Durness (SC18)
Durness is a village and civil parish in the northwest Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north coast of the country in the traditional county of Sutherland, around 120 miles north of Inverness. The area is remote, and the parish is huge and sparsely populated, covering an area from east of Loch Eriboll to Cape Wrath, the most northwesterly point of the Scottish mainland. The population is dispersed and includes a number of townships including Kempie, Eriboll, Laid, Rispond, Sangobeg, Leirinmore, Smoo, Sangomore, Durine, Balnakeil and Keoldale. The name was originally Norse "Dyrnes", meaning "deer/animal headland". No one knows for sure where the name derives; it has variously been translated as from "Dorainn nis" tempest point, or "Dhu thir nis" the point of the black land; or from the Norse for deerpoint. Or even from the main village "Durine" which would translate as "Dubh Rinn" the black promontory, with the Norse "ness" tacked onto an existing Gaelic name. The area has been inhabited since stone age times and there are many places of historic interest. To the south of the village at the former township of Cnocbreac can be seen the remains of two parallel turf dykes of Neolithic origin, the purpose of which is unknown Durness was formerly a part of the bishopric of Caithness and the old house at Balnakeil was originally the bishop's summer residence. The church at Balnakeil dates back to the Culdean monks but the existing ruined church is said to have been built by the monks from Dornoch Cathedral in the 13th century. On Faraid Head is Seannachaisteal, presumably a broch, but it is now completely enveloped in sand and no dig has ever been carried out to see what it was and from which time in history. In May 1991, the body of a young Viking boy was discovered exposed by the erosion of the sand dunes at Faraid Head. At Sangobeg beach, the body of a Pictish child was discovered in 2000. At Ceannabeinne lies "Clach a Breitheanas" or the Judgement Stone.
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Location: Durness is a village and civil parish in the northwest Highlands of Scotland
Photo credit: © Rik Hamilton / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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