no record detailing…

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
57.8900, -5.4700

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Gruinard Island?
Gruinard Island is in Scottish Highlands, in the United Kingdom — coordinates 57.8900°, -5.4700°.
Is Gruinard Island free to visit?
Yes — admission to Gruinard Island is free.