This list of lochs in
Scotland includes the majority of bodies of standing freshwater named as
lochs but only a small selection of the generally smaller, and very numerous, lochans. This list does not currently include the
reservoirs of Scotland except where these are modifications of pre-existing lochs and retain the name "loch" or "lochan".
It has been estimated that there are at least 31,460 freshwater lochs (including lochans) in Scotland, and more than 7,500 in the
Western Isles alone.[1] Whilst lochs are widespread throughout the country, they are most numerous within the
Scottish Highlands and in particular in the former counties of
Caithness,
Sutherland and
Ross and Cromarty. The majority of the larger lochs are linear in form; their distribution through the West Highlands reflects their origin in the
glacial overdeepening of the straths and glens they now occupy.
Loch is a
Scottish Gaelic word for a
lake or
fjord (cognate with the
Irish Gaelicloch, which is anglicised as lough and with the older
Welsh word for a lake, llwch) that has been borrowed by
Scots and
Scottish English to apply to such bodies of water, especially those in Scotland. Whilst "loch" or "lochan" is by far the most widespread name for bodies of standing water in Scotland, a number of other terms exist. The
Lake of Menteith is the only natural body of freshwater called a "lake" in Scotland, (although it is also known as Loch Innis Mo Cholmaig in Gaelic) and there are one or two other man-made "lakes", the
Lake of the Hirsel being an example. Numerous lochs are called "water", particularly in the Northern Isles, e.g. Roer Water in
Shetland and Heldale Water in
Orkney. These are not to be confused with similarly named rivers, particularly in the south of Scotland, e.g.
Yarrow Water and
Blackadder Water.
This table includes the twelve largest lochs by volume, area and length as listed by Murray and Pullar (1910).[2][3] The volume of water in Loch Ness is nearly double that in all the lakes of England and Wales combined.[1] Murray and Pullar also note that the mean depth of Loch Ness is 57.4% of the maximum depth – higher than in any other large deep loch, with Loch Avich coming closest at 52.4%.[4]
Lochs Maree, Shiel and Ness are recorded as being the narrowest of the large lochs in relation to their length.[5]
Neither the
Loch of Stenness nor the
Loch of Harray on
Mainland Orkney is large enough to appear in the above table (Loch of Harray is 16th by area) but at higher stages of the tide they are connected to one another and to the marine waters of Hoy Sound. The former is the largest brackish lagoon in the UK[17] and the latter, whilst predominantly freshwater, does have a transition zone in the vicinity of the Bridge of
Brodgar where the two are connected.[18] The two lochs together cover an area of 19.3 km2 (7.5 sq mi)[18] but have a volume of only 0.047 km3 (0.011 cu mi) as they are so shallow; Loch of Stenness has a maximum depth of 5.2 metres (17 ft). Although flow between the two lochs and the sea can be observed, the water levels only change slightly with the movements of the tide.[19]
Mainland
In reaching an alphabetically arranged list, the words "loch" and "lochan" have been ignored as have articles and prepositions in both Gaelic (a', an, an t-, na, na h-, nam, nan etc.) and English (of, the etc.). Those that have been converted to
reservoirs for water supply or in association with
hydroelectric projects and whose levels have been artificially raised by the construction of
dams or
barrages are annotated as reservoir.
There are a very large number of lochs on the
islands of Scotland, with the greatest density occurring in the
Outer Hebrides.
North and
South Uist and
Lewis in particular have landscapes with a high percentage of freshwater and a maze and complexity of loch shapes.
Harris has fewer large bodies of water but innumerable small lochans.
Larger
Those listed in this section are confined to the larger or otherwise notable lochs.
Loch Orasaigh in Lewis is only about 125 hectares (310 acres) in extent but the island of
Rainish Eilean Mòr is probably the largest island in Scotland relative to the size of the body of water it sits in, as it takes up about 20% of the loch's surface area.
The meanings of the names are generally derived from
Gaelic,
Old Norse or
Scots.
Eilean Mor was an administration centre of the
Lordship of the Isles during the 13th—15th centuries. The English name is derived from Gaelic, but the Gaelic name itself is Port an Eilein and means "island port".[33]
According to Murray and Pullar (1910) "there is probably no other loch in Britain which approaches Loch Scadavay in irregularity and complexity of outline."[40]
This glaciated loch basin has a mean depth of 33 metres (108 ft) and is the most voluminous on Lewis.[45] The loch may be the deepest on any offshore island in the British Isles.
^The 13 lochs listed include the 12 largest in these categories. Loch Treig and Loch Glass are listed as the 9th and 12th deepest respectively.
^This was not an exhaustive survey, and several of the larger lochs in the
Outer Hebrides were not included. However it is highly unlikely any would appear in this tabulation, were full data to be available. Loch Langavat is listed as the 14th longest and 19th largest by area. For Loch of Harray see main text.
^
ab"Lochs of Harray and Stenness Site of Special Scientific Interest" Midas 1083. SNH
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Orkney" Pages 224–25, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 19 June 2011. Murray and Pullar provide a lower estimate of the combined area.
^Source for area, depth and notes is the same unless otherwise stated.
^
abIain Mac an Tàilleir.
"Placenames A-E"(PDF). Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Retrieved 15 December 2009.[dead link]
^"Central Skye" (pdf) skye.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
^Douglas, W. (1898) recorded a depth of 96 feet or 29 metres. See
"The Climbers' camp at Coruisk" Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal 5 No. 1. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Bute"Archived 2012-09-04 at
archive.today Page 84, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Lewis"Archived 2012-09-06 at
archive.today Page 209, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
^
abIain Mac an Tàilleir.
"Placenames F-J"(PDF). Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Mull" Page 174, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Orkney"Archived 2012-09-04 at
archive.today Page 225, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
^Iain Mac an Tàilleir.
"Placenames K-O"(PDF). Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2007.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Shetland" Page 244, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Orkney"Archived 2012-09-05 at
archive.today Page 224, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910) state that its area is "nearly a square mile, or about one-fourth that of Loch Langavat".
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Lewis"Archived 2012-09-10 at
archive.today Page 216, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Shetland"Archived 2012-09-13 at
archive.today Page 227, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Shetland"Archived 2012-09-17 at
archive.today Page 243, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Lewis"Archived 2012-09-06 at
archive.today Page 209, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
This list of lochs in
Scotland includes the majority of bodies of standing freshwater named as
lochs but only a small selection of the generally smaller, and very numerous, lochans. This list does not currently include the
reservoirs of Scotland except where these are modifications of pre-existing lochs and retain the name "loch" or "lochan".
It has been estimated that there are at least 31,460 freshwater lochs (including lochans) in Scotland, and more than 7,500 in the
Western Isles alone.[1] Whilst lochs are widespread throughout the country, they are most numerous within the
Scottish Highlands and in particular in the former counties of
Caithness,
Sutherland and
Ross and Cromarty. The majority of the larger lochs are linear in form; their distribution through the West Highlands reflects their origin in the
glacial overdeepening of the straths and glens they now occupy.
Loch is a
Scottish Gaelic word for a
lake or
fjord (cognate with the
Irish Gaelicloch, which is anglicised as lough and with the older
Welsh word for a lake, llwch) that has been borrowed by
Scots and
Scottish English to apply to such bodies of water, especially those in Scotland. Whilst "loch" or "lochan" is by far the most widespread name for bodies of standing water in Scotland, a number of other terms exist. The
Lake of Menteith is the only natural body of freshwater called a "lake" in Scotland, (although it is also known as Loch Innis Mo Cholmaig in Gaelic) and there are one or two other man-made "lakes", the
Lake of the Hirsel being an example. Numerous lochs are called "water", particularly in the Northern Isles, e.g. Roer Water in
Shetland and Heldale Water in
Orkney. These are not to be confused with similarly named rivers, particularly in the south of Scotland, e.g.
Yarrow Water and
Blackadder Water.
