Deserted Scots island left to SNP is worth £400K - but they can't cash it in

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A deserted island on Scotland’s west coast which was left to the SNP is worth up to £400,000. But rules by the charity trust which runs it will block any sale to ease the party’s tight finances.

Tiny Eilean Mor MacCormick sits off the west coast amid the currents of the Sound of Jura and Loch Sween. The historic site was given to the SNP in 1979 by Walter Paterson Neill in a bequeathment – along with his Keills farm on the mainland south of Tayvallich in Argyll, which was later sold.But last night an estate agent said it could make £400,000 by selling it on the open market, with likely interest from Americans looking to own a tiny piece of Scotland.Paul Nicoll – of The Estates Office in Oban, which specialises in island and remote land sales – said: “I have been to Eilean Mor and you wouldn’t be able to build a house on it, I am pretty sure of that, but something with that history would be very attractive.“The uninhabited island of Insh, near Easdale, is comparable, it’s a similar size but without the history and that sold for £352,000 so I would think Eilean Mor would be about £400,000 for a sale today.“I think, with islands, there is no rhyme or reason to it, it’s about the feel of it, it’s about the history – and there are very few with that sort of history.“We have just sold a piece of land on an island to an American who just wanted to have something to say he had something from where his family were from.”According to Historic Scotland, several sites on Eilean Mor are listed as ancient monuments and settlements there can be traced to 7th century Christian settlements.

A chapel dates back the 13th century while it features historic caves and crosses.Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our