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 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), Vikings are believed to have used the cape as a navigation point where they would turn their ships.
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. 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. Building remains at locations such as Kearvaig have been dated to the 18th century. 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.
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.
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. 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 10 days earlier. The wreck was found in 2004, off Cape Wrath, in of water and undisturbed except for fishing nets.
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.
Crofting townships of two or three houses with associated enclosures existed at Daill, Achiemore, Kearvaig and Inshore into the mid-20th century. 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.
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. 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.