Tobermory, Mull

Tobermory is the main town and capital of the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides.

The mostly northerly of Mull's main settlements, it is located on the east coast of Mishnish, the most northerly part of the island, near the northern entrance of the Sound of Mull. It is here where a natural harbour, Tobermory Bay, is formed by the island meeting Calve Island. The town was founded as a fishing port in 1788 by the British Fisheries Society alongside Ullapool and Lochbay based on the designs of Dumfriesshire engineer Thomas Telford, and until 1973 was the only burgh on the island.

The area has been populated for thousands of years, however, the only visible traces of habitation before Tobermory are the Baliscate standing stones at the top of the Eas Brae in the south of the town, and the iron age fort of Dùn Urgadul near Sgriob Ruadh farm. Before the creation of the planned main street Tobermory Bay was almost entirely made up of sheer cliffs, except for the flat area at Ledaig where the distillery is now located, which had to be cut away to create the main street, which was done alongside land reclamation. As of 2022 its population was 1,045. It gained notoriety as the location for the 2000s children's programme Balamory by the BBC which made the coloured houses of the main street famous, although they are not unique to Tobermory.