Ellenabeich is a small village on the isle of Seil

Seil

One of the Slate Islands, Seil is a small island on the east side of the Firth of Lorn, southwest of Oban, in Scotland.Seil has been linked to the Scottish mainland since 1792 when the Clachan Bridge was built by engineer Robert Mylne...

 (Scottish Gaelic: Saoil) - an island on the east side of the Firth of Lorn, 7 miles (11 km) southwest of Oban

Oban

Oban Oban Oban ( is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. It has a total resident population of 8,120. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William and during the tourist season the town can be crowded by up to 25,000 people. Oban...

, in Scotland. It is a former slate-mining village and is where parts of Ring of Bright Water

Ring of Bright Water

Ring of Bright Water is a British feature film starring Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna in a story about a Londoner and an otter living on the Scottish coast. The film was based upon a 1960 autobiographical book of the same name by Gavin Maxwell, featuring the stars of Born Free, another movie...

 were filmed.. Seil is one of the Scottish Slate Islands

Slate Islands

The Slate Islands are an island group in the Inner Hebrides, lying immediately off the west coast of Scotland, north of Jura and southwest of Oban. The main islands are Seil, Easdale, Luing, Lunga, Shuna, Torsa and Belnahua...

.

The village gets its name from the former slate island within proximity of the village, called Eilean-a-beithich

Eilean-a-beithich

Eilean-a-beithich was once one of the Slate Islands, located in Easdale Sound between Easdale and Seil, in the Inner Hebrides....

. The island was mined out of existence and its name is now the current Scottish Gaelic name of the village.

The village is sometimes called "Easdale

Easdale

Easdale is one of the Slate Islands, in the Firth of Lorn, Scotland. Once the centre of the British slate industry, there has been some recent island regeneration....

" because of its proximity to the island of that name. In the village can be found:

• The Ellenabeich Heritage Centre which was opened in 2000 and is run by the Scottish Slate Islands Heritage Trust
  Scottish Slate Islands Heritage Trust
  The Scottish Slate Islands Heritage Trust is a charity formed in 1999 with the objective of advancing the education of the public on matters relating to the life and times of the people of the Scottish Slate Islands...
  
  . The centre has been created in a former slate quarry-worker's cottage and has 19th century life displays, matters relating to the local dominate industry of slate quarrying as well information relating to the local flora, fauna and the area's geology.
• Highland Arts - which exhibits the works of the late C J Taylor, a poet, artist, and composer.

The former slate works' manager's house was a hotel for a number of years, trading as the Easdale Inn; this has now been converted back into a private residence.

A small ferry runs from Ellenabeich to Easdale.

Local slate

The local slate contains Pyrites or fool's gold.