History

Jura is scattered with the remnants of its earliest inhabitants, including ancient standing stones and burial cairns, but its story has always been one of a small population battling a challenging landscape. For centuries, it was under the dominion of the Lords of the Isles, before passing to the powerful Campbell clan in the 17th century. The Campbells established their seat at Jura House and its beautiful walled garden near Craighouse.

The island’s population peaked at over a thousand in the 19th century before the Highland Clearances saw communities displaced and the land given over almost entirely to vast sporting estates for deer stalking. This shift cemented the island’s modern character as a sparsely populated wilderness. The 20th century saw the re-establishment of the island’s single distillery in Craighouse, a vital source of employment and the heart of the modern community. Jura’s most famous modern resident was the writer George Orwell, who lived at the remote farmhouse of Barnhill in the north of the island from 1946 to 1948. Here, battling ill health and the unforgiving elements, he found the seclusion he needed to write his final, famous novel.