Cape Wrath (, known as in Lewis) is a cape in the Durness parish of the county of Sutherland in the Highlands of Scotland. It is the most north-westerly point in mainland Great Britain.
The cape is separated from the rest of the mainland by the Kyle of Durness and consists of of moorland wilderness known as the Parph. The first road was built in 1828 by the lighthouse commission across the Parph/Durness. This road connects a passenger ferry that crosses the Kyle of Durness with the buildings on the peninsula.
Much of the cape is owned by the Ministry of Defence and is used as a military training area, including as live firing range. Areas of it are also designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a Special Protection Area, a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Landscape Area.
Etymology The name Cape Wrath is derived from Old Norse ("turning point"), accordingly, wrath is pronounced (a as in cat).Cape Wrath locals accuse MoD of land grab, BBC news website, 17 September 2012. Retrieved 20 January 2013. The Norse are believed to have used the cape as a navigation point where they would turn their ships.Life on the Edge, Northern Scotland – Cape Wrath to Orkney, Coast, BBC. Retrieved 6 February 2013.Cape Wrath, Northern Lighthouse Board. Retrieved 5 February 2013.Carter.M (2011) My travels: Mike Carter in Cape Wrath, Scotland, The Guardian, 1 July 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2013.
History
Cape Wrath was once the home of a series of small crofting communities, although by 1845 the only families remaining on the Parph were those of shepherds.Kearvaig, Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 8 February 2013. In the 1930s it supported a population of 30 to 40 people, including a small side school at Achiemore which had up to ten pupils in the 1930s but closed in 1947.Cafe at the end of the universe ... where a cup of tea is guaranteed, The Herald, 9 June 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2013.Achiemore, Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 8 February 2013.Durness Schools, Education in Sutherland, 29 March 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2013.Uney.G (2009) Backpacker's Britain: Northern Scotland: thirty two and three day treks, p.86. Cicerone Press Limited. (online). Retrieved 28 January 2011. Building remains at locations such as Kearvaig have been dated to the 18th century.'Archaeology on the edge – Cape Wrath', Sanctuary vol 38, pp.50–51, 2009, Ministry of Defence (available online). Retrieved 6 February 2013. The Cape has few archaeological remains which can be dated to earlier than this, although a promontory fort at Eilean nan Caorach to the east of the headland may date to the late prehistoric age.Eilean nan Caorach, Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
Much of the area has been used for sheep grazing, a use which continues today, and shielings, shelters built for shepherds, can be found across the Cape. The area declined in population in the mid-20th century and is now almost entirely unpopulated, although military and tourism use continues. The Cape Wrath Lighthouse was built in 1828 and the access road from the Kyle of Durness dates from the same period. A Lloyd's of London signal station was built close to the lighthouse at the end of the 19th century to track shipping around the Cape.Outline development plan for Cape Wrath , Highlands and Islands social enterprise zone, August 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
On 27 September 1915, while sailing for Scapa Flow, HMS Caribbean, known as before being requisitioned for wartime service, foundered off Cape Wrath in bad weather. A tow by HMS Birkenhead was unsuccessful, and 15 died.Castle Mail Packet Co , Red Duster (Merchant Navy Association). Retrieved 14 November 2012. An inquiry later blamed the ship's carpenter for being insufficiently familiar with the ship and for failing to shut all the scuttles. Like most of the crew, he had joined the ship just ten days earlier.Divers explore WW1 wreck of HMS Caribbean, Divernet news, 31 May 2004. Retrieved 6 February 2013. The wreck was found in 2004, off Cape Wrath, in of water and undisturbed except for fishing nets.Robinson A (2004) [http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/around-yorkshire/local-stories/yorkshire-diver-first-to-see-wreck-for-nearly-90-years-1-2545421 Yorkshire diver first to see wreck for nearly 90 years Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 6 August 2007.
Geography
Cape Wrath is located in the traditional county of Sutherland within Highland Region. Durness is the closest village, southeast with Inverness around to the south.
The sea cliffs around the cape are composed of Torridonian sandstone and Lewisian gneiss. These rise to above sea level and include the highest sea cliffs on the British mainland at Clò Mòr around to the east of the headland. Sea stacks, such as Stac an Dùnain at the cape itself and Stac Clò Kearvaig to the east, rise out of the sea off the coastline, with Duslic, a reef, north of the cape. The cape is part of the North West Highlands Geopark, a area with UNESCO geopark status.Scotland's first geopark , Visit Scotland, 18 November 2004. Retrieved 9 February 2013.
Crofting townships of two or three houses with associated enclosures existed at Daill, Achiemore, Kearvaig and Inshore into the mid-20th century.Daill, Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 8 February 2013.Achiemore, Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 8 February 2013.Inshore, Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 8 February 2013. The land originally formed part of the Sutherland estates owned by the Duke of Sutherland. An area of , covering almost all of the northern part of the peninsula, is owned by the Ministry of Defence for use as a military training area.MoD drops Cape Wrath land purchase, BBC News, 13 May 2013.£22.5k for Cape Wrath community land buyout , The Northern Times, 6 January 2017. Retrieved 17 July 2017.
