Pricing Change
New pricing for orders of material from this site will come into place shortly. Charges for supply of digital images, digitisation on demand, prints and licensing will be altered.
Upcoming Maintenance
Please be advised that this website will undergo scheduled maintenance on the following dates:
Thursday, 9 January: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Thursday, 23 January: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Thursday, 30 January: 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM
During these times, some functionality such as image purchasing may be temporarily unavailable. We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Recording Your Heritage Online
Event ID 566958
Category Descriptive Accounts
Type Recording Your Heritage Online
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/566958
Often overlooked as a flat, featureless "confusion of land and water", this small island laced with lochans has made a significant contribution to the history of the Outer Hebrides. A stepping stone between the Presbyterian northern isles and the Roman Catholic southern ones, it is linked to Grimsay and North Uist by a causeway across the treacherous North Ford, 1960, and to South Uist by Ford Bridge, 1942 . When Clanranald sold Benbecula in 1838, it became part of the portfolio of Hebridean properties belonging to the discredited Col. John Gordon of Cluny. Because of the success and prolonged duration of the kelp industry here, Benbecula's housing and social conditions were relatively superior, with fewer landless cottars, no windowless dwellings and only 30 per cent sharing accommodation with livestock (as compared with 70 per cent in South Uist and Eriskay) by the turn of the 19th century.
Taken from "Western Seaboard: An Illustrated Architectural Guide", by Mary Miers, 2008. Published by the Rutland Press http://www.rias.org.uk
