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Benbecula, General
General View (Period Unassigned)
Site Name Benbecula, General
Classification General View (Period Unassigned)
Canmore ID 273453
Site Number NF85SW 29
NGR NF 8152 5222
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/273453
- Council Western Isles
- Parish South Uist
- Former Region Western Isles Islands Area
- Former District Western Isles
- Former County Inverness-shire
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
