Kyle of Durness is a coastal inlet on the north coast of Scotland in the county of Sutherland. It extends 5+1⁄2 miles (9 kilometres) inland from Balnakeil and divides the Cape Wrath peninsula from the mainland. [1] The nearest village is Durness.
Kyle of Durness is a coastal inlet on the north coast of Scotland in the county of Sutherland. It extends 5+1⁄2 miles (9 kilometres) inland from Balnakeil and divides the Cape Wrath peninsula from the mainland. [1] The nearest village is Durness.
The Kyle is around 1⁄2 mile (800 metres) wide and tidal with only a narrow channel of water remaining at low tide along most of its length. [1] [2] Unlike other coastal inlets along Scotland's north coast it is not straight, having two major bends around Keoldale. [3] It opens into Balnakeil Bay, which is around 2 miles (3 kilometres) wide, at its mouth. [1] Faraid Head, on the eastern shore of the bay, provides the range control for the Cape Wrath military training area to the west. The danger area associated with the range includes sea areas to the north of the bay and the range is used for live firing from Royal Navy vessels as well as for bombing practice by the RAF. [4] [5]
The River Dionard and Grudie River flow into the Kyle at its southern end with the Daill River and a number of minor streams also flowing into the Kyle along its length. The geology along the eastern side of the Kyle is limestone with rolling grasslands dominating. [6] The Kyle and its surrounding area forms part of the Oldshoremore, Cape Wrath and Durness Special Landscape Area. [7] It contains a number of archaeological remains dating to the prehistoric period. [6] [8]
The A838 road runs along the eastern shore of the kyle in its southern section, with an unclassified road leading to Keoldale, the only remaining settlement on the shore. The Cape Wrath passenger ferry operates from Keoldale between May and September providing the only access to Cape Wrath from the east. [9] [10] Land to the north of Keoldale is used by the Keoldale Sheep Stock Club, a joint farm run by crofters in the Durness area. [3] Beaches along the shore of the kyle are backed by narrow machair with few dunes. [3]
The western shore of the Kyle is uninhabited with the former farmsteads at Achimore and Daill the only settlements. The Cape Wrath road runs along the shore from the ferry slipway. This dates from the 1830s having been built to supply the lighthouse at Cape Wrath. [11] A previous landing site towards the mouth of the Kyle was originally used and is the site of a ruined storehouse. [12]
In 1998, a skull was discovered next to a sub-rectangular cairn to the West of the Kyle. Further excavations of the cairn found two burials, one adult male and one teen of unknown sex. They lived sometime during the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD. Traditionally the practice of burying people in a sub-rectangular cairns was thought to be a Pictish practice but this discovery has led archaeologists to believe this practice started before the Picts. [13]
Sutherland is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire to the south and the Atlantic to the north and west. Like its southern neighbour Ross-shire, Sutherland has some of the most dramatic scenery in Europe, especially on its western fringe where the mountains meet the sea. These include high sea cliffs, and very old mountains composed of Precambrian and Cambrian rocks.
Cape Wrath is a cape in the Durness parish of the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It is the most north-westerly point in mainland Britain.
Ross and Cromarty, also referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latter of which is 8,019 square kilometres in extent. Historically there has also been a constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, a local government county, a district of the Highland local government region and a management area of the Highland Council. The local government county is now divided between two local government areas: the Highland area and Na h-Eileanan Siar. Ross and Cromarty border Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south.
Durness is a village and civil parish in the north-west Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north coast of the country in the traditional county of Sutherland, around 120 miles north of Inverness. The area is remote, and the parish is huge and sparsely populated, covering an area from east of Loch Eriboll to Cape Wrath, the most north-westerly point of the Scottish mainland.
Kyle or Kyles may refer to:
Glenelg (Scottish Gaelic: Glinn Eilg, also Gleann Eilg is a scattered community area and civil parish in the Lochalsh area of Highland in western Scotland. Despite the local government reorganisation the area is considered by many still to be in Inverness-shire, the boundary with Ross-shire being at the top of Mam Ratagan the single-track road entry into Glenelg.
Loch Eriboll is a 16 km (9.9 mi) long sea loch on the north coast of Scotland, which has been used for centuries as a deep water anchorage as it is safe from the often stormy seas of Cape Wrath and the Pentland Firth.
Faraid Head is a small peninsula on the northern coast of Sutherland, Highland, Scotland, located around 2 miles north of the hamlet of Balnakeil and 3 mi (5 km) north of Durness.
Loch Ryan is a Scottish sea loch that acts as an important natural harbour for shipping, providing calm waters for ferries operating between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The town of Stranraer is the largest settlement on its shores, with ferries to and from Northern Ireland operating from Cairnryan further north on the loch.
The A838 is a major road in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland. It runs generally northwest from the A836 in the Lairg area to Laxford Bridge on the west coast of Scotland, then generally northeast to Durness on the north coast, and then generally east/southeast to Tongue, where it rejoins the A836. The A836 takes a more direct route from Lairg to Tongue.
Achriesgill is a village that lies on the eastern bank of Loch Inchard in Lairg, Sutherland, in the Scottish council area of Highland.
Cape Wrath Lighthouse at Cape Wrath was built in 1828 by Robert Stevenson and was manned until 1998, when it was converted to automatic operation by the Northern Lighthouse Board. It is located at the most North-Westerly point on the British mainland, in the traditional county of Sutherland within Highland Region. Durness is the closest village, 10 miles (16 km) to the south-east with Inverness around 120 miles (190 km) to the south.
Eriboll is a village in Sutherland, Scotland. The village is situated on the south eastern shore of Loch Eriboll, in the northern part of the former county of Sutherland.
Strachur and Strathlachlan are united parishes located on the Cowal peninsula, in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Strachur is a small village on the eastern coast of Loch Fyne.
Achiemore was a crofting community located on the Cape Wrath peninsula near the village of Durness in the Scottish county of Sutherland. The hamlet is just south of the farmstead of Daill on the western shore of the Kyle of Durness. Neither place has a permanent population with the village of Durness located 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the east. Inverness is around 120 miles (190 km) to the south.
Balnakeil is a hamlet in the parish of Durness, Sutherland, Scottish Highlands, and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. It is on the north coast of Scotland around 3⁄4 mile northwest of Durness. The ruins of Balnakeil Church are a scheduled monument. The Kyle of Durness is west of Balnakeil which gives its name to the 2-mile-wide (3-kilometre) Balnakeil Bay which the Kyle opens into.
Portnancon is a small remote crofting township, and former fishing station, on the west shore of Loch Eriboll in Sutherland, Scottish Highlands in the Scottish council area of Highland. The township is in the parish of Durness and Durness village lies 8 miles (13 km) west along the A838 road. The village of Laid is located 1 mile (1.6 km) south-west from Portnancon along the A838.
Badcall comprises two remote hamlets, called Lower Badcall and Upper Badcall. Upper Badcall, a crofting township, is the larger of the two and is situated on the western shore of Badcall Bay. Lower Badcall is located less than 1 mile to the east on the eastern shore of Badcall Bay. Badcall is on the west coast of Sutherland, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland.
