Cape Wrath ( gd, Am Parbh, known as ' in Lewis) is a

cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck. History Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. T ...

in the

Durness Durness ( gd, Diùranais) 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 north of Inverness. The area is remote, and the parish is ...

parish of the county of Sutherland in the

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia * So ...

of Scotland. It is the most north-westerly point in mainland Britain. The cape is separated from the rest of the mainland by the

Kyle of Durness Kyle of Durness is a coastal inlet on the north coast of Scotland in the county of Sutherland. It extends inland from Balnakeil and divides the Cape Wrath peninsula from the mainland.Groome.F.H (1885) 'Parish of Durness', ''Ordnance Gazetteer o ...

and consists of of moorland wilderness known as the Parph. The first road was built in 1828 by the lighthouse commission across the Parph/Durness. This road connects a passenger ferry that crosses the Kyle of Durness with the buildings on the peninsula. Much of the cape is owned by the Ministry of Defence and is used as a military training area, including as live firing range. Areas of it are also designated as a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle o ...

, a Special Protection Area, a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

and a

Special Landscape Area A local landscape designation is a non-statutory conservation designation used by local government in some parts of the United Kingdom to categorise sensitive landscapes which are, either legally or as a matter of policy, protected from developm ...

Etymology

The name Cape Wrath is derived from Old Norse ' ("turning point"), accordingly, ''wrath'' is pronounced (''a'' as in ''cat''),Cape Wrath locals accuse MoD of land grab
BBC news website, 2012-09-17. Retrieved 2013-01-20. Vikings are believed to have used the cape as a navigation point where they would turn their ships.Life on the Edge
Northern Scotland – Cape Wrath to Orkney, Coast, BBC. Retrieved 2013-02-06.Cape Wrath
Northern Lighthouse Board. Retrieved 2013-02-05.Carter.M (2011
My travels: Mike Carter in Cape Wrath, Scotland
'' The Guardian'', 2011-07-01. Retrieved 2013-02-05.

History

Former Lloyd's signal station, Cape Wrath - geograph

Cape Wrath was once the home of a series of small

crofting Crofting is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production particular to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man. Within the 19th century townships, individual crofts were established on the bette ...

communities, although by 1845 the only families remaining on the Parph were those of shepherds.Kearvaig
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-08. In the 1930s it supported a population of 30 to 40 people, including a small side school at Achiemore which had up to ten pupils in the 1930s but closed in 1947.Cafe at the end of the universe ... where a cup of tea is guaranteed
''The Herald'', 2009-06-09. Retrieved 2013-02-08.Achiemore
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
Education in Sutherland, 2009-03-29. Retrieved 2013-02-09.Uney.G (2009
''Backpacker's Britain: Northern Scotland: thirty two and three day treks''
p.86. Cicerone Press Limited. (online). Retrieved 2011-01-28. Building remains at locations such as Kearvaig have been dated to the 18th century.'Archaeology on the edge – Cape Wrath'
''Sanctuary'' vol 38
pp.50–51, 2009, Ministry of Defence (available online). Retrieved 2013-02-06. The Cape has few archaeological remains which can be dated to earlier than this, although a promontory fort at Eilean nan Caorach to the east of the headland may date to the late prehistoric age.Eilean nan Caorach
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-08. Much of the area has been used for sheep grazing, a use which continues today, and

shieling A shieling is a hut or collection of huts on a seasonal pasture high in the hills, once common in wild or sparsely populated places in Scotland. Usually rectangular with a doorway on the south side and few or no windows, they were often con ...

s, shelters built for shepherds, can be found across the Cape. The area declined in population in the mid-20th century and is now almost entirely unpopulated, although military and tourism use continues. The

signal station A signal station is a form of Aids to Navigation that is defined by the IHO simply as "A signal station is a place on shore from which signals are made to ships at sea". While this broad definition would include coastal radio stations and fog sign ...

was built close to the lighthouse at the end of the 19th century to track shipping around the Cape.Outline development plan for Cape Wrath
, Highlands and Islands social enterprise zone, August 2013. Retrieved 2014-02-18. On 27 September 1915, while sailing for Scapa Flow, HMS ''Caribbean'', known as before being requisitioned for wartime service, foundered off Cape Wrath in bad weather. A tow by HMS ''Birkenhead'' was unsuccessful, and 15 died.Castle Mail Packet Co
, Red Duster (Merchant Navy Association). Retrieved 2012-11-14. An inquiry later blamed the ship's carpenter for being insufficiently familiar with the ship and for failing to shut all the scuttles. Like most of the crew, he had joined the ship just 10 days earlier.Divers explore WW1 wreck of HMS Caribbean
Divernet news, 2004-05-31. Retrieved 2013-02-06. The wreck was found in 2004, off Cape Wrath, in of water and undisturbed except for fishing nets.Robinson A (2004
Yorkshire diver first to see wreck for nearly 90 years ''Yorkshire Post
''. Retrieved 2007-08-06.

Geography

Cape Wrath is located in the traditional county of Sutherland within Highland Region.

is the closest village, southeast with

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

around to the south. The sea cliffs around the cape are composed of

Torridonian sandstone In geology, the term Torridonian is the informal name for the Torridonian Group, a series of Mesoproterozoic to Neoproterozoic arenaceous and argillaceous sedimentary rocks, which occur extensively in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland. ...

and

Lewisian gneiss The Lewisian complex or Lewisian gneiss is a suite of Precambrian metamorphic rocks that outcrop in the northwestern part of Scotland, forming part of the Hebridean Terrane and the North Atlantic Craton. These rocks are of Archaean and Pale ...

. These rise to above sea level and include the highest sea cliffs on the British mainland at Clò Mòr around to the east of the headland.

Sea stack A stack or sea stack is a geological landform consisting of a steep and often vertical column or columns of rock in the sea near a coast, formed by wave erosion. Stacks are formed over time by wind and water, processes of coastal geomorphology ...

s, such as Stac an Dùnain at the cape itself and Stac Clò Kearvaig to the east, rise out of the sea off the coastline, with Duslic, a reef, north of the cape. The cape is part of the

North West Highlands Geopark The North West Highlands Geopark is a geopark in the Scottish Highlands. Awarded UNESCO geopark status in 2004, it was Scotland's first geopark, featuring some of the oldest rocks in Europe, around 3,000 million years old. The park contains many ...

, a area with UNESCO

geopark A geopark is a protected area with internationally significant geology within which sustainable development is sought and which includes tourism, conservation, education and research concerning not just geology but other relevant sciences. In 20 ...

status.Scotland's first geopark
, Visit Scotland, 2004-11-18. Retrieved 2013-02-09.

Crofting Crofting is a form of land tenure and small-scale food production particular to the Scottish Highlands, the islands of Scotland, and formerly on the Isle of Man. Within the 19th century townships, individual crofts were established on the bette ...

townships of two or three houses with associated enclosures existed at Daill, Achiemore, Kearvaig and Inshore into the mid-20th century.Daill
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-08.Achiemore
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-08.Inshore
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-08. The land originally formed part of the Sutherland estates owned by the

Duke of Sutherland Duke of Sutherland is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom which was created by William IV in 1833 for George Leveson-Gower, 2nd Marquess of Stafford. A series of marriages to heiresses by members of the Leveson-Gower family made the ...

. An area of , covering almost all of the northern part of the peninsula, is owned by the Ministry of Defence for use as a military training area.Fears over future as MoD buy-out of Cape Wrath land looms
''

The Northern Times ''The Northern Times'' was a newspaper published in Carnarvon, Western Australia from 1905–1983. History ''The Northern Times'' was published from 26 August 1905 to 26 August 1983 in Carnarvon, Western Australia. It absorbed the ''Geral ...

'', 2012-09-13. Retrieved 2017-07-17.MoD drops Cape Wrath land purchase
BBC News, 2013-05-13.£22.5k for Cape Wrath community land buyout
''

'', 2017-01-06. Retrieved 2017-07-17.

Climate

As with the rest of the British Isles, Cape Wrath has an

Oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...

Cfb) climate. This is especially pronounced due to its western coastal location. Its exposed northerly position can give rise to some exceptionally low winter sunshine levels: in January 1983 it recorded just 38 minutes of sunshine, a record low for Scotland.Gazetteer: Climate
Love of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-03. (archived a

. This exposed position, however, also means severe frost is rare compared to inland locations such as

Altnaharra Altnaharra ( gd, Allt na h-Eirbhe) is a small hamlet in Sutherland in the Highland region of northern Scotland. The hamlet is on the A836 road, close to its junction with the B873. The nearest villages are Lairg and Tongue. Lochs in the area i ...

