Scotland’s Sea Kingdom

The Nàdair Trust Operating Area

Sea lochs, sounds, headlands, bays, peninsulas and islands - above all islands- this is Scotland's Sea Kingdom. With the endless interplay of ocean and land, light and reflection, spectacular sunsets and ever-changing horizons, it is the ultimate meeting-place of wind, wave and rocky shore.

The Sea Kingdom is an area of considerable natural beauty, and historical and cultural diversity. On the Argyll islands alone there are over 3000 recognised archaeological sites (and many more not yet discovered!), 44 Sites of Special Scientific Interest and almost a third of Scotland's Marine Conservation Areas.

The region has the richest biodiversity in Scotland - from the flower laden machair grasslands and 10,000 year old sand dunes of Coll and Tiree to the limestone fed pastures of sheltered Lismore; from the eagle haunted mountains of Mull in the north, to Goatfell on Arran in the south - the Sea Kingdom is awash with unspoiled nature.

This land was the springboard of the Gael, the foothold of the Norse - the place from where their languages and culture spread into Scotland. The ancient Scots-Irish Celtic Kingdom of Dalriada, Somerled’s Kingdom of the Isles, and the realm of the Lords of the Isles, were all centred here, and it was from the islands that Christianity blazed its trail into the northlands. It can truly be said that Scotland’s Sea Kingdom was the birthplace of the Scottish Nation.

For further information about Scotland’s Sea Kingdom and the Argyll islands, go to: http://www.visitscottishheartlands.com/seakingdom/