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
thumb|right|Former Lloyds signal station, Cape Wrath
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.
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 ten days earlier. The wreck was found in 2004,
Geography
thumb|right|Cliffs east of Cape Wrath
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.
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.
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.
|source 2 = Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute/KNMI<br /> above sea level, 1971–2000, Extremes 1960–2000
|date=November 2011
Natural environment
thumb|right|Cliffs at Cape Wrath
thumb|right|Stack Clò Kearvaig and Kearvaig beach
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. 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. 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. An area of is also designated as a Special Area of Conservation. 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.
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. This area extends from Oldshoremore in the south-west to Durness in the east and includes the entire coastline of the cape area. The light, which is above sea level, is visible for . The cape was used for training exercises from the early years of the 20th century, with the first by-laws established in 1933 to allow use of the area as a firing range. Training is allowed on up to 120 days a year, 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. Disused military vehicles are often used as targets. Firing on the range is controlled from Faraid Head close to Balnakeil. Concern has also been raised of the effects of military exercises on nesting birds, A shell fired during exercises caused concern in 2002 when it landed off-target near the mouth of Loch Eriboll and around from houses.
The MoD expressed an interest in extending its land holdings on the Cape in 2012 after being given the opportunity to purchase surrounding Cape Wrath Lighthouse by the Northern Lighthouse Board. The plans were opposed by the Durness Development Group which cited concerns that historic buildings might be destroyed and that visitors may be unable to access cliff top paths.
Tourism
thumb|right|The Cape Wrath ferry
The cape is visited by between 2,000 and 6,000 tourists a year, attracted by the lack of settlements, plants, animals, cliffs, mountain backdrop and lighthouse. The tourist industry is estimated to be worth between £400,000 and £620,000 to the economy of the local area around Durness.
Cape Wrath is also the turning point for the Cape Wrath Marathon. It runs for to the lighthouse and the same distance back to the ferry dock on the Cape side. The final leg of the race is run from the mainland side from the ferry dock and finishes at Durness Community Centre. The marathon is held each year as the final event of a week of races, the Cape Wrath Challenge.
The sole inhabitants of the Cape are the Ure family, renting the main building. They converted it into a three-bedroomed home, and opened what is claimed to be Britain's most remote cafe, the Ozone Cafe, in 2009. The original slipway on the Kyle of Durness was built north of Daill with an associated storehouse similar to that at Clais Charnach. This was linked by a rough track with the road being extended south the slipway at Ferry House during the 1830s.
The road, the U70, passes the hamlet of Achiemore where a Ministry of Defence check-point blocks access to the cape during live firing exercises. A minibus service operates along the road during the summer period linking the ferry slipway with the lighthouse.