Achiemore was a crofting community located on the

Cape Wrath Cape Wrath (, 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 Great Britain. The cape is separated from the rest of the mainland by the Ky ...

peninsula near the village of

Durness 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 north of Inverness. The area is remote, and the parish is huge and spar ...

in the

Scottish county The counties or shires of Scotland () were historic subdivisions of Scotland. The shires were originally established in the Middle Ages for judicial purposes, being territories over which a sheriff had jurisdiction. They were distinct from the ...

Sutherland Sutherland () is a Counties of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. The name dates from the Scandinavian Scotland, Viking era when t ...

. 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 to the east. Inverness is around to the south.

Access

Achiemore is in the

Highland Council area Highland (, ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the United Kingdo ...

in the far north of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. Access across the Kyle of Durness is by a small passenger ferry operating from Keoldale during the summer months. The hamlet is on the U70 road linking the ferry to the lighthouse at Cape Wrath which was built in the 1830s as a supply road for the newly opened lighthouse replacing a track which linked to an original slipway north of Daill.Kyle of Durness storehouse to Cape Wrath lighthouse
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-08.Kyle of Durness
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-08. Quarries alongside the road at both Achiemore and Daill were used to provide material for the building of the road.Kyle of Durness to Cape Wrath lighthouse
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-08.

History

View of Bridge at Daill on Cape Wrath Road - geograph

Between 1935 and 1938, there were around 40 people living on the cape side.Cafe at the end of the universe ... where a cup of tea is guaranteed
''The Herald'', 2009-06-09. Retrieved 2013-02-08.
, Obituary, ''Northern Times'', 2011-11-29. Retrieved 2013-02-08.Uney.G (2009
''Backpacker's Britain: Northern Scotland: thirty two and three day treks''
p. 86. Cicerone Press Limited. (online). Retrieved 2011-01-28. The farmsteads at Daill and Achiemore consisted of two or three buildings with assorted enclosures.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. Up to 10 children from across the cape were known to attend a side school to Durness Primary School which was located at Achiemore. The school closed in 1947 and the whole area of the cape is now virtually uninhabited.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. The school building stood until the early 1990s, when its roof blew off in strong winds, and its walls were taken down to strengthen the wooden bridge constructed by the

Royal Marines The Royal Marines provide the United Kingdom's amphibious warfare, amphibious special operations capable commando force, one of the :Fighting Arms of the Royal Navy, five fighting arms of the Royal Navy, a Company (military unit), company str ...

in 1980 crossing the Daill River to the north west of Achiemore. Achiemore is located just outside the Cape Wrath Training Area, a military training and live firing range which has operated on the cape since the early 20th century. A military sentry post adjacent to the site of the school restricts access to the area when the range is in use. A possible site of a

promontory fort A promontory fort is a fortification, defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus using the topography to reduce the Rampart (fortification), ramparts needed. The oldest kno ...

is located to the north-east of Achiemore on the shore of the Kyle of Durness where drystone and turf enclosures have been surveyed.Daill promontory fort (possible)
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-08. A site at Eilean nan Caorach, around north of Daill is a more likely location of a promontory fort or monastery. The site has been heavily damaged by shelling and dating is difficult as a result.Eilean nan Caorach
Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 2013-02-08.

References

External links

Cape Wrath tourism
{{Webarchive, url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019165804/http://capewrath.org.uk/ , date=19 October 2015
Cape Wrath ferryCape Wrath Training Area
Ministry of Defence information, including access information and contact telephone numbers Populated places in Sutherland

Access

History

See also

References

External links