Sanda Island

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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Aven, a modern provincial abbreviation of ` Avona Porticosa, ' the ancient name of the island Sanda in Southend parish, Argyllshire.

Sanda, a small island, belonging to the parish of Southend, Argyllshire. It lies at the W side of the entrance of the Firth of Clyde, 1¾ mile SSE of the nearest part of the peninsula of Kintyre, 6⁵/₈ miles ESE of the Mull of Kintyre, and 10 S by E of Campbeltown. It has an utmost length and breadth of 1¼ and ¾ mile; it consists of sandstone rock; and has a tumulated surface, with an extreme altitude of 405 feet above sea-level. Moderately high cliffs form part of its shores; and one of these is pierced with a very large natural arch, and forms a very picturesque object. The island is covered-with good grass, and is all disposed in sheepwalk, in the tenancy of one farmer. Two islets, called Sheep Isle and Glunimore, lie off its NE side, and are also clothed in good grass. A small, good, natural harbour lies between it and these islets, and is a place of shelter and rendezvous for the smaller sort of vessels which navigate the Clyde. This harbour was a common station of the Scandinavian fleets during the contests for the possession of Kintyre and the Hebrides. The island, in this connection, was then called Avona Porticosa-a name which it still retains, in the abbreviated form of Aven, among the Highlanders; but it figures, under its more proper name of Sanda, in the more ancient record of Adamnan's life of Columba. There are remains on it of an ancient chapel which was dedicated to Columba, and of a circumjacent cemetery which appears to have long possessed some superstitious celebrity. A dangerous rock, above a mile in circumference, and bearing the name of Paterson's Rock, lies 1 mile E by N of Sanda; and, being always covered by food tide, has endangered many a vessel. A lighthouse, erected on Sanda in 1850 at a cost of £11,931, shows an occulting light in a SW direction, from NW ½ W round to SE by E ½ E, visible at the distance of 17 nautical miles.- Pop. (184l) 11, (1861) 36, (1871) 57, (l881) 14.—Ord. Sur., sh. 12, 1872.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer