Cuil Bay (), meaning recess, corner, niche or nook, is a 237° facing, large sand and shingle coastal

embayment A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

with a semi-circular outline, on a chord of 2 km, situated on the south‐west part of the Ardsheal peninsula, on the southern coast of the sea loch of

Loch Linnhe Loch Linnhe ( ) is a sea loch in the Highland Council area, in the west of Scotland. The part upstream of Corran is known in Gaelic as (the black pool, originally known as Loch Abar), and downstream as (the salty pool). The name ''Linnhe ...

, in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Lismore and Appin, within the council area of

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; ) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig. Lochaber once extended from the Northern shore of Loch Leven, a distric ...

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 ...

. It was formerly part of

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

before boundary changes occurred. The bay is situated adjacent to the village of

Duror Duror (, meaning hard water), occasionally Duror of Appin, is a small, remote coastal village that sits at the base of Glen Duror, in district of Appin, in the Scottish West Highlands, within the council area of Argyll and Bute in Scotland. ...

. The bay is reached by a small road that leads from the Duror Primary School, leaving the main A828 road, following the line of the River Duror, as it races to meet the sea, before opening out into a vista of a long shore of meadows and sea-grasses as the land meets the bay proper.

Geography

The bay, which has an orientation of south-east to north-west, bounded to the north by Ardsheal peninsula which has the same orientation, faces Loch Linnhe in a southeasterly direction, with the full width of Loch Linnhe partially obscured by Ardsheal peninsula, where the bay is located, on its westerly edge. The small island of Eilean Balnagowan can be plainly seen from the bay, at a distance of 2 km, behind the island, lies Shuna Island at 7.42 km from the shingle beach, which can clearly be seen on the left of hand side of Eilean Balnagowan, with the Sound of Shuna, that separates the island from Appin coast clearly visible. Around 13.71 km from the bay, that be seen from the north end of Cuil Bay on a clear day, is the north coast of the garden island of Lismore, which is oriented from south-west to north-east, following the orientation of Loch Linnhe, roughly parallel to the

Great Glen Fault The Great Glen Fault is a strike-slip fault that runs through the Great Glen in Scotland. Occasional moderate tremors have been recorded over the past 150 years. Location Aligned northeast to southwest, the Great Glen Fault extends further sout ...

. Cuil Bay is part of the ancient district of Lorne.

Salmon Fishing

A Salmon fishing station using the ancient set bag net style of fishing is located close to the Rubha Beag headland at the north west end of the bay. There is evidence that Salmon fishing has occurred in Cuil Bay for some 400 years, which is important for Scotland heritage. The main species of Salmon fished is the

Salmo salar The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...

. The fishing technique uses a fixed engine bag, which is a trap for fish, where a leader runs into two or three other chambers, where the fish are trapped. This is both an ancient and environmentally healthy way to fish, as fish can be kept or released depending on size, weight and condition.

Langoustine ''Nephrops norvegicus'', known variously as the Norway lobster, Dublin Bay prawn, ' (compare langostino) or ''scampi'', is a slim, coral-colored lobster that grows up to long, and is "the most important commercial crustacean in Europe". It is ...

and

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the intern ...

are also fished by pot in the same spot.

Biology

Cuil Bay is known for providing the ideal biology for the giant tachinid fly which resembles a

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only Extant taxon, extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct r ...

in flight. A large amount of dry, open

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

s and

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

s that surround the bay make for ideal breeding grounds. It breeds from February until September and is a parasite of large caterpillars.

Conservation designations

Cuil Bay is part of one

Special Protection Area A special protection area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cer ...

, and one

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 ...

. The first is biological in nature, the second is geological: * Special Protected Area:

Glen Etive Glen Etive () is a glen in the Scottish Highlands. The River Etive () rises on the peaks surrounding Rannoch Moor, with several tributary streams coming together at the Kings House Hotel, at the head of Glen Coe. From the Kings House, the Etiv ...

and Glen Fyne. Designated 28 October 2010 for internationally important aggregations of breeding birds -

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 bird of pr ...

(''Aquila chrysaetos'') *

: Ardsheal Peninsula. Designated 1 February 1981 for

igneous petrology Igneous petrology is the study of igneous rocks—those that are formed from magma. As a branch of geology, igneous petrology is closely related to volcanology, tectonophysics, and petrology in general. The modern study of igneous rocks uses a num ...

(Caledonian Igneous) and structural and

metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causi ...

geology (

Dalradian The Dalradian Supergroup (informally and traditionally the Dalradian) is a stratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the lithostratigraphy of the Grampian Highlands of Scotland and in the north and west of Ireland. The diverse assembla ...

Features

Dewar Manuscripts

It is mentioned in The Dewar Manuscripts, in one of the stories, that the

Lord of the Isles Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( or ; ) is a title of nobility in the Baronage of Scotland with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title was ...

had a hospitality house, located in Cuill, although the present location is not known. The tenant of the house paid no rent on the condition that if the Lord of the Isles visited, a feast would be laid on and the Lord would be entertained. The tenant of the hospitality house, one McTavish was told to prepare a feast, but the River Etive was in spate, so the Lord was delayed. Dugald MacIain Stewart of the

Clan Stewart of Appin Clan Stewart of Appin is the West Highland branch of the Clan Stewart and have been a distinct clan since their establishment in the 15th century. Their Chiefs are descended from Sir James Stewart of Perston, who was himself the grandson of ...

told McTavish that the visit would not take place, and that he and his close friends would eat the feast. When the Lord turned up a few days later, no feast was prepared, but Stewart had prepared a new feast, which was to be eaten between Kentallen Bay and Lettermore Wood. As a reward, he was given Cuil. The Lord of the Isles stated of the affair:

Achara Stone

Close to the start of the small road which leads to Cuil bay from Duror Primary School, between

and

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

of Achara (), opposite the primary school, within a field, is an ancient single

standing stone A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright rock (geology), stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the Eur ...

, that has been there for least 5000 years. The stone is 12 feet high, and gave its name to the Achara area.

Gallery

File:A quiet mid-winter dawn over Cuil Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1817899.jpg, Winters dawm File:Cuil Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1747201.jpg, Cuil Bay looking towards Shuna and Lismore. File:Cuil Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1705055.jpg, Cuil Bay looking towards the Salmon fishing station and the hills of Ardgour in the distance. File:The lochan above Cuil Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1805259.jpg, A small fresh lochan above Cuil Bay supporting Mute Swan and a few ducks. File:Cuil bay - geograph.org.uk - 6143504.jpg File:Cuil Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1817911.jpg, Looking towards the bay from the south

References

{{reflist Bays of Highland (council area) Bays of Scotland Bays of Argyll and Bute Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Scotland Special Protection Areas in Scotland