Many different groups of people have lived on the small Canna Isle. Neolithic people settled thousands of years ago. Later, Christian Celtic monks, Norse settlers and various Scottish groups lived on Canna. Evidence of most are still present, notably stone churches. One unusual relic is a standing stone with a hole above people’s heads in which the thumb of a lawbreaker was jammed. The accused was left for a time to reflect on his or her deeds.
Canna is one of the Little Isles group of the Inner Hebrides. A bridge connects it to the adjacent Sanday Island. Both islands are small, with a tiny resident population. Today, the island is managed by the National Trust of Scotland. Compass Hill, 139 metres high, is a prominent landmark. It is named after the high iron content of the tuff—consolidated volcanic ash— which makes up the hill. This attracted the needles of compasses on nearby ships causing confusion to pre-satellite navigators. The hill slopes have a variety of wildflowers that take advantage of good soils, and warm springs and summers. Canna is a bird sanctuary, with 15,000 breeding seabirds of 14 species. Half of the birds are Common Guillemots who nest on cliff ledges. A long-term National Trust bird ringing study has found guillemots live for a long time, with the oldest ever recorded for Britain being a 38 -year-old bird on Canna. As well as abundant seabirds, we may see scarcer birds including birds of prey. The majestic White-tailed Sea-eagle is one to look out for.
Canna lies south-west of Skye and is thought to be inhabited since 5000BC; it now supports a small crofting community. The island has two tiny churches and an ancient Celtic cross. Canna House, now the home to the archives of Gaelic folklorist and scholar John Campbell who left the island and his collections to the care of the National Trust for Scotland.
St Edward's Church, Sanday, is a deconsecrated, and now disused church on the small isle of Sanday. The church was a gift to the people of Canna and Sanday from Gwendolyn Fitzalan-Howard, the 3rd Marchioness of Bute, who had it erected as a memorial to her father, Edward Fitzalan-Howard, 1st Baron Howard of Glossop, who had died in 1883. At the time, the islands already had a Catholic chapel, dedicated to St Columba, which had been built on Canna in c. 1770. After St Edward's was built, the old church was converted into a shop and post office. The populations of Sanday and Canna declined during the 20th Century, with their combined inhabitants now numbering around 30. In the face of this loss of parishioners, the church began to suffer from structural deterioration and closed in 1963. Services have now been moved back into the old St Columba's chapel on Canna (a replacement post office was built nearby). The former church received Listed status in 1985. After closure, the church was used as a hostelry, and in 2001, was converted into a Gaelic study centre at the cost of £860,000. This was not a successful venture, as it was reported in 2010 that the centre had never been used, and was once again suffering from water damage. By 2016, it was once again disused. When we got to it, it was locked and we could not enter
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