Private 1,110-acre Scottish island with crumbling castle on sale for £5.5m

A private Scottish island, home to a ruin castle and white sand beaches has come on the market for the first time in almost a century.

The 1,110-acre Shuna Island, in the Inner Hebrides, is up for sale for £5.5m.

Three miles long and a mile and a half wide, Shuna is part of a group called the Slate Islands in the Inner Hebrides, a collection which also includes Seil, Easdale, Luing and Torsa.

At the heart of the island lie the remains of Shuna Castle, a dramatic early 20th-century structure with panoramic coastal views.

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A view looking over Shuna and Ardnamurchan

The historic site has potential for redevelopment, subject to planning rules, according to Sotheby's International Realty, who are handling the sale.

The island’s Shuna Farmhouse, a comfortable and practical home, has been the main residence of the island's owners, Viscountess Selby and her son Edward Gully, whose family have owned the place for eight decades.

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There are also a handful of holiday cottages across the islet, with names such as 'The Garden House', 'Oakwood Cottage' and 'The Forge'.

All in all, there are eight properties with a total of 27 bedrooms-worth of accommodation able to sleep 52 people on the island.

As well as providing a home or holiday for people, the island supports livestock farming. There are 81 acres of permanent pasture, 640 acres of rough grazing, and over 300 acres of native woodland and foreshore, according to the advert. It said a flock of around 220 Beulah sheep also roam the land and there’s potential for cattle grazing.

With its tree cover, open ground and sandy beaches fringed by rocky coves, property experts said Shuna is teeming with wildlife, from red and fallow deer to eagles and porpoises.

They said the current owners have hosted woodcock shoots and deer stalking during the autumn rut for the last 50 years.

According to records, Shuna’s history spans 9,000 years, marked by twin-chamber Stone Age burial mounds and Iron Age sites. In 1875, three rare Iron Age swords, part of a votive hoard from the 8th century BC, were discovered, signalling a culture rich in ritual and sacrifice.

It’s said the island’s earliest mention is in the Vita Columbae, recounting Saint Columba and his crew being delayed on “Sainean Island”, believed to be Shuna.

Over centuries, the island belonged to Dal Riata’s Gaelic kingdom and later passed to the Maclean clan after Robert the Bruce gifted Lorne to Clan Campbell in 1321. By the 18th century, it was a thriving lime production centre with kilns and up to 100 residents.

Similar kiln ruins can be found on Lismore, a nearby Inner Hebridean island.