Kinbrace Kinbrace is a small village in Sutherland in the Highland council area of Scotland. It lies at the junction of the A897 and B871 and is from Helmsdale by road. The village has a station on the Far North Line (also named Kinbrace). Few peop ...

. The record low of is comparable to those recorded in Shetland, the Hebrides and the

Scilly Isles The Isles of Scilly (; kw, Syllan, ', or ) is an archipelago off the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. One of the islands, St Agnes, is the most southerly point in Britain, being over further south than the most southerly point of the ...

of England. A slight

föhn A Foehn or Föhn (, , ), is a type of dry, relatively warm, downslope wind that occurs in the lee (downwind side) of a mountain range. It is a rain shadow wind that results from the subsequent adiabatic warming of air that has dropped most of i ...

effect can also occur with the right angle of southerly winds, exemplified by the record December high of . Strong winds can be a feature of weather conditions at the cape, with gusts of recorded.

Natural environment

Kearvaig Beach and Cathedral Rock - geograph

Because its landscape is largely untouched by man, Cape Wrath has a wide diversity of wildlife, including red deer,

hooded crow The hooded crow (''Corvus cornix''), also called the scald-crow or hoodie, is a Eurasian bird species in the genus ''Corvus''. Widely distributed, it is found across Northern, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe, as well as parts of the Middle Ea ...

, rock pipit,

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known birds ...

cormorant Phalacrocoracidae is a family of approximately 40 species of aquatic birds commonly known as cormorants and shags. Several different classifications of the family have been proposed, but in 2021 the IOC adopted a consensus taxonomy of seven gen ...

and

gannet Gannets are seabirds comprising the genus ''Morus'' in the family Sulidae, closely related to boobies. Gannets are large white birds with yellowish heads; black-tipped wings; and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the ...

. An area of is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) and a

(SSSI).Cape Wrath
SPA designation, Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 2013-02-06. The cliffs around the cape are an internationally important nesting site for over 50000 seabirds, including colonies of puffin ''

Fratercula arctica The Atlantic puffin ('), also known as the common puffin, is a species of seabird in the auk family. It is the only puffin native to the Atlantic Ocean; two related species, the tufted puffin and the horned puffin is found in the northeastern ...

'', razorbill ''

Alca torda The razorbill, razor-billed auk, or lesser auk (''Alca torda'') is a colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus '' Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinis imp ...

'', guillemot ''

Uria aalge The common murre or common guillemot (''Uria aalge'') is a large auk. It has a circumpolar distribution, occurring in low-Arctic and boreal waters in the North Atlantic and North Pacific. It spends most of its time at sea, only coming to land t ...

'', kittiwake ''

Rissa tridactyla The black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') is a seabird species in the gull family Laridae. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' as ''Larus tridactylus''. The English ...

'' and fulmar ''

Fulmarus glacialis The northern fulmar (''Fulmarus glacialis''), fulmar, or Arctic fulmar is a highly abundant seabird found primarily in subarctic regions of the North Atlantic and North Pacific oceans. There has been one confirmed sighting in the Southern Hemis ...

''.Cape Wrath
, Citation for Special Protection Area, Scottish Natural Heritage, September 2009. Retrieved 2013-02-06. The SPA extends out to sea and includes the sea bed and marine environment which is a source of food for the bird population of the area. Numbers of seabirds in the area saw significant declines in the early 21st century with puffin numbers falling by 50%.'Ringing in the century'
''Sanctuary'' no.38
2009, pp.20–23, Ministry of Defence (available online). Retrieved 2013-02-06. An area of is also designated as a

.Cape Wrath
Site details, Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 2013-02-06. Marine species present in the area include

harbour porpoise The harbour porpoise (''Phocoena phocoena'') is one of eight extant species of porpoise. It is one of the smallest species of cetacean. As its name implies, it stays close to coastal areas or river estuaries, and as such, is the most familiar ...

common seal The harbor (or harbour) seal (''Phoca vitulina''), also known as the common seal, is a true seal found along temperate and Arctic marine coastlines of the Northern Hemisphere. The most widely distributed species of pinniped (walruses, eared sea ...

and

bottle-nosed dolphin Bottlenose dolphins are aquatic mammals in the genus ''Tursiops.'' They are common, cosmopolitan members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphins. Molecular studies show the genus definitively contains two species: the comm ...

as well as species such as

sea squirt Ascidiacea, commonly known as the ascidians, tunicates (in part), and sea squirts (in part), is a polyphyletic class in the subphylum Tunicata of sac-like marine invertebrate filter feeders. Ascidians are characterized by a tough outer "tunic" ...

s and sponges.Coasts and seas of the United Kingdom, Region 3 North-east Scotland: Cape Wrath to St. Cyrus
Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 2006. Retrieved 2013-02-06. The cliff-top vegetation at sites such as Clò Mòr includes common scurvygrass ''

Cochlearia officinalis ''Cochlearia officinalis'', common scurvygrass, scurvy-grass, or spoonwort, is a species of flowering plant in the family Brassicaceae. The plant acquired its common name from the observation that it cured scurvy, and it was taken on board ship ...

'' and a wide range of habitats are present. These include cliff-top sand dunes at the cape itself as well as

montane Montane ecosystems are found on the slopes of mountains. The alpine climate in these regions strongly affects the ecosystem because temperatures fall as elevation increases, causing the ecosystem to stratify. This stratification is a crucial f ...

habitats found at sea level. An area of around the coastline is designated as a

.Assessment of Highland Special Landscape Areas
, The Highland Council, June 2011. Retrieved 2013-02-05. This area extends from

Oldshoremore Oldshoremore is a scattered crofting hamlet in the Eddrachillis parish of Sutherland, Scotland. It incorporates around twenty houses, though several of these are holiday homes. Once owned by the Duke of Sutherland, Oldshoremore and the surroun ...

in the south-west to

in the east and includes the entire coastline of the cape area. Just offshore is Stac Clò Kearvaig, also known as "The Cathedral" due to the appearance of two spires and a natural window created by erosion. To the east lies Garvie Island (An Garbh-eilean), one of the main targets for live firing by the military. Inland the landscape is primarily covered in peat and is often boggy with difficult terrain and a number of

lochan ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spellin ...

s, the largest of which, Loch Airigh na Beinne, is around in area. The area has been described as one of the few coastal wildernesses in Britain. Plant species include heather ''

Calluna vulgaris ''Calluna vulgaris'', common heather, ling, or simply heather, is the sole species in the genus ''Calluna'' in the flowering plant family Ericaceae. It is a low-growing evergreen shrub growing to tall, or rarely to and taller, and is found wide ...

'', juniper ''

Juniperus communis ''Juniperus communis'', the common juniper, is a species of small tree or shrub in the cypress family Cupressaceae. An evergreen conifer, it has the largest geographical range of any woody plant, with a circumpolar distribution throughout the co ...

'' and ferns.

Cape Wrath Lighthouse

The lighthouse at Cape Wrath was built in 1828 by

Robert Stevenson Robert Stevenson may refer to: * Robert Stevenson (actor and politician) (1915–1975), American actor and politician * Robert Stevenson (civil engineer) (1772–1850), Scottish lighthouse engineer * Robert Stevenson (director) (1905–1986), Engli ...

and was manned until 1998, when it was converted to automatic operation by the Northern Lighthouse Board. The lighthouse, which is a Category A listed building, is a white-washed tower built of granite with a single storey semi-circular base building. The light, which is above sea level, is visible for . A complex of buildings close to the lighthouse were built by Lloyd's of London between 1894 and 1903 as a signal station to track shipping around the Cape. This closed in 1932, although the buildings were reused at the start of World War II as a coastguard station.

Military use

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) owns a area of the cape, known as the Cape Wrath Training Centre.Cape Wrath Range
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-05. The cape was used for training exercises from the early years of the 20th century,Public Information Leaflet
Defence Training Estate Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-06. with the first by-laws established in 1933 to allow use of the area as a firing range. The area was used originally as a naval gunnery range and was bought by the MoD in 1999. Since 2005 the area has been used as a multi-services training area and is one of the sites used in the Joint Warrior exercises, Europe's largest military exercise, and by other NATO operations.'Don't bomb' idea for Cape Wrath firing range
BBC news website, 2010-01-10. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
''The Northern Times'', 2009-09-21. Retrieved 2013-02-09. Training is allowed on up to 120 days a year,Cape Wrath will not be closed to public, MP says
''

The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until August 2004. Its pare ...

'', 2013-02-02. Retrieved 2014-02-18. usually taking place in the spring and autumn, although times can be unpredictable. The range is usually open for public access during the summer period and there is rarely firing on Sundays. The MoD owns a number of the surviving buildings in the area and operates observation posts and sentry posts during training. It is used for naval gunfire practice and for army artillery and mortar range firing.Military activities undertaken at Cape Wrath
, Royal Navy. Retrieved 2013-02-05. Disused military vehicles are often used as targets. The RAF uses An Garbh-eilean (Garvie Island) as a target for a range of training operations. It is the only place in the Northern Hemisphere where NATO forces combine land, air and sea capabilities in assault mode for training manoeuvres, deploying ordnance up to bombs.Cape Wrath Training Area
Ministry of Defence. Retrieved 2013-02-06.Cape Wrath Training Area
Public access to military areas, Ministry of Defence, 2012-12-12. Retrieved 2013-02-06. Firing on the range is controlled from

Faraid Head Faraid Head ( gd, An Fharaird) is a small peninsula on the northern coast of Sutherland, Highland, Scotland, located around north of the hamlet of Balnakeil and north of Durness. At the point is located a small radar station built in the 19 ...

close to

Balnakeil 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 northwest of Durness. The ruins of Balnakeil Church are a scheduled mon ...

. In 2008 a heath fire was caused on the range during a period of live firing. An area of around was affected. Scottish Natural Heritage estimated that the area would take 10 years to return to its normal environmental conditions.MoD accused of 'wildlife crime'
BBC news website, 2008-05-08. Retrieved 2013-02-05.New details emerge on cape fire
BBC news website, 2008-06-06. Retrieved 2013-02-05. Concern has also been raised of the effects of military exercises on nesting birds, on sheep during lambing season and the effects of noise on local residents.Concern over live shelling
BBC news website, 2003-02-24. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
, ''The Northern Times'', 2011-11-11. Retrieved 2013-02-08. A shell fired during exercises caused concern in 2002 when it landed off-target near the mouth of

Loch Eriboll __NOTOC__ Loch Eriboll (Scottish Gaelic: "Loch Euraboil") is a 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 Fir ...

and around from houses.Inquiry into shell incident
BBC news website, 2002-07-09. Retrieved 2013-02-05. The MoD expressed an interest in extending its land holdings on the Cape in 2012 after being given the opportunity to purchase surrounding

Cape Wrath Lighthouse 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.Northern Lighthouse Board.What motivates communities to buy land they live on?
BBC news website, 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2014-02-18. The plans were opposed by the Durness Development Group which cited concerns that historic buildings might be destroyed and that visitors may be unable to access cliff top paths. The group registered an interest in the land using community right to buy legislation and a petition opposing the sale attracted thousands of signatures. In May 2013 the MoD announced that it would not be continuing with the purchase.MoD retreats from Cape Wrath buyout
''

'', 2013-05-12. Retrieved 2014-02-18.

Tourism

The cape is visited by between 2,000 and 6,000 tourists a year, attracted by the lack of settlements, plants, animals, cliffs, mountain backdrop and

lighthouse A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of physical structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses and to serve as a beacon for navigational aid, for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways. Lighthouses mark ...

.Snap! Cape Wrath to grace playing cards
''The Scotsman'', 2010-04-08. Retrieved 2013-02-06.
''The Northern Times'', 2012-12-21. Retrieved 2013-02-08. The tourist industry is estimated to be worth between £400,000 and £620,000 to the economy of the local area around Durness. The Cape is the northern trail head of two trails. #The

Cape Wrath Trail Cape Wrath Trail is a hiking route that runs through the Scottish Highlands and along the west coast of Scotland. It is approximately 200 miles (321 km) in length and is considered to be one of the most challenging long distance walks in the ...

, through isolated country from Fort William #The

Scottish National Trail The Scottish National Trail is a long-distance trail between Kirk Yetholm in the Scottish Borders and Cape Wrath in the far north of the Scottish Highlands. The trail starts in Kirk Yetholm, at the end of the Pennine Way. The route combines sec ...

, from Kirk Yetholm on the Scottish border.Scottish National Trail aims to link landscape and history
BBC news website, 2012-10-30. Retrieved 2013-02-05. Cape Wrath is also the turning point for the Cape Wrath Marathon. It runs for to the lighthouse and the same distance back to the ferry dock on the Cape side. The final leg of the race is run from the mainland side from the ferry dock and finishes at Durness Community Centre. The marathon is held each year as the final event of a week of races, ''the Cape Wrath Challenge''.
, ''The Northern Times'', 2007-05-04. Retrieved 2013-02-08. The sole inhabitants of the Cape are the Ure family, renting the main building. They converted it into a three-bedroomed home, and opened what is claimed to be Britain's most remote cafe, the

Ozone Cafe Ozone (), or trioxygen, is an inorganic molecule with the chemical formula . It is a pale blue gas with a distinctively pungent smell. It is an allotrope of oxygen that is much less stable than the diatomic allotrope , breaking down in the lo ...

