Coll - History

History

Coll was home to a branch of the Clan Maclean for 500 years, not all of which were peaceful. In 1590 the Macleans of Duart invaded their cousins on Coll with the intention of taking the island for themselves. A battle was fought at Breachacha Castle where the Coll clan overwhelmed the Duarts, chopped off their heads and threw them in the stream, which is still known as "the stream of the heads". The Macleans of Coll retained their baronial fief and Castle of Breachacha until 1848 when Alexander Maclean of Coll emigrated to Natal, South Africa where he died unmarried.

Coll, like other Hebridean islands, has several crannógs (artificial islands) located in some of its lochs. One such crannog is Dun Anlaimh, which is thought to date to at least the later Middle Ages. Local tradition states that the dun was the fortress of a Norse chieftain who was defeated in battle by the Macleans.

Breachacha Castle on the south coast dates from the 15th century. It was restored by the Project Trust, a gap year organisation that sends school leavers abroad for a year's voluntary work. They send 17-19 year olds on a whole year abroad, and have extensive selection and training weeks. An 18th century mansion house stands nearby.

The population of Coll was much higher in the past. In the late 18th century there were about 1,000 people supported by agriculture and fishing. During the Highland Clearances of the 1830s and 1840s, half the population left, many of them moving to Australia, Canada or South Africa.