This is my second post featuring villages on Skye. Because settlements here grew as crofting 'townships', where every house had a few acres of land around it, Skye has very few nucleated villages, such as you might find in England and Wales. After Carbost (see my previous post), Edinbane is pretty
much Skye’s only other conventional village. By that, I mean it is nucleated
around a centre, and has facilities provided for the residents. Edinbane has
residential properties, a school, a play area, a village hall and two pubs… but
no church, and (these days) no shop either.
All this is mostly down to the unique history of this particular settlement.
Upper Edinbane is a traditional crofting township, but Lower
Edinbane (The Village) was planned as a Model Village India
where he made his fortune by growing Indigo. He retuned to Skye to live at
Greshornish and create his village at Edinbane. In the late 1860s, he built
houses, a school, a hospital, a mill and an inn.
Today, after standing empty and semi-derelict for several
years, the hospital is converted into holiday accommodation. The school
survives, but with very few pupils on roll, the mill is gone, and the inn
remains a popular attraction to both locals and visitors.
Here are some of my pictures of Edinbane, Isle of Skye:
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| The 'main road' through Edinbane is single-track. |
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| Edinbane Primary School. The school currently has 8 pupils, and the nursery department is 'mothballed' |
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| Post Office Row 1860s housing development, but no Post Office here now. |
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| The former Gesto Hospital Now holiday accommodation |
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| Edinbane Inn A lively pub and restaurant, popular with visitors and locals |
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| The Lodge Hotel, Edinbane Supposed to be the oldest pub on Skye. Also supposed to be haunted. |
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| Winter in Edinbane |
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| Edinbane Burial Ground. As is common on Skye - the cemetery is not attached to a church, and is located outside of the village |
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