Applecross Peninsula

Applecross ( , 'The Sanctuary', historically anglicized as 'Combrich') is a peninsula in Wester Ross, in the Scottish Highlands. It is bounded by Loch Kishorn to the south, Loch Torridon to the north, and Glen Shieldaig to the east. On its western side is Applecross Bay and the Inner Sound. The peninsula is mountainous, sparsely populated, and has only two small roads joining the mainland. One of these roads traverses the famous Bealach na Bà. The former Celtic Christian monastery of Applecross was founded in the 7th century by Saint Máel Ruba, a missionary from Bangor Abbey in Gaelic Ireland; a sculptured stone is all that remains.

Geography

Extremely isolated, Applecross was accessible only by boat until the early 19th century, and for many years after that the only road access was over one of Scotland's most notoriously treacherous roads, the ('Pass of the Cattle'), which crosses the peninsula and reaches a maximum height of , below the high Sgùrr a' Chaorachain. In 1975 the settlement was connected via a winding coastal road which travels around the edge of the peninsula to Shieldaig and Torridon. The road skirts the shore of the Inner Sound and Loch Torridon.

This row of houses which is marked as 'Applecross' on some maps, is actually called 'Shore Street' and is referred to locally just as 'The Street'. The name Applecross applies to the whole peninsula, including the settlements of Toscaig, Culduie, Camusterrach and Sand. Applecross is also the name of the local estate and the civil parish, which includes Shieldaig and Torridon, and has a population of 544. The small River Applecross () flows into the bay at Applecross.

History

Applecross's name is an anglicisation of the Pictish name ''Aporcrosan'', 'confluence of the iverCrossan' ( in modern Gaelic). The name is derived from the Pictish ''aber-'' and Scottish Gaelic ''cros''.

Applecross is linked with Saint Máel Ruba, who came to Scotland in 671 from the major Celtic Church monastery of Bangor Abbey in Gaelic Ireland. He founded ''Aporcrosan'' in 672 in what was then Pictish territory, and was the monastery's first abbot, dying on 21 April 722 in his eightieth year. The deaths of several of his successors as abbot are recorded in the Irish Annals into the early ninth century. The early monastery was located around the site of the later Church of Scotland parish church (present building erected 1817). A large, unfinished cross-slab standing in the churchyard and three extremely finely carved fragments of another preserved within the church are evidence of the early monastery. The surrounding district is known as 'the sanctuary' in Gaelic. Its boundaries were once marked by high crosses. The stub of one, destroyed in 1870, survives among farm buildings at Camusterrach.

During the Scottish Reformation in the second half of the 16th century, the lands of Applecross were secularised and granted c.1591 to Clan Mackenzie.Sir James Balfour Paul, ''The Scots Peerage''; Volume 7 (1910); ''Mackenzie, Earl of Seaforth'' The estate was eventually inherited by Alexander Mackenzie (died 1650), an illegitimate son of Colin Cam Mackenzie of Kintail. With a brief interruption between 1715 and 1724 (a period of forfeiture caused by the Laird of Applecross' role in the 1715 Uprising), the estate remained in the ownership of Alexander Mackenzie's heirs until the mid-19th century, when the lands were sold to the Duke of Leeds.

In the early 1860s, the estate was sold to Lord Middleton. Following the death of the 10th Baron Middleton in 1924, the estate was sold to the Wills family.

The estate is now owned by the Applecross Trust, a registered Scottish charity with the declared aim of preserving "the special character of the Applecross peninsula in a responsible and progressive manner whilst acknowledging its wilderness heritage and its importance as an area of outstanding natural beauty". The Applecross Trust is overseen by a board of seven people and chaired by Rodger Harvey-Jamieson.

Wildlife

Many native Scottish animals can be found in Applecross, including mammals such as red deer, pine martens, otters, water voles, blue hare, foxes, a rare wildcat, and pipistrelle and Daubenton's bats as well as birds such as tawny and barn owls, white tailed and golden eagles, great skua, arctic tern, great spotted woodpeckers, song thrush, bullfinches, golden plover, skylark, merlin, greenshank, dunlin, red and, occasionally, the rarer black grouse, dotterel, and rock ptarmigan. In terms of marine life there are common seals near the shore, as well as basking sharks, minke whales, porpoises, and bottlenose dolphins. Adders can also be found here.

Economy

In July 2010, at a cost of £40,000, the UK's first unmanned petrol station was opened. It uses a credit card reader to enable customers to serve themselves. The business was taken over by Applecross Community Company in 2008 in response to its possible closure. The only alternative involves a round trip to Lochcarron.The eponymous Applecross Brewing Company had to locate in Kishorn because there is no three-phase electric power grid in Applecross.

Tourism

Recently Applecross has experienced an increase in tourism for those looking for a place to hike, kayak, fish, and cycle. The North Coast 500 tourist route crosses the Bealach na Bà pass, which rises to with hairpin bend, goes through Applecross along the coastal road. In 2025, ''The Daily Telegraph'' wrote that Bealach na Bà had become a "worldwide motoring phenomenon".

Media and the arts

Applecross appeared as Laxdale in the 1953 film ''Laxdale Hall'', in which the community protests against the poor condition of the access road by withholding their Road Tax.

On television, Applecross appeared as Carnochie in the " Upstairs Downstairs" episode "Will Ye No Come Back Again?" (1975). It later featured in '' Monty Halls' Great Escape'' (2009) and an edition of Channel 4's ''Time Team'' (series 13, episode 13) when a broch (hollow-walled structure) was excavated.2,000 Year Old Tower Buried in The Highlands , Time Team , Odyssey"
''YouTube''. Retrieved 15 August 2022.

It is mentioned in the writings of Margaret Leigh; particularly in 'Driftwood and Tangle'. It is also the setting for Graeme Macrae Burnet's 2015 novel '' His Bloody Project'' which was nominated for the Man Booker Prize in 2016. It also was the main setting of the "Enchanted Emporium" series by Pierdomenico Baccalario.

Climate

References

External links

Applecross Landscape PartnershipApplecross Historical SocietyApplecross WalksThe Applecross Trust

{{Authority control

Celtic Christianity
Populated places in Ross and Cromarty
Peninsulas of Scotland
Clan Mackenzie
Former Christian monasteries in Scotland
Parishes in Ross and Cromarty