Ardnamurchan
Encyclopedia
Peninsula
A peninsula is a piece of land that is bordered by water on three sides but connected to mainland. In many Germanic and Celtic languages and also in Baltic, Slavic and Hungarian, peninsulas are called "half-islands"....
in Lochaber
Lochaber
District of Lochaber 1975 to 1996Highland council area shown as one of the council areas of ScotlandLochaber is one of the 16 ward management areas of the Highland Council of Scotland and one of eight former local government districts of the two-tier Highland region...
, Highland
Highland (council area)
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, noted for being very unspoilt and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access route being a single track road
Single track road
A single-track road or one-lane road is a road that permits two-way travel but is not wide enough in most places to allow vehicles to pass one another . This kind of road is common in rural areas across the United Kingdom and elsewhere...
for much of its length.
Geography
Strictly speaking Ardnamurchan covers only the peninsula beyond the villages of SalenSalen, Ardnamurchan
Salen is a scattered village, overlooking Salen Bay to the south, which is an inlet of the westen sea loch, Loch Sunart, on the eastern end of the Ardnamurchan peninsula, in Argyll, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland....
(in the south) and Acharacle
Acharacle
Acharacle is a township in Ardnamurchan, Lochaber, in the Scottish council area of Highland. The name comes from the Gaelic Ath Thorguil or Torquil's ford, following a battle in 1120 at a nearby ford across the River Shiel between the Celtic-Norse warrior Somerled and the Norse invader Torquil...
(in the north), but nowadays the term is used much more generally to include the neighbouring districts of Sunart
Sunart
Sunart is a rural district and community in the south west of Lochaber in Highland, Scotland, on the shores of Loch Sunart, and part of the civil parish of Ardnamurchan...
, Ardgour
Ardgour
Ardgour is a district of Lochaber on Ardnamurchan peninisula on the western shore of Loch Linnhe, in Highland Scotland.The term Ardgour, together with Kingairloch, is applied to a large area of countryside around the village, from the Glensanda Superquarry, Kingairloch and Kilmalieu in the south...
, Morvern
Morvern
Morvern is a peninsula in south west Lochaber, on the west coast of Scotland. The name is derived from the Gaelic A' Mhorbhairne . The highest point is the summit of the Corbett Creach Bheinn which reaches in elevation....
, and even Moidart
Moidart
Moidart is a district in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland.Moidart lies to the west of Fort William and is very remote. Loch Shiel cuts off the south-east boundary of the district. Moidart includes the townships of Dorlin, Mingarry, Kinlochmoidart and Glenuig. At Dorlin is located the ancient fortress...
(which was part of the former county of Inverness-shire
Inverness-shire
The County of Inverness or Inverness-shire was a general purpose county of Scotland, with the burgh of Inverness as the county town, until 1975, when, under the Local Government Act 1973, the county area was divided between the two-tier Highland region and the unitary Western Isles. The Highland...
, not Argyll).
Ardnamurchan Point
Ardnamurchan Point is an isolated peninsula with a lighthouse in Highland, Scotland.-Location:Ardnamurchan Point lies at the western end of the Ardnamurchan peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. It is north of Corrachadh Mòr, the most westerly point on the island of Great Britain, which is...
, which has a 36 metres (118 ft) tall lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
built on it, is commonly described as the most westerly point
Extreme points of the United Kingdom
This is a list of the extreme points of the United Kingdom: the points that are farther north, south, east or west than any other location. Traditionally the extent of the island of Great Britain has stretched "from Land's End to John o' Groats" .This article does not include references to the...
of the British mainland
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
although Corrachadh Mòr
Corrachadh Mor
Corrachadh Mòr ETRS89 is a small hillock on the Ardnamurchan peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, notable for adjoining the most westerly point on the island of Great Britain. It is about further west than Land's End in Cornwall....
, a kilometre to the south, is a few metres further west.
Geology
The whole north western corner of Ardnamurchan contains a complex of volcanic structures, often described approximately as a "CalderaCaldera
A caldera is a cauldron-like volcanic feature usually formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic eruption, such as the one at Yellowstone National Park in the US. They are sometimes confused with volcanic craters...