, in 2009. The cafe was opened by the

Princess Royal Princess Royal is a style customarily (but not automatically) awarded by a British monarch to their eldest daughter. Although purely honorary, it is the highest honour that may be given to a female member of the royal family. There have been sev ...

, and seats eight people. The Durness Development Group has made proposals, assisted by the

Highlands and Islands Social Enterprise Zone Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia *Sou ...

, to develop Cape Wrath as a visitor location. These may see the number of visitors rise to 10,000 and facilities at the Cape developed.

Transport

View of Bridge at Daill on Cape Wrath Road - geograph

From the south, the only route to the Cape is on foot from

Sandwood Bay Sandwood Bay (Scottish Gaelic: ''Bàgh Seannabhad'') is a natural bay in Sutherland, on the far north-west coast of mainland Scotland. It is best known for its remote beach and Am Buachaille, a sea stack, and lies about south of Cape Wrath. ...

and

Kinlochbervie Kinlochbervie ( gd, Ceann Loch Biorbhaidh, ) is a scattered harbour village in the north west of Sutherland, in the Highland region of Scotland. It is the most northerly port on the west coast of Scotland. Geography Sandwood Bay, a scenic beach ...

. Access is restricted at times by military operations on the Cape. A rough road of around links the lighthouse with the

which is crossed by a passenger ferry service operating between May and September. The road was built as part of the lighthouse construction in 1828 and, in places, uses a series of rock causeways to cross peat bogs and revetments to maintain a route along steep slopes. Materials for the road were quarried locally and there are a number of quarrying sites along it. The road is marked with milestones and crosses the Allt na Guaille and Kearvaig River on contemporary arched bridges.Kyle of Durness to Cape Wrath lighthouse
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-05.Allt na Guaille
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-05.Kearvaig River road bridge
Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-05. The original slipway on the Kyle of Durness was built north of Daill with an associated storehouse similar to that at Clais Charnach.Kyle of Durness storehouse to Cape Wrath lighthouse
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-08. This was linked by a rough track with the road being extended south the slipway at Ferry House during the 1830s.Kyle of Durness
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-08. The road, the U70, passes the hamlet of Achiemore where a Ministry of Defence check-point blocks access to the cape during live firing exercises. It passes the farmsteads of Daill and Inshore, where the MoD uses the remaining house, before a track to the right links the road to the old hamlet of Kearvaig, where there is a beach and Kearvaig House which the

Mountain Bothies Association The Mountain Bothies Association (MBA) is a Scottish registered charity. It looks after 104 bothies and two emergency mountain shelters (not to be mistaken for or confused with a mountain hut, as the Fords of Avon and Garbh Choire refuges are ...

have converted into a

bothy A bothy is a basic shelter, usually left unlocked and available for anyone to use free of charge. It was also a term for basic accommodation, usually for gardeners or other workers on an estate. Bothies are found in remote mountainous areas of Sco ...

. Margaret Davies, a walker, was found there dying of starvation in 2002.Margaret's story
''The Guardian'', 2002-12-18. Retrieved 2013-02-05. A minibus service operates along the road during the summer period linking the ferry slipway with the lighthouse. The road, ferry and minibus service are suspended during military training operations on the cape.

References

External links

Visitors WWW siteCape Wrath tourismCape Wrath Training Area
Ministry of Defence information, including access information and contact telephone numbers
North West Highlands Geopark
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080125183830/http://www.northwest-highlands-geopark.org.uk/ , date=25 January 2008 Bombing ranges

Wrath Anger, also known as wrath or rage, is an intense emotional state involving a strong uncomfortable and non-cooperative response to a perceived provocation, hurt or threat. A person experiencing anger will often experience physical effects, s ...

Landforms of Highland (council area) Landforms of Sutherland

Cape Wrath Cape Wrath ( gd, Am Parbh, known as ' in Lewis) 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. The cape is separated from the rest of the ma ...

Sites of Special Scientific Interest in North West Sutherland