The Natural Environment

Upland

The Hebrides is formed on the oldest exposed rock in the world, Lewisian Gneiss. Gneiss is mainly a grey coloured rock with coarse bands of white and dark minerals squeezed into alignment by the pressures of the earth movements.

These twisted and contorted metamorphic rocks were formed over 3000 million years ago, when a local ice cap sculpted the sharp mountains and U shaped valleys of Harris and the upland parts of Lewis and Uist.

In Harris the underlying rock has been exposed in many places and is scattered with erratic boulders, forming a lunar landscape, which is often referred to as 'Moonscape'.

The highest peak in the Hebrides is the Clisham at 799m in the Harris Hills: it offers a spectacular view over the whole of the island chain and across to St Kilda on a clear day.

The Hebridean hills are home to plentiful Grouse, Golden Eagles, Red Deer, Rabbits and the Hebridean Black Faced Sheep.