Contin Island is an inhabited riverine islet in

Ross and Cromarty Ross and Cromarty (), is an area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. In modern usage, it is a registration county and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. Between 1889 and 1975 it was a Shires of Scotland, county. Historical ...

within the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

council area of Scotland. Located in the Black Water, a tributary of the River Conon, it is downstream from

Rogie Falls Rogie Falls (Gaelic: ''Eas Rothagaidh'') are a series of waterfalls on the Black Water, a river in Ross-shire in the Highlands of Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It conta ...

and is connected to the village of

Contin Contin ( Gaelic: Cunndainn) is a Ross-shire village, and a civil parish and community council area between Strathpeffer and Garve in the Highland council area of Scotland. The parish has a population of 675.Máel Ruba Máel Ruba ( 642–722) is an Irish saint of the Celtic Church who was active in the Christianisation of the Picts and Gaels of Scotland. Originally a monk from Bangor Abbey, County Down, Gaelic Ireland, he founded the monastic community of A ...

and the old manse, surrounded by farm land. There has probably been a church on this site since the 7th or 8th century and there is a reference to it in 1227. The present church building dates from 1490, the former church having been burned by the MacDonalds sometime between 1482 and 1488. It was repaired and altered around 1832. There are two stones in the churchyard dating to about 1200. The church is constructed of rubble walls with a slate roof, and the 19th century reconstruction followed the design of William Thomson. It has arched doors, windows with lattice glazing and a birdcage bell-cot on the west gable. The

manse A manse () is a clergy house inhabited by, or formerly inhabited by, a minister, usually used in the context of Presbyterian, Methodist, Baptist and other Christian traditions. Ultimately derived from the Latin ''mansus'', "dwelling", from '' ...

, constructed in 1794 and enlarged in the 19th century, is located to the south of the church. It is now a private dwelling.

Inhabitation

Although it is clear from photographic evidence that the island is inhabited, at least from time to time, it was not listed as such by the census in 2001. However, the manse is a full-time family home.General Register Office for Scotland (28 Nov 2003)
Occasional Paper No 10: Statistics for Inhabited Islands
''. Retrieved 26 Feb 2012.

Gallery

File:Contin Church.jpg, Contin Church File:Contin Manse.jpg, Contin Manse File:Torr Achilty.jpg, The heights of Torr Achilty from Contin Island

Footnotes

{{coord, 57.5645, N, 4.5805, W, region:GB_type:isle, display=title River islands of Scotland Populated places in Ross and Cromarty Islands of Highland (council area)

Inhabitation

See also

Gallery

Footnotes