Oronsay West Beach

A short distance south of the priory this wild beautiful beach faces the full Atlantic.At its southern end is an interesting small building – An Taigh Cearc or the Hen House. Just beyond this, at the head of various gullies, you’ll find dense piles of sea shells driven well up the shore by powerful Atlantic gales. This was a place, where in the late 18th and early 19th centuries kelp (seaweed) was dried and burned to make kelp ash. High in potash and soda, this was an important product used in the bleaching of linen and the manufacture of glass and soap.