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Ardnamurchan
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Ardnamurchan (: land of the great seas) is a 50 square mile peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoilt and undisturbed.
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Encyclopedia
Ardnamurchan (: land of the great seas) is a 50 square mile peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoilt and undisturbed. It contains an abundance of wildlife. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access route being a single track road for much of its length. Ardnamurchan has one of the highest concentration of Gaelic speakers on the mainland.
Historically part of the former county of Argyll, it is now part of the Lochaber ward management area of the Highland local authority.
Strictly speaking Ardnamurchan covers only the peninsula beyond the villages of Salen (in the south) and Acharacle (in the north), but nowadays the term is used much more generally to include the neighbouring districts of Sunart, Ardgour, Morvern, and even Moidart (which was part of the former county of Inverness-shire, not Argyll).
Ardnamurchan Point, which has a 36 metre tall lighthouse built on it, is commonly described as the most westerly point in the British mainland although Corrachadh Mòr (a kilometre to the south) is a few metres further west.
The population of the whole peninsula is around 2000.
Villages in Ardnamurchan:
Ardnamurchan is widely considered by many who visit it to be one of the most stunning natural parts of the Scottish coast. It is beautiful, utterly wild and unspoilt. The most stunning of all perhaps, is Ardnamurchan Point, adjacent to the furthest westerly point on the British Mainland. Here there is a lighthouse, and in addition, a view from a sheer rock face of the open Atlantic Ocean with only the wind and sun for company.
The whole north western corner of Ardnamurchan contains a complex of volcanic structures, often described approximately as a "Caldera". Broadly, this area is the underground structures of a 55 million-year-old volcanic complex (relatively small areas of lavas that were erupted onto the surface are found in some parts of the peninsula). At least 7 other similar complexes of the same tectonic episode are dotted up the west coast of Britain, and so are popular stops in geological training courses from many universities. Geological research continues in the area to this day, as well as training. The sub-concentric rings of the volcanic complex can easily be seen in the satellite photograph, or topographic map, though they are less obvious on the ground.
Wildlife is special on Ardnamurchan where rare species such as wildcats, pine martin, golden eagles and white tailed eagles can be seen.
One of Ardnamurchan's most famous sons is the button box accordion player, Fergie MacDonald. The Peninsula also has its own shinty team, Ardnamurchan Camanachd.
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