This table includes the twelve largest lochs by volume, area and length as listed by Murray and Pullar (1910).[2][3] The volume of water in Loch Ness is nearly double that in all the lakes of England and Wales combined.[1] Murray and Pullar also note that the mean depth of Loch Ness is 57.4% of the maximum depth – higher than in any other large deep loch, with Loch Avich coming closest at 52.4%.[4]
Lochs Maree, Shiel and Ness are recorded as being the narrowest of the large lochs in relation to their length.[5]
Neither the
Loch of Stenness nor the
Loch of Harray on
Mainland Orkney is large enough to appear in the above table (Loch of Harray is 16th by area) but at higher stages of the tide they are connected to one another and to the marine waters of Hoy Sound. The former is the largest brackish lagoon in the UK[17] and the latter, whilst predominantly freshwater, does have a transition zone in the vicinity of the Bridge of
Brodgar where the two are connected.[18] The two lochs together cover an area of 19.3 km2 (7.5 sq mi)[18] but have a volume of only 0.047 km3 (0.011 cu mi) as they are so shallow; Loch of Stenness has a maximum depth of 5.2 metres (17 ft). Although flow between the two lochs and the sea can be observed, the water levels only change slightly with the movements of the tide.[19]
Mainland
In reaching an alphabetically arranged list, the words "loch" and "lochan" have been ignored as have articles and prepositions in both Gaelic (a', an, an t-, na, na h-, nam, nan etc.) and English (of, the etc.). Those that have been converted to
reservoirs for water supply or in association with
hydroelectric projects and whose levels have been artificially raised by the construction of
dams or
barrages are annotated as reservoir.
There are a very large number of lochs on the
islands of Scotland, with the greatest density occurring in the
Outer Hebrides.
North and
South Uist and
Lewis in particular have landscapes with a high percentage of freshwater and a maze and complexity of loch shapes.
Harris has fewer large bodies of water but innumerable small lochans.
Larger
Those listed in this section are confined to the larger or otherwise notable lochs.
Loch Orasaigh in Lewis is only about 125 hectares (310 acres) in extent but the island of
Rainish Eilean Mòr is probably the largest island in Scotland relative to the size of the body of water it sits in, as it takes up about 20% of the loch's surface area.
The meanings of the names are generally derived from
Gaelic,
Old Norse or
Scots.
Eilean Mor was an administration centre of the
Lordship of the Isles during the 13th—15th centuries. The English name is derived from Gaelic, but the Gaelic name itself is Port an Eilein and means "island port".[33]
According to Murray and Pullar (1910) "there is probably no other loch in Britain which approaches Loch Scadavay in irregularity and complexity of outline."[40]
This glaciated loch basin has a mean depth of 33 metres (108 ft) and is the most voluminous on Lewis.[45] The loch may be the deepest on any offshore island in the British Isles.
^The 13 lochs listed include the 12 largest in these categories. Loch Treig and Loch Glass are listed as the 9th and 12th deepest respectively.
^This was not an exhaustive survey, and several of the larger lochs in the
Outer Hebrides were not included. However it is highly unlikely any would appear in this tabulation, were full data to be available. Loch Langavat is listed as the 14th longest and 19th largest by area. For Loch of Harray see main text.
^
ab"Lochs of Harray and Stenness Site of Special Scientific Interest" Midas 1083. SNH
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Orkney" Pages 224–25, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 19 June 2011. Murray and Pullar provide a lower estimate of the combined area.
^Source for area, depth and notes is the same unless otherwise stated.
^
abIain Mac an Tàilleir.
"Placenames A-E"(PDF). Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Retrieved 15 December 2009.[dead link]
^"Central Skye" (pdf) skye.co.uk. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
^Douglas, W. (1898) recorded a depth of 96 feet or 29 metres. See
"The Climbers' camp at Coruisk" Scottish Mountaineering Club Journal 5 No. 1. Retrieved 29 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Bute"Archived 2012-09-04 at
archive.today Page 84, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Lewis"Archived 2012-09-06 at
archive.today Page 209, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
^
abIain Mac an Tàilleir.
"Placenames F-J"(PDF). Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 10 April 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Mull" Page 174, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Orkney"Archived 2012-09-04 at
archive.today Page 225, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
^Iain Mac an Tàilleir.
"Placenames K-O"(PDF). Pàrlamaid na h-Alba. Archived from
the original(PDF) on 26 September 2011. Retrieved 23 July 2007.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Shetland" Page 244, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Orkney"Archived 2012-09-05 at
archive.today Page 224, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910) state that its area is "nearly a square mile, or about one-fourth that of Loch Langavat".
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Lewis"Archived 2012-09-10 at
archive.today Page 216, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Shetland"Archived 2012-09-13 at
archive.today Page 227, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 28 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Shetland"Archived 2012-09-17 at
archive.today Page 243, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 December 2009.
^Murray and Pullar (1910)
"Lochs of Lewis"Archived 2012-09-06 at
archive.today Page 209, Volume II, Part II. National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 20 December 2009.