Sanda Island is in Argyll and Bute, Scotland, off the southern tip of the Kintyre peninsula, and it came to my attention when I read this article A Scottish island for sale with seals, seven houses, a lighthouse and its own pub – Country Life in Country Life. The article is beautifully illustrated, with an aerial video that sings Sanda Island’s beautiful praises, but which fails to mention anything about its history. It has to have history, right? So I set off to find out.
My initial resort was Wikipedia—https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanda_Island—for an overall assessment, and it was very informative. With its Celtic crosses and supposed holy well Sanda was connected with Saint Ninian, who is also credited with building the now-ruined chapel. According to Wikipedia “….It is said that Ninian‘s grave was marked by an alder tree, and that whoever stepped on it would die….” Oh dear, that’s rather harsh if the person hadn’t known of the sin committed!
When it comes to historic figures, in the Middle Ages Robert the Bruce fled to Sanda with an English navy on his tail, and his brother Edward is named in Prince Edward’s Rock, south of the lighthouse. When it comes to rocks, it’s thought that Wallace’s Rocks to the south may refer to William Wallace.
The island had later connections with the MacDonalds of Kintyre, but Wikipedia provides no further information that would be of interest to readers of this blog.
A description of the island as it was at the end of the 19th century can be read here Sanda Island: Historical perspective for Sanda Island (scottish-places.info)
The buildings/houses aren’t things of beauty, and the interiors are simple but generally elegant (in my opinion). However if you want to live like a Hollywood millionaire, you’ll need to do some splashing out. Not that a glitzy new residence would be in keeping with the surroundings.
You can read about Sanda’s lighthouse here Sanda – Northern Lighthouse Board (nlb.org.uk) and here Sanda lighthouse and stair towers, excluding helipad, solar panels, oil tank and water tank, Sanda Island. (LB52565) (historicenvironment.scot)
If all this—and the sheer magnificence and wild beauty of Sanda Island—appeals to you (and you have deep pockets) then you’ll need the “….very reasonable….sum of £2.5 million or more….” I’m definitely drawn on seeing it on a lovely, mild, sunny summer’s day, as in the Country Life article, but I lack the necessary funds to do anything other than yearn. But when I think of a raging January storm howling through the night, buffeting whatever it can buffet, my courage fails. I’m a comfort-loving Sassenach without gumption, I fear.
murreyandblue 
And was not St. Ninian a favorite of R3?
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Indeed.
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