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Cherry Island (Gaelic
Eilean Muireach, meaning
Murdoch's Island) is the only island in
Loch NessLoch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately 37 km southwest of Inverness. Its surface is 15.8 metres above sea level...
,
HighlandThe Highland Council area is a local government area in the Scottish Highlands and the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute...
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ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, and is an example of a
crannogA crannóg is an artificial island, usually originally built in lakes, rivers and estuarine waters, and most often used as an island settlement or dwelling place in prehistoric or medieval times. The name itself may refer to a wooden platform erected on shallow floors, but few remains of this sort...
. The island is about from the shore near the southern end of the loch. The island was originally by across, but is now smaller as the level of the loch was raised when it became part of the
Caledonian CanalThe Caledonian Canal in Scotland connects the Scottish east coast at Inverness with the west coast at Corpach near Fort William. Caledonian Canal is a sister canal of Göta Canal in Sweden, which was also constructed by Thomas Telford.-Route:...
. The increase in the level of the loch caused a smaller natural island nearby, Dog Island, to be totally submerged.
A castle stood on the island during the 15th century; this was constructed of stone and oak wood and was probably used as a fortified refuge. It has been suggested that Cherry Island may have been a hunting lodge, with Dog Island the home for the hunting dogs.
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