Faraid Head
Faraid Head (also Farout Head, Fair-Aird; Scottish Gaelic: An Fharaird, "projecting cape"[1]) is a small peninsula on the northern coast of Sutherland, Scotland, located around two miles (3 km) north of the hamlet of Balnakeil and three miles (5 km) north of Durness.
The promontory projects 2.25 miles (3.62 km) north-northwestward, between Balnakeil Bay on the West and the entrance to Loch Eriboll on the East, till it terminates in a point 8.5 miles (13.7 km) ESE of Cape Wrath. Its sides rise in rocky cliffs to a height of 329 feet above sea-level, and present a sublime appearance; its summit commands a magnificent view from Cape Wrath to Whiten Head.[2]
There is a small radar station at the tip of the peninsula, built in the 1950s as part of the ROTOR system and intended to provide radar coverage of Scotland's north coast. By the time the facility was completed, however, the ROTOR system had become obsolete. The station closed down but remained in the hands of the Ministry of Defence. In later years the main building was renovated as a control tower for the Cape Wrath and Garvie Island bombing ranges.[3]
Extensive sand dunes can be found at Faraid Head, which forms part of the Oldshoremore, Cape Wrath and Durness Special Landscape Area.[4]
See also
[edit]Further reading
[edit]- "Faraid Head, Rotor Centrimetric [sic] Early Warning Radar Station". Canmore Record of the Historic Environment, part of Historic Environment Scotland.
References
[edit]- ^ Watson, William J. (1993). The History of the Celtic Place-names of Scotland. Edinburgh: Birlinn. p. 498. ISBN 978-1-874744-06-1.
- ^ Groome, Francis H. (1883). Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: Grange Publishing Works. p. 9.
- ^ RAF Faraid Head ('RAI') CEW R10 ROTOR Radar station, Subterranea Britannica, 2004-06-15. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
- ^ Assessment of Highland Special Landscape Areas Archived 2014-04-29 at the Wayback Machine, The Highland Council, June 2011. Retrieved 2013-02-05.
58°36′12″N 4°46′33″W / 58.60333°N 4.77583°W
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