Colbost () is a scattered
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depi ...
on the B884 road, in the
Glendale estate, overlooking
Loch Dunvegan
Loch Dunvegan (Scottish Gaelic: ''Loch Dhùn Bheagain''), is a sea loch on the west coast of the island of Skye in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. Dunvegan, the village it was named after is located by its southern shore. The settlements of Galt ...
on the Scottish island of
Skye
The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated ...
.
The two main attractions of this small settlement are
The Three Chimneys restaurant and the Croft Museum.
Three Chimneys

The Three Chimneys is a
five-star restaurant and hotel. On its annual
Top 50
In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...
''
Restaurant'' magazine listed the Three Chimneys as the 28th best restaurant in the world in 2002 and 32nd in the world in 2003.
Colbost Croft Museum

The Colbost Croft Museum, also known as the Folk Museum, is a simple open-air exhibit, set in a garden. At the centre of this simple grassy garden is a perfectly preserved 19th century
Hebridean
The Hebrides (; gd, Innse Gall, ; non, Suðreyjar, "southern isles") are an archipelago off the west coast of the Scottish mainland. The islands fall into two main groups, based on their proximity to the mainland: the Inner and Outer Hebride ...
crofter
A croft is a Agricultural fencing, fenced or Enclosure, enclosed area of land, usually small and arable land, arable, and usually, but not always, with a crofter's dwelling thereon. A crofter is one who has Land tenure, tenure and use of the lan ...
's
blackhouse
A blackhouse ( ga, teach dubh ; gd, t(a)igh-dubh ) is a traditional type of house which used to be common in Ireland, the Hebrides, and the Scottish Highlands.
Origin of the name
The origin of the name blackhouse is of some debate. On the Is ...
, of which there would have been thousands on Skye before the tragic
Highland clearances
The Highland Clearances ( gd, Fuadaichean nan Gàidheal , the "eviction of the Gaels") were the evictions of a significant number of tenants in the Scottish Highlands and Islands, mostly in two phases from 1750 to 1860.
The first phase resul ...
. The house incorporates
dry stone
Dry stone, sometimes called drystack or, in Scotland, drystane, is a building method by which structures are constructed from stones without any mortar to bind them together. Dry stone structures are stable because of their construction me ...
walls and a
heather
Heather may refer to:
Plants
*The heather family, or Ericaceae, particularly:
**Common heather or ling, '' Calluna''
**Various species of the genus '' Cassiope''
**Various species of the genus '' Erica''
Name
* Heather (given name)
* Heather ...
-
thatched roof
Thatching is the craft of building a roof with dry vegetation such as straw, water reed, sedge (''Cladium mariscus''), rushes, heather, or palm branches, layering the vegetation so as to shed water away from the inner roof. Since the bulk of ...
. Inside there is the simple furniture that would have been found in such a cottage as well as
newspaper
A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sport ...
clippings related to the clearances. The smell of smoke is dominant, as there is no chimney to accommodate the open fire - just a hole in the roof. At the back of the garden there is more vegetation and two little huts where produce would have been stored, one of which contains a mock illegal
whisky
Whisky or whiskey is a type of distilled alcoholic beverage made from fermented grain mash. Various grains (which may be malted) are used for different varieties, including barley, corn, rye, and wheat. Whisky is typically aged in wooden ca ...
brewing plant. Lying around the garden there are various agricultural tools including an old rusty
plow
A plough or plow (Differences between American and British spellings, US; both ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses, but in modern farms are draw ...
. The
self-service
Self-service is the practice of serving oneself, usually when making purchases. Aside from Automated Teller Machines, which are not limited to banks, and customer-operated supermarket check-out, labor-saving of which has been described as sel ...
ticket office is housed in a small
shack
A shack (or, in some areas, shanty) is a type of small shelter or dwelling, often primitive or rudimentary in design and construction.
Unlike huts, shacks are constructed by hand using available materials; however, whereas huts are usually r ...
with an upturned
boat
A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats.
Small boats are typically found on i ...
for a roof.
Sheep
Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus ''Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated sh ...
often wander into the garden to graze making this not only an
open-air museum
An open-air museum (or open air museum) is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts out-of-doors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum.
Definition
Open air is “the unconfined atmosphere� ...
but also a living museum.
References
External links
The Three Chimneys
{{Skye
Populated places in the Isle of Skye