Sleat ( ) is a peninsula and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

on the island of

Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye, is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated by the Cuillin, the rocky slopes of which provide some o ...

in the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

council area 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 ...

, known as "the garden of Skye". It is the home of the clan '' MacDonald of Sleat''. The name comes from the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

, which in turn comes from

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

''sléttr'' (smooth, even), which well describes Sleat when considered in the surrounding context of the mainland, Skye and

Rùm Rùm (), a Scottish Gaelic language, Scottish Gaelic name often Anglicisation, anglicised to Rum ( ), is one of the Small Isles of the Inner Hebrides, off the west coast of Scotland, in the district of Lochaber. For much of the 20th century the ...

mountains that dominate the horizon all about Sleat.

Geography

The peninsula extends from an isthmus between the heads of Loch Eishort and Loch na Dal for southwest to Point of Sleat at the southern tip of Skye. It is bounded on the northwest by Loch Eishort and on the southeast by the

Sound of Sleat The Sound of Sleat ( ) is a narrow sea channel off the western coast of Scotland. It divides the Sleat peninsula on the south-east side of the Isle of Skye from Morar, Knoydart and Glenelg on the Scottish mainland. The Sound extends in a south ...

. Most of Sleat, unlike most of Skye, is fairly fertile, and though there are hills, most do not reach a great height.

Communities

Sleat is a traditional parish that has several communities and two major landowners (the Clan Donald Lands Trust and Eilean Iarmain Estate). Most of the population lives on the southern side of the peninsula. The main settlements along the Sound of Sleat are, from north east to south west,

Isleornsay Isleornsay (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Iarmain) is a village lying off the main Armadale to Sleat road (the A851) on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It overlooks, but is not upon, the island of Ornsay. The island itself shelters one of the best natur ...

Teangue Teangue () is a fishing village on the Sleat peninsula, Isle of Skye, Highlands of Scotland. It is situated in Knock Bay on the west side of the Sound of Sleat. It is in the Scottish council area of Highland. Knock Castle is located to the we ...

, Ferindonald, Kilmore, Armadale,

Ardvasar Ardvasar () is a village near the southern end of the Sleat peninsula, on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It is just to the south of the village of Armadale, Skye, Armadale, where a ferry crosses to Mallaig. Nearby attractions include Armadale Castl ...

and

Aird of Sleat Aird of Sleat () is a village on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It is located at the southern end of the Sleat peninsula, southeast of Ardvasar and Armadale, at the end of a minor road. Lying from Point of Sleat, it is the southernmost settl ...

. On the northwest side are Tokavaig and

Tarskavaig Tarskavaig (''Tarsgabhaig'' in Scottish Gaelic) is a crofting village on the west coast of Sleat on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It sits in a glen which meets Tarskavaig Bay and lies opposite the Isles of Eigg, Rum and Canna. It is often said th ...

. Sleat Community Trust (), the local

development trust Development trusts are organisations operating in the United Kingdom that are: *community based, owned and led *engaged in the economic, environmental and social regeneration of a defined area or community *independent but seek to work in partners ...

, has purchased the Skye Ferry Filling Station at Armadale and in common with many communities is investigating the options for renewable energy production. It also owns Sleat Renewables Ltd., a timber production company. In October 2007 the Trust hosted the

Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company Community Energy Scotland is an independent Scottish charity established in 2008 that provides advice and financial support for renewable energy projects developed by community groups in Scotland.HICEC. (2006) ''Highlands and Islands Community ...

annual conference.

Transport and communications

The

A851 road The A851 road is one of the principal roads of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of mainland Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly ...

links Armadale to the rest of Skye. In the early 2000s the final section of a new double-track road through Sleat from Armadale Ferry to Broadford was finished. After later substantial upgrades by June 2019 it became a S2 road throughout. Most teenage school-children in Sleat travel along the A851 to attend

Portree High School Portree High School ( Gaelic: ') is a state co-educational comprehensive school in Portree, Isle of Skye in Scotland. , the school enrols 494 pupils and employs 80 teachers and support staff. The school's catchment area draws from 15 primary sch ...

, where there is a hostel for those who live particularly far away. Minor roads connect the two coasts of Sleat, and a minor road also extends beyond Armadale to Aird of Sleat. Beyond Aird a track leads to the

Point of Sleat Lighthouse The Point of Sleat Lighthouse is a lighthouse on Skye in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. It was built in 1934 at the Point of Sleat at the southern end of the island. In 2003 the tower was dismantled and replaced by a concrete structure with a s ...

. A

Caledonian MacBrayne Caledonian MacBrayne (), in short form CalMac, is the trade name of CalMac Ferries Ltd, the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries to the west coast of Scotland, serving ports on the mainland and 22 of the major islands. It is a subsid ...

car ferry connects Armadale to

Mallaig Mallaig (; ) is a seaport, port in Morar, on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands, Highlands of Scotland. It faces Skye from across the Sound of Sleat. The Mallaig railway station, local railway station is the terminus of the West Highlan ...

on the mainland.

Gaelic

After the

Trotternish Trotternish () is the northernmost peninsula of the Isle of Skye in Scotland, spanning in length from Portree to Rubha Hunish. The Trotternish escarpment runs almost the full length of the peninsula, some ,Ordnance Survey ''Landranger'' 1:50000 ...

peninsula, the Sleat peninsula is the second strongest Gaelic-speaking area in Skye. In the 1901 census, 91% of the population was recorded as speaking Gaelic, with 10% recorded as Gaelic monolinguals. In the 2011 census, 39% of the population in Sleat were recorded as speaking Gaelic, with the highest percentage of Gaelic speakers in

and Achnacloich (51%), and the lowest in Armadale (27%). The local primary school,

Bun-sgoil Shlèite Bun-sgoil Shlèite is a primary school on the Sleat peninsula of the island of Skye in Scotland. It is Scotland's only Gaelic Medium School with an English department. It was established in August 2007 though the building originally opened in Nov ...

, is a designated Gaelic-medium school. There was some local and national controversy in 2006 about the decision to change the status of the school from an English school with a Gaelic medium unit to a Gaelic school but in the end the

Highland Council The Highland Council (' ) is the local authority for Highland, one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. The council is based at the Highland Council Headquarters in Inverness. History The Highland area had been created as an administrative a ...

opted for a compromise solution, designating the school as an all-Gaelic school but with an English-medium unit.Plan agreed for all-Gaelic school
BBC News. 27 October 2006 Sleat is home to Scotland's only Gaelic-medium college,

Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (; ) is a public higher education college situated in the Sleat peninsula in the south of the Isle of Skye, Scotland with an associate campus at Bowmore on the island of Islay. Sabhal Mòr is an independent Academic Part ...

, which provides university-level education in a number of subjects in Gaelic, and is the largest employer in the area. The Gaelic feature-length film, '' Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle,'' was largely filmed in Sleat and produced by

Christopher Young Christopher Young (born April 28, 1958) is an American composer of Film score, film and television scores. Many of his compositions are for horror and thriller films, including ''Hellraiser'', ''Species (film), Species'', ''Urban Legend (film) ...

, a Sleat resident and partial Gaelic speaker.

References

External links

Sleat Community Trust

archive of Sleat Community Council Website

Bun-sgoil Shlèite website

SEALL – Sleat's promoter of Arts
{{coord, 57.11016, N, 5.93223, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(NG6209), display=title Landforms of the Isle of Skye Peninsulas of Scotland Landforms of Highland (council area) Parishes in Skye Parishes in Inverness-shire