". Broadly, this area is the underground structures of a 55 million-year-old volcanic complex (relatively small areas of lavas that were erupted onto the surface are found in some parts of the peninsula). At least 7 other similar complexes of the same tectonic episode are dotted up the west coast of Britain, and so are popular stops in geological training courses from many universities. Geological research continues in the area to this day, as well as training. The sub-concentric rings of the volcanic complex can easily be seen in the satellite photograph, or topographic map, though they are less obvious on the ground.
History
Donaldson equates 'Buarblaig' (now Bourblaige about 5 miles east of KilchoanKilchoan
Kilchoan is a village on the Scottish peninsula of Ardnamurchan, in Lochaber, Highland. It is the most westerly village on Great Britain, although several tiny hamlets lie further west on the peninsula .Kilchoan has a population of about 150.-History:Donaldson equates 'Buarblaig' Kilchoan (Cille...
on the other side of Ben Hiant) with Muribulg, where the Annals of Tigernach
Annals of Tigernach
The Annals of Tigernach is a chronicle probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish....
record a battle between the Picts and Dalriads in 731. It may also be the 'Muirbole Paradisi' mentioned by Adomnán. Although its stone foundations still remain, the village of Bourblaige no longer exists, having been subject to destruction during the period of the Highland Clearances
Highland Clearances
The Highland Clearances were forced displacements of the population of the Scottish Highlands during the 18th and 19th centuries. They led to mass emigration to the sea coast, the Scottish Lowlands, and the North American colonies...
in the early nineteenth century.
Tradition has it that there have been at least two battles in the bays between Gortenfern and Sgeir a' Chaolais, in the northeast of the peninsula across Kentra Bay from Ardtoe
Ardtoe
Ardtoe is a place in Highland, Scotland.*...
. One involved the Vikings, the other may have been fought in 1297 in Cul na Croise between the forces of Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
and islanders under Roderick of Bute and Lachlan MacRuari of Garmoran. Relics of a Viking ship burial in Cul na Croise have been given to the West Highland Museum at Fort William.
In 2011, a Viking ship burial
Port an Eilean Mhòir ship burial
The Port an Eilean Mhòir ship burial is a Viking ship burial site in Ardnamurchan, Scotland, the most westerly point on the island of Great Britain. Dated to the 10th century, the burial consists of a Viking boat about long by wide in which a man was laid to rest with his shield, sword and spear...
, probably from the 10th century, was unearthed at Port an Eilean Mhòir on Ardnamurchan. Grave goods buried alongside a Viking warrior found in the boat suggest he was a high-ranking warrior. The Ardnamurchan Viking was found buried with an axe, a sword
Viking sword
The Viking sword is a form of spatha, evolving out of the Migration Period sword in the 8th century, and evolving into the classical knightly sword in the 11th century with the emergence of larger crossguards...
with a decorated hilt, a spear, a shield boss and a bronze ring pin. Other finds in the 5m-long (16ft) grave in Ardnamurchan included a knife, what could be the tip of a bronze drinking horn
Drinking horn
A drinking horn is the horn of a bovid used as a drinking vessel. Drinking horns are known from Classical Antiquity especially in Thrace and the Balkans, and remained in use for ceremonial purposes throughout the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period in some parts of Europe, notably in Germanic...
, a whetstone
Whetstone
Whetstone may refer to:* Whetstone, a sharpening stone used for knives and other cutting tools* Whetstone , a benchmark for measuring computing power* Operation Whetstone, a nuclear test program in the 1960s- Places :United Kingdom...
from Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
, a ring pin from Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
and Viking Age pottery.http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-15333852
Administrative divisions
Counties of Scotland
The counties of Scotland were the principal local government divisions of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current lieutenancy areas and registration counties are largely based on them. They are often referred to as historic counties....
of Argyll
Argyll
Argyll , archaically Argyle , is a region of western Scotland corresponding with most of the part of ancient Dál Riata that was located on the island of Great Britain, and in a historical context can be used to mean the entire western coast between the Mull of Kintyre and Cape Wrath...
, it is now part of the Lochaber ward management area of the Highland local authority.
Villages in Ardnamurchan:
- AcharacleAcharacleAcharacle is a township in Ardnamurchan, Lochaber, in the Scottish council area of Highland. The name comes from the Gaelic Ath Thorguil or Torquil's ford, following a battle in 1120 at a nearby ford across the River Shiel between the Celtic-Norse warrior Somerled and the Norse invader Torquil...
