Grimsay

---

title: "Grimsay" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["uist-islands", "tidal-islands-of-scotland"] description: "Tidal island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland" topic_path: "geography/united-kingdom" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimsay" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Tidal island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox Scottish island"]

Field	Value
coordinates
location_map	Scotland Outer Hebrides
caption	Grimsay shown within the Outer Hebrides
GridReference	NF855572
celtic name	Griomasaigh
norse name	Grímsey
meaning of name	ON: Grim's Island
area	833 ha
area rank	58
highest elevation	22 m
Population	149
population rank	40
population density	18 PD/km2
main settlement	Bàgh Mòr and Ceallan
island group	Uist and Barra
local authority	Outer Hebrides
references
::

|coordinates = |location_map=Scotland Outer Hebrides |caption=Grimsay shown within the Outer Hebrides |GridReference=NF855572 |celtic name=Griomasaigh |norse name=Grímsey |meaning of name=ON: Grim's Island |area= 833 ha |area rank= 58 |highest elevation= 22 m |Population=149 |population rank= 40 |population density =18 PD/km2 |main settlement= Bàgh Mòr and Ceallan |island group=Uist and Barra |local authority=Outer Hebrides |references=

Grimsay () is a tidal island in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland.

Geography

Grimsay is the largest of the low-lying stepping-stones which convey the Oitir Mhòr (North Ford) causeway, a 5 mi arc of single track road linking North Uist and Benbecula via the western tip of Grimsay. Until it opened in 1960, a ferry linked Carinish (on North Uist) with Gramsdale (on Benbecula), but could only operate at high tide. East of Grimsay lie several smaller islands including Ronay which was inhabited until 1931.

Inhabitants

The island's population was 169 as recorded by the 2011 census a drop of over 15% since 2001 when there were 201 usual residents. During the same period Scottish island populations as a whole grew by 4% to 103,702. By 2022 the population was recorded as 149. Three generations of Stewart family built as many as 1,000 boats from three sheds on Grimsay. Grimsay is encircled by a single-track road that links most of the island's small croft and fishing settlements together.

History

There is a fine example of an Iron-Age wheelhouse on the northeast coast of the island at Bàgh nam Feadag. It is one of the best examples of a wheelhouse in the North Uist area but does not appear on Ordnance Survey maps. ::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/56/Grimsay_Wheelhouse_(Bagh_nam_Feadag)_Uist,_Scotland.jpg" caption="A near infrared view of Grimsay Wheelhouse."] ::

File:Baghmor.jpg|Bagh Mòr on Grimsay, with Ronay in distance File:Grimsaywheelhouse.jpg|A wheelhouse on Grimsay

Notes

Citations

References

1. {{RESAS
2. {{Haswell-Smith
3. (2008). "Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 22 ''Benbecula & South Uist''". Ordnance Survey.
4. {{Gaelic Placenames
5. "Overview of Grimsay". Gazetteer for Scotland.
6. (2010). "The Outer Hebrides: Sea Kayaking Around the Isles & St Kilda". Pesda Press.
7. "Feature Page: Grimsay". Undiscovered Scotland.
8. {{NRS1C
9. {{GRO10
10. "Scotland's 2011 census: Island living on the rise". BBC News.
11. "The Grimsay Boatshed". acrosstheminch.org.
12. "Grimsay Wheelhouse". Alasdair McKenzie.
13. "Grimsay Wheelhouse". Outer Hebrides Tourism Industry Association.

::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::