Ben More Assynt
Encyclopedia
Ben More Assynt is a mountain in Assynt
in the far north-west of Scotland
, 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) north-north-east of the town of Ullapool
. The name translates as "big mountain of Assynt", and with a height of 998 metres (3,274 ft) it is the highest point in the county of Sutherland
.
The mountain lies in the east of Assynt, set apart from the area's better known and more dramatic (but lower) mountains such as Suilven
. It is hidden from the traveller on the A837 road by the adjacent Munro
of Conival
, and the best views of it are obtained from nearby summits. The higher slopes of the mountain are capped by light coloured quartzite
boulders, giving it a distinctive appearance.
Over 90 km² of land around Ben More Assynt have been declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest
(SSSI) because of their geological
interest and rare plant species.
. This ridge forms part of the main north–south watershed
of Scotland, with drainage from the mountain reaching the North Sea
and the Atlantic Ocean
on opposite sides of mainland Scotland. The mountain's eastern and southern slopes are drained by the River Oykel
and its tributary, the River Cassley, which flow into the Dornoch Firth
on Scotland's east coast. The River Traligill drains the western flanks through Loch Assynt
to reach the Atlantic at Lochinver
.
The mountain is connected to the neighbouring peak of Conival to the west by a lofty ridge
with a low point of 880 metres. Since Conival lies in the way of the ascent from Inchnadamph, the two are almost invariably ascended together. Ben More Assynt also has a subsidiary "top" listed in Munro's Tables, called simply the South Top; situated one kilometre south of the summit, it is 960 metres high.
, and is the highest located example of this rock in Scotland.
The whole of Assynt is an important geological
location and a classic example of plate tectonics
, and Ben More Assynt is a significant part of this, being the location of the Ben More Thrust Sheet, which in turn is part of the famous Moine Thrust Belt
. Geological plate collisions have given Ben More Assynt a unique geology consisting of a base of Lewisian gneiss
overlain by sedimentary rock
s, including Torridonian
sandstone
topped off by Cambrian
quartzite.
The sharp arête
is quite tricky to negotiate in places; according to Ralph Storer, it "has been flatteringly compared to the Aonach Eagach
, with several unexpectedly awkward moves across exposed slabs requiring care (especially when wet)".
’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, and there are 27 nationally scarce varieties of plants within the Site of Special Scientific Interest.
In 2005 and 2006 the firm Airtricity
proposed to build a 25-turbine wind farm
at Invercassly, 22 kilometres south east of the mountain. Protesters used Ben More Assynt in their arguments against the project, saying that the wind farm would have a detrimental effect on the view from the mountain and the sense of wilderness would be greatly reduced. The future of the proposal is still in discussion.
Assynt
Assynt is a civil parish in west Sutherland, Highland, Scotland – north of Ullapool.It is famous for its landscape and its remarkable mountains...
in the far north-west of 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...
, 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) north-north-east of the town of Ullapool
Ullapool
Ullapool is a small town of around 1,300 inhabitants in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest settlement for many miles around, and is a major tourist destination of Scotland. The North Atlantic Drift passes by Ullapool, bringing moderate temperatures...
. The name translates as "big mountain of Assynt", and with a height of 998 metres (3,274 ft) it is the highest point in the county of Sutherland
Sutherland
Sutherland is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic administrative county of Scotland. It is now within the Highland local government area. In Gaelic the area is referred to according to its traditional areas: Dùthaich 'IcAoidh , Asainte , and Cataibh...
.
The mountain lies in the east of Assynt, set apart from the area's better known and more dramatic (but lower) mountains such as Suilven
Suilven
Suilven is one of the most distinctive mountains in Scotland. Lying in a remote area in the west of Sutherland, it rises almost vertically from a wilderness landscape of moorland, bogs and lochans known as Inverpolly National Nature Reserve....
. It is hidden from the traveller on the A837 road by the adjacent Munro
Munro
A Munro is a mountain in Scotland with a height over . They are named after Sir Hugh Munro, 4th Baronet , who produced the first list of such hills, known as Munros Tables, in 1891. A Munro top is a summit over 3,000 ft which is not regarded as a separate mountain...
of Conival
Conival
Conival is a Scottish mountain situated in Assynt in the Sutherland area of the Highland Council Area, 30 kilometres north-northeast of the town of Ullapool.- Overview :...
, and the best views of it are obtained from nearby summits. The higher slopes of the mountain are capped by light coloured quartzite
Quartzite
Quartzite is a hard metamorphic rock which was originally sandstone. Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tectonic compression within orogenic belts. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzites often occur in various shades of pink...
boulders, giving it a distinctive appearance.
Over 90 km² of land around Ben More Assynt have been declared a Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
(SSSI) because of their geological
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
interest and rare plant species.
Geography
Ben More Assynt is situated on a ridge of high ground which runs roughly north to south on the east side of the A837 road near InchnadamphInchnadamph
Inchnadamph is a hamlet in Assynt, Sutherland, Scotland. The name is an anglicisation of the Gaelic name Innis nan Damh meaning 'meadow of the stags'...
. This ridge forms part of the main north–south watershed
Water divide
A drainage divide, water divide, divide or watershed is the line separating neighbouring drainage basins...
of Scotland, with drainage from the mountain reaching the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
and the Atlantic Ocean
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
on opposite sides of mainland Scotland. The mountain's eastern and southern slopes are drained by the River Oykel
River Oykel
The River Oykel is a major river in northern Scotland that is famous for its salmon fishing. It rises on Ben More Assynt, a few miles from Ullapool on the west coast of Scotland, and drains into the North Sea via the Kyle of Sutherland...
and its tributary, the River Cassley, which flow into the Dornoch Firth
Dornoch Firth
The Dornoch Firth is a firth on the east coast of Highland, in northern Scotland. It forms part of the boundary between Ross and Cromarty, to the south, and Sutherland, to the north....
on Scotland's east coast. The River Traligill drains the western flanks through Loch Assynt
Loch Assynt
Loch Assynt is a freshwater loch in Sutherland, Scotland, 8 km ENE of Lochinver.Situated in a spectacular setting between the heights of Canisp, Quinag and Beinn Uidhe, it receives the outflow from Lochs Awe, Maol a' Choire, and Leitir Easaich. It discharges into the sea at Loch Inver, via the...
to reach the Atlantic at Lochinver
Lochinver
Lochinver is a village on the coast in the Assynt district of Sutherland, Highland, Scotland. A few miles northeast is Loch Assynt which is the source of the River Inver which flows into Loch Inver at the village. There are 200 or so lochans in the area which makes the place very popular with...
.
The mountain is connected to the neighbouring peak of Conival to the west by a lofty ridge
Ridge
A ridge is a geological feature consisting of a chain of mountains or hills that form a continuous elevated crest for some distance. Ridges are usually termed hills or mountains as well, depending on size. There are several main types of ridges:...
with a low point of 880 metres. Since Conival lies in the way of the ascent from Inchnadamph, the two are almost invariably ascended together. Ben More Assynt also has a subsidiary "top" listed in Munro's Tables, called simply the South Top; situated one kilometre south of the summit, it is 960 metres high.
Geology
The ridge which leads to the South Top is composed of Lewisian gneissLewisian complex
The Lewisian complex or Lewisian Gneiss is a suite of Precambrian metamorphic rocks that outcrop in the northwestern part of Scotland, forming part of the Hebridean Terrane. These rocks are of Archaean and Paleoproterozoic age, ranging from 3.0–1.7 Ga. They form the basement on which the...
, and is the highest located example of this rock in Scotland.
The whole of Assynt is an important geological
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...
location and a classic example of plate tectonics
Plate tectonics
Plate tectonics is a scientific theory that describes the large scale motions of Earth's lithosphere...
, and Ben More Assynt is a significant part of this, being the location of the Ben More Thrust Sheet, which in turn is part of the famous Moine Thrust Belt
Moine Thrust Belt
The Moine Thrust Belt is a linear geological feature in the Scottish Highlands which runs from Loch Eriboll on the north coast 190 km south-west to the Sleat peninsula on the Isle of Skye...
. Geological plate collisions have given Ben More Assynt a unique geology consisting of a base of Lewisian gneiss
Gneiss
Gneiss is a common and widely distributed type of rock formed by high-grade regional metamorphic processes from pre-existing formations that were originally either igneous or sedimentary rocks.-Etymology:...
overlain by sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
s, including Torridonian
Torridonian
In geology, Torridonian describes a series of Neoproterozoic arenaceous sedimentary rocks, extensively developed in the Northwest Highlands of Scotland, and particularly in the district of upper Loch Torridon, a circumstance which suggested the name Torridon Sandstone, first applied to these rocks...
sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
topped off by Cambrian
Cambrian
The Cambrian is the first geological period of the Paleozoic Era, lasting from Mya ; it is succeeded by the Ordovician. Its subdivisions, and indeed its base, are somewhat in flux. The period was established by Adam Sedgwick, who named it after Cambria, the Latin name for Wales, where Britain's...
quartzite.
Ascents
An ascent of Ben More Assynt is usually combined with the neighbouring Munro of Conival, which if starting from the hamlet of Inchnadamph (grid reference ), is climbed first. From Inchnadamph the route of ascent follows the River Traligill to its source on the col between Conival and Beinn an Fhurain at a height of 750 metres. It is then a stiff climb over shattered quartzite to reach Conival’s highest point. Ben More Assynt’s summit lies 1.5 kilometres east and is a demanding walk over quartzite stones and scree, even though there is only just over 100 metres of re-ascent. The summit is marked by a shattered lump of quartzite.The sharp arête
Arete
Areté is the term meaning "virtue" or "excellence", from Greek ἈρετήArete may also be used:*as a given name of persons or things:**Queen Arete , a character in Homer's Odyssey.***197 Arete, an asteroid....
is quite tricky to negotiate in places; according to Ralph Storer, it "has been flatteringly compared to the Aonach Eagach
Aonach Eagach
The Aonach Eagach is a rocky ridge lying to the north of Glen Coe in the Scottish Highlands, boasting two Munro summits.In length the full ridge continues for 10 km from the Pap of Glencoe at the west to the eastern end at the Devil's Staircase. The central section, some 2 km in length,...
, with several unexpectedly awkward moves across exposed slabs requiring care (especially when wet)".
Wildlife and conservation
Ben More Assynt is home to many threatened species of vegetation. There are four species of plants which are on the World Conservation UnionWorld Conservation Union
The International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources is an international organization dedicated to finding "pragmatic solutions to our most pressing environment and development challenges." The organization publishes the IUCN Red List, compiling information from a network of...
’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, and there are 27 nationally scarce varieties of plants within the Site of Special Scientific Interest.
In 2005 and 2006 the firm Airtricity
Airtricity
Airtricity was founded in 1997 in the Republic of Ireland and now is a renewable energy company owned by Scottish and Southern Energy...
proposed to build a 25-turbine wind farm
Wind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
at Invercassly, 22 kilometres south east of the mountain. Protesters used Ben More Assynt in their arguments against the project, saying that the wind farm would have a detrimental effect on the view from the mountain and the sense of wilderness would be greatly reduced. The future of the proposal is still in discussion.