(Àth Tharracail) - AchnahaAchnahaAchnaha is a village in Ardnamurchan, Lochaber, in the Scottish council area of Highland.One of the local tourist attractions is a volcanic crater.Achnaha is a remote village in the West Highlands of Scotland, it is in the centre of an extinct volcano....
(Achadh na h-Àtha) - GlenborrodaleGlenborrodaleGlenborrodale is a coastal community on Loch Sunart in the south of the Ardnamurchan peninsula in the Highland area of Scotland.It gives its name to a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds' reserve in the nearby oakwoods at ....
(Gleann Bhorghdail) - Glenmore
- KilchoanKilchoanKilchoan is a village on the Scottish peninsula of Ardnamurchan, in Lochaber, Highland. It is the most westerly village on Great Britain, although several tiny hamlets lie further west on the peninsula .Kilchoan has a population of about 150.-History:Donaldson equates 'Buarblaig' Kilchoan (Cille...
(Cille Chòmhghain) - KilmoryKilmory, HighlandKilmory is a small crofting hamlet on the north coast of Ardnamurchan, western Scotland.-Geography:...
(Cill Mhóire) - Laga
- OckleOckleOckle is a remote hamlet, situated on the northcoast of the Ardnamurchan peninsula, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland.Ockle lies 6 miles northeast of Kilchoan on the sourthern coast of the peninsula...
(Ocal) - PortuairkPortuairkPortuairk is a crofting township, at the western end of the Ardnamurchan peninsula, Lochaber, in the Highland council area of Scotland, and claims the honour of being the most westerly settlement on the British mainland, although nearby Kilchoan is the most westerly village.Overlooking Sanna Bay,...
(Port Uairce) - SannaSanna, ArdnamurchanSanna is a hamlet at the far western tip of the Scottish peninsula of Ardnamurchan, in Lochaber, Highland. It is one of the most westerly settlements on the mainland of Great Britain, and consists of a small collection of crofts and houses around a series of unspoilt sandy beaches. It is the...
(Sanna)
Culture
Shinty
Shinty is a team game played with sticks and a ball. Shinty is now played mainly in the Scottish Highlands, and amongst Highland migrants to the big cities of Scotland, but it was formerly more widespread, being once competitively played on a widespread basis in England and other areas in the...
team, Ardnamurchan Camanachd
Ardnamurchan Camanachd
Ardnamurchan Camanachd is a shinty club based in Strontian, Ardnamurchan. The club covers a wide area taking in Strontian, Ardgour, Morvern, Acharacle and Moidart all in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. It was established in 2005...
.
A Viking Boat was found on this peninsula, and ongoing archaeology is currently being conducted.
Flora and fauna
Rare species such as the wildcatWildcat
Wildcat is a small felid native to Europe, the western part of Asia, and Africa.-Animals:Wildcat may also refer to members of the genus Lynx:...
, pine marten
Pine Marten
The European Pine Marten , known most commonly as the pine marten in Anglophone Europe, and less commonly also known as Pineten, baum marten, or sweet marten, is an animal native to Northern Europe belonging to the mustelid family, which also includes mink, otter, badger, wolverine and weasel. It...
, golden eagle
Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
and white-tailed eagle
White-tailed Eagle
The White-tailed Eagle , also known as the Sea Eagle, Erne , or White-tailed Sea-eagle, is a large bird of prey in the family Accipitridae which includes other raptors such as hawks, kites, and harriers...
can be seen in Ardnamurchan.
Ardnamurchan is widely considered by many who visit it to be one of the most stunning natural parts of the Scottish coast. It is beautiful, utterly wild and unspoilt. The most stunning of all perhaps, is Ardnamurchan Point, adjacent to the furthest westerly point on the British Mainland. Here there is a lighthouse, and in addition, a view from a sheer rock face of the open Atlantic Ocean.
Famous people
One of Ardnamurchan's most famous sons is the button box accordionAccordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
player, Fergie MacDonald
Fergie MacDonald
Fergie MacDonald is a Scottish accordionist who specializes in ceilidh music and plays the button key accordion. A trained physiotherapist and an international clay pigeon shooter, MacDonald is considered to be the man who popularised the West Highland style of traditional Scottish dance music...
.