Benbecula

Benbecula: medieval chapel at Nunton

Benbecula, Gaelic Beinn na Faoghla, island of the Outer Hebrides, Western Isles council area, historic county of Inverness-shire, Scotland. Benbecula, whose name means “Mountain of the Fords” in Scots Gaelic, lies between the islands of North Uist and South Uist and is connected over the fords by a causeway (1960) to the north and by O’Regan’s Bridge (1943) to the south. The island has an area of about 7 square miles (18 square km) and near its centre has a solitary hill, Rueval, which reaches an elevation of 409 feet (125 metres). The eastern portion of the island is moorland and is popular with tourists for brown trout fishing and bird watching. The western side is fertile grazing and crofting land cut by numerous small lochs. The army base that was established on the island in 1958 services the South Uist missile testing range. Pop. (2001) 1,249; (2011) 1,330.