Kyle of Durness

Kyle of Durness ( Kyle of Durness – Caolas Dhiùranais Ainmean-Àite na h-Alba) is a coastal inlet on the north coast of Scotland in the county of Sutherland. It extends inland from Balnakeil and divides the Cape Wrath peninsula from the mainland.Groome.F.H (1885) 'Parish of Durness', Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, (available online). Retrieved 20 February 2013. The nearest village is Durness.

Physical features The Kyle is around wide and tidal with only a narrow channel of water remaining at low tide along most of its length.Fifteen pilot whales in trouble in Kyle of Durness, BBC news website, 15 July 2011. Retrieved 20 February 2013. Unlike other coastal inlets along Scotland's north coast it is not straight, having two major bends around Keoldale.Keoldale NC 383662, Beaches of Sutherland, Scottish Natural Heritage. Retrieved 20 February 2013. It opens into Balnakeil Bay, which is around wide, at its mouth. Faraid Head, on the eastern shore of the bay, provides the range control for the Cape Wrath military training area to the west. The danger area associated with the range includes sea areas to the north of the bay and the range is used for live firing from Royal Navy vessels as well as for bombing practice by the RAF.Public Information Leaflet, Defence Training Estate Scotland. Retrieved 6 February 2013.Cape Wrath Training Area, Public access to military areas, Ministry of Defence, 12 December 2012. Retrieved 6 February 2013.

The River Dionard and Grudie River flow into the Kyle at its southern end with the Daill River and a number of minor streams also flowing into the Kyle along its length. The geology along the eastern team of the Kyle is limestone with rolling grasslands dominating.Loch Borralie, Kyle of Durness , Historic Scotland, 2003. Retrieved 20 February 2013. The Kyle and its surrounding area forms part of the Oldshoremore, Cape Wrath and Durness Special Landscape Area.Assessment of Highland Special Landscape Areas , The Highland Council, June 2011. Retrieved 5 February 2013. It contains a number of archaeological remains dating to the prehistoric period.Pròiseact Loch Chroispol – Loch Croispol School History Project, Durness Development Group, August 2009. Retrieved 20 February 2013.

Human features

The A838 road runs along the eastern shore of the kyle in its southern section, with an unclassified road leading to Keoldale, the only remaining settlement on the shore. The Cape Wrath passenger ferry operates from Keoldale between May and September providing the only access to Cape Wrath from the east.Cape Wrath Training Area, Public access to military areas, UK Government. Retrieved 13 December 2017.Life on the Edge, Northern Scotland – Cape Wrath to Orkney, Coast, BBC. Retrieved 6 February 2013. Land to the north of Keoldale is used by the Keoldale Sheep Stock Club, a joint farm run by crofters in the Durness area. Beaches along the shore of the kyle are backed by narrow machair with few dunes.

The western shore of the Kyle is uninhabited with the former farmsteads at Achimore and Daill the only settlements. The Cape Wrath road runs along the shore from the ferry slipway. This dates from the 1830s having been built to supply the lighthouse at Cape Wrath.Kyle of Durness, Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 8 February 2013. A previous landing site towards the mouth of the Kyle was originally used and is the site of a ruined storehouse.Kyle of Durness storehouse to Cape Wrath lighthouse, Royal Commission on the ancient and historical monuments of Scotland. Retrieved 8 February 2013.

In 1998, a skull was discovered next to a sub-rectangular cairn to the West of the Kyle. Further excavations of the cairn found two burials, one adult male and one teen of unknown sex. They lived sometime during the 1st century BC to the 1st century AD. Traditionally the practice of burying people in a sub-rectangular cairns was thought to be a Pictish practice but this discovery has led archaeologists to believe this practice started before the Picts.

Kyle of Durness

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