An interesting little settlement, inaccessible by road, which represents the site of a former granite quarry at the western end of the Ross of Mull, Tormore lies a half-mile (0.8 km) north of Fionnphort. A group of houses remain with remarkable views over the Sound of Iona to Iona Abbey. The quarry operated here between 1831 and 1910, with a brief resumption in the late 1980s. The distinctive red granite was conveyed down the hillside and exported around the world from a substantial pier which remains today. The stone was used in the construction of several Scottish lighthouses (Skerryvore, Ardnamurchan, Dubh Artach and Hyskeir), as well as Blackfriars Bridge and Holburn Viaduct in London, docks in Liverpool and New York, Manchester Town Hall, the Albert Memorial in Kensington Gardens (London) and the Royal Mausoleum at Frogmore (Windsor). Much evidence of this industry remains.