Climate As with the rest of the British Isles, Cape Wrath has an Oceanic (Köppen Cfb) climate. This is especially pronounced due to its western coastal location.
Its exposed northerly position can give rise to some exceptionally low winter sunshine levels: in January 1983 it recorded just 38 minutes of sunshine, a record low for Scotland.Gazetteer: Climate, Love of Scotland. Retrieved 3 February 2013. (archived at Archive). This exposed position, however, also means severe frost is rare compared to inland locations such as Altnaharra or Kinbrace. The record low of is comparable to those recorded in Shetland, the Hebrides and the Scilly Isles of England. A slight föhn effect can also occur with the right angle of southerly winds, exemplified by the record December high of .
Strong winds can be a feature of weather conditions at the cape, with gusts of recorded.
Natural environment
Because its landscape is largely untouched by man, Cape Wrath has a wide diversity of wildlife, including red deer, hooded crow, rock pipit, golden eagle, cormorant and gannet. An area of is designated as a Special Protection Area (SPA) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).Cape Wrath, SPA designation, Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 6 February 2013. The cliffs around the cape are an internationally important nesting site for over 50000 seabirds, including colonies of puffin Fratercula arctica, razorbill Alca torda, guillemot Uria aalge, kittiwake Rissa tridactyla and fulmar Fulmarus glacialis.Cape Wrath , Citation for Special Protection Area, Scottish Natural Heritage, September 2009. Retrieved 6 February 2013. The SPA extends out to sea and includes the sea bed and marine environment which is a source of food for the bird population of the area.
Numbers of seabirds in the area saw significant declines in the early 21st century with puffin numbers falling by 50%.'Ringing in the century', Sanctuary no.38, 2009, pp.20–23, Ministry of Defence (available online). Retrieved 6 February 2013. An area of is also designated as a Special Area of Conservation.Cape Wrath, Site details, Joint Nature Conservation Committee. Retrieved 6 February 2013. Marine species present in the area include harbour porpoise, common seal and bottle-nosed dolphin as well as species such as sea squirts and sponges.Coasts and seas of the United Kingdom, Region 3 North-east Scotland: Cape Wrath to St. Cyrus, Joint Nature Conservation Committee, 2006. Retrieved 6 February 2013.
The cliff-top vegetation at sites such as Clò Mòr includes common scurvygrass Cochlearia officinalis and a wide range of habitats are present. These include cliff-top sand dunes at the cape itself as well as montane habitats found at sea level.
An area of around the coastline is designated as a Special Landscape Area.Assessment of Highland Special Landscape Areas , The Highland Council, June 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2013. This area extends from Oldshoremore in the south-west to Durness in the east and includes the entire coastline of the cape area. Just offshore is Stac Clò Kearvaig, also known as "The Cathedral" due to the appearance of two spires and a natural window created by erosion. To the east lies Garvie Island (An Garbh-eilean), one of the main targets for live firing by the military.
Inland the landscape is primarily covered in peat and is often boggy with difficult terrain and a number of lochans, the largest of which, Loch Airigh na Beinne, is around in area. The area has been described as one of the few coastal wildernesses in Britain. Plant species include heather Calluna vulgaris, juniper Juniperus communis and ferns.
Cape Wrath Lighthouse
The lighthouse at Cape Wrath was built in 1828 by Robert Stevenson and was staffed until 1998, when it was converted to automatic operation by the Northern Lighthouse Board. The lighthouse, which is a Category A listed building, is a tall white-washed tower built of granite with a single storey semi-circular base building. The light, which is above sea level, is visible for .
A complex of buildings close to the lighthouse were built by Lloyd's of London between 1894 and 1903 as a signal station to track shipping around the Cape. This closed in 1932, although the buildings were reused at the start of World War II as a coastguard station.
Military use
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) owns a area of the cape, known as the Cape Wrath Training Centre.Cape Wrath Range, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 5 February 2013. The cape was used for training exercises from the early years of the 20th century,Public Information Leaflet, Defence Training Estate Scotland. Retrieved 6 February 2013. with the first by-laws established in 1933 to allow use of the area as a firing range. The area was used originally as a naval gunnery range and was bought by the MoD in 1999. Since 2005 the area has been used as a multi-services training area and is one of the sites used in the Joint Warrior exercises, Europe's largest military exercise, and by other NATO operations.'Don't bomb' idea for Cape Wrath firing range, BBC news website, 10 January 2010. Retrieved 5 February 2013.NW will play part in largest military exercise in Europe , The Northern Times, 21 September 2009. Retrieved 9 February 2013. Training is allowed on up to 120 days a year,Cape Wrath will not be closed to public, MP says, The Scotsman, 2 February 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2014. usually taking place in the spring and autumn, although times can be unpredictable. The range is usually open for public access during the summer period and there is rarely firing on Sundays.