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Isle of Skye

Loch Shianta

A small loch near Staffin fed by Tobar Loch Shianta, once the most celebrated healing well on Skye.

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Between Staffin and Flodigarry, out of sight of the road, a small loch lies in a hollow of the hills, clear and still and fringed with reeds.

Visited and photographed by Simon Hird

It is fed by a spring, Tobar Loch Shianta, and for centuries people came here to be healed by it. Martin Martin, who described the islands in the 1690s, found it much visited and deeply respected, by strangers as much as by islanders.

There is little to see now beyond the water, the reeds and the trees around the well. The Staffin community looks after the place and asks only that visitors come at a quiet time and leave it exactly as they found it. Walk in from the road, stand a while by the water, and go on your way to the Quiraing or the beach at An Corran.

Before you go

The Staffin community asks that Loch Shianta is visited quietly, and left exactly as it is found.

Where
By the A855 between Staffin and Flodigarry, a short walk from the road; the loch is hidden from it.
Please
Pick a quiet time, keep to the path, and leave the well and the trees untouched.

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Did you know

A reed-fringed pond sits in a grassy hollow on the Isle of Skye, hills rising beyond.
Did you know

Said to cure headaches and more.

In the 1690s islanders and strangers alike came to the well, believing its water cured stitches, headaches, the stone, consumption and migraine.

A still pond reflects grey sky in a grassy hollow on the Isle of Skye, a house visible on the hillside beyond.
Did you know

Three times round, with the sun.

Visitors drank the water, then walked three times round the well sunwise, a round called the dessil, and left a small offering on the stone that covered it.

A white house stands on a hillside above a reed-fringed pond on the Isle of Skye.
Did you know

Trout that nobody would catch.

The little loch beside the well was full of trout, but neither islanders nor strangers would take one, such was their respect for the water.

A white house sits on a grassy hillside above a still pond on the Isle of Skye.
Did you know

Trees nobody would cut.

Nor would anyone cut so much as a branch from the small wood by the well, for fear of some terrible judgement to follow.

A small pond sits amid grassy dunes above the coastline on the Isle of Skye.
Did you know

Nine springs in the hill.

Nine springs rise in the hill above the well, and all of them run into the stream that falls from it.

Rocks dot a calm shoreline on the Isle of Skye, distant mountains visible across the water.
What is on

What is new across Skye, day by day.

New places, news and stories, as we find them.

What is on on Skye
01 / 06
Where it is

Between Staffin and Flodigarry on the east coast of Trotternish, out of sight of the A855.

Close byThe places nearest the loch, by road.
  1. The QuiraingThe QuiraingThe great landslip at the northern end of the Trotternish ridge.Under a mile 2 min by road
  2. The NeedleThe NeedleThe tall, jagged pinnacle of the Quiraing, best seen from the walk.Under a mile 2 min by road
  3. Loch LangaigLoch LangaigA small loch by the A855 at Flodigarry, where a quiet path leaves the road for the Quiraing.Under a mile 1 min by road
  4. The Hungry GullThe Hungry GullFresh local cooking in the community hall at Staffin.3 miles 3 min by road
  5. Columba 1400Columba 1400A charity's café at Staffin under the Trotternish ridge, paying for its youth work.3 miles 4 min by road
  6. An Corran BeachAn Corran BeachA small dark beach whose rocks hold three-toed dinosaur prints, seen only at low tide.3 miles 4 min by road
  7. Staffin Dinosaur MuseumStaffin Dinosaur MuseumA collection of Skye's dinosaur fossils, first set up by Dugald Ross in 1976.4 miles 6 min by road
  8. Kilt RockKilt RockSea cliffs of dolerite columns like the pleats of a kilt, with Mealt Falls beside them.5 miles 7 min by road
Directions
Rocky shoreline waves below scattered houses beneath dark cliffs on SkyeAttractionsDinosaur Prints at Staffin & Duntulm2.7 miles
The sandy beach at An Corran with waves running in below a grassy cliff headland.AttractionsDinosaur Footprints at An Corran2.8 miles
Open water off the north of Skye with low islands on the horizon, the view the lookout faces.AttractionsRubha Hunish5.6 miles
Cream rotary telephone mounted beside a round "Listed" plaque on wooden panellingAttractionsThe Lookout Bothy5.6 miles
Lichen-streaked basalt cliffs above the sea at Rubha Hunish, a stack standing off the point.WalksRubha Hunish Walk5.6 miles
Ruined castle atop a rocky headland overlooking the seaAttractionsDuntulm Castle5.7 miles
Grass-topped rocky headland jutting into the sea under a cloudy skyAttractionsBrothers' Point6.2 miles
CulnacnocHalf of OneSleeps 8 · 6.5 miles
Thatched stone cottages flank old farm carts and a millstone on grassAttractionsSkye Museum of Island Life7.7 miles

Recommend to a friend

The Daily for 23 October, from Scotland with love. Aerial view of a concrete road bridge with angled supports spanning a sea loch, twin cloud-wrapped mountain peaks rising behind autumn-coloured hills.

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Arrives at 5am every day.

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Stay nearby

Places to stay near the loch, and when each is next free.

Half of One
  • Sleeps 8
  • In Culnacnoc
  • 5 miles from Loch Shianta
Free 2–5 NovMonkstadt 1745
  • To stay
  • In Linicro
  • 6 miles from Loch Shianta
Check datesTimber-clad building with black roof and metal railings along a gravel pathThe Cowshed Boutique Bunkhouse
  • Sleeps 1
  • In Uig
  • 6 miles from Loch Shianta
Check datesDining room with tartan carpet, wine glasses set on long wooden tablesSkeabost House Hotel
  • A hotel
  • In Skeabost Bridge
  • 14 miles from Loch Shianta
Check datesPlaces to stayEvery stay on SkyeAll our places to stay nearby, to search by date and by who is coming.See them all
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The collections it is in and more on Skye.

CollectionWalks, Wildlife and Nature in SkyeCollectionSkye's Hidden Side
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