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{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox UK place
| static_image_name = Sango Bay - Durness.jpg
| static_image_width = 250
| static_image_caption = Sango Bay
| country = Scotland
| official_name = Durness
| gaelic_name = Diùranais
| population = 347
| population_ref = <ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/standard-outputs.html |title=Standard Outputs #124; Census Data Explorer |website=Scotland's Census |access-date=14 July 2017 |archive-date=7 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190107044126/https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/standard-outputs.html%20 |url-status=live}}</ref> (2011 census)
| os_grid_reference = NC403677
| edinburgh_distance = {{convert|190|mi|km|abbr=on|0}}
| london_distance_mi = 521
| coordinates = {{coord|58.57|-4.75|display=inline,title}}
| map_type = Sutherland
| unitary_scotland = [[Highland (council area)|Highland]]
| lieutenancy_scotland = [[Sutherland]]
| constituency_westminster = [[Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (UK Parliament constituency)|Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross]]
| constituency_scottish_parliament = [[Caithness, Sutherland and Ross (Scottish Parliament constituency)|Caithness, Sutherland and Ross]]
| post_town = LAIRG
| postcode_district = IV27
| postcode_area = IV
| dial_code = 01971
}}
{{Campaignbox Conflicts during the Highland Clearances}}
'''Durness''' ({{langx|gd|Diùranais}}) is a village and [[Civil parishes in Scotland|civil parish]] in the north-west [[Scottish Highlands|Highland]]s of [[Scotland]]. It lies on the north coast of the country in the [[scottish county|traditional county]] of [[Sutherland]], around {{convert|120|mi|km|abbr=off}} 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 north-westerly point of the Scottish mainland.<ref name=groome>{{cite book |last=Groome |first=F.H |date=1885 |chapter=Parish of Durness |title=Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical |url=http://www.scottish-places.info/parishes/parhistory106.html |access-date=20 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140503184724/http://www.scottish-places.info/parishes/parhistory106.html |archive-date=3 May 2014}}</ref>
The population is dispersed and includes a number of [[Township (Scotland)|townships]] including Kempie, [[Eriboll]], [[Laid, Sutherland|Laid]], {{not a typo|Rispond}}, [[Sangobeg]], [[Leirinmore]], Smoo, Sangomore, Durine, [[Balnakeil]] and Keoldale.
==Etymology==
The name could be 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 (or fertile) promontory, with the Norse "ness" tacked onto an existing Gaelic name.
== Prehistory ==
The area has been inhabited since prehistoric times. 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.<ref>Graham Bruce, The Cnocbreac Dykes, GUARD Report compiled by Issie MacPhail, December 2010</ref> Archaeological investigations in 1995 turned up [[Neolithic]], [[Norsemen|Norse]] and [[Iron Age]] artifacts in four caves (Smoo Cave, Glassknapper's Cave, Antler Cave and Wetweather Cave) a few hundred meters from Durness. The majority of the artifacts from the cave were related to Viking/Norse or [[Scotland in the Middle Ages|medieval activity]]. Fish bones, marine shells, plant remains and mammal and bird bones indicated the processing and consumption of marine and terrestrial foods. Iron slag and boat nails led the archaeologists to surmise that [[Viking ship|boats]] were repaired in the sheltered inlet. Four radiocarbon dates from Smoo Cave and Glassknapper's Cave provide evidence for use of these sites between the eighth and 11th centuries AD.<ref>{{cite web|title=Vol 18 (2005): The excavation of four caves in the Geodha Smoo near Durness, Sutherland {{!}} Scottish Archaeological Internet Reports|url=http://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/sair/issue/view/35|access-date=2021-07-28|website=journals.socantscot.org|archive-date=28 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728201545/http://journals.socantscot.org/index.php/sair/issue/view/35|url-status=live}}</ref> In May 1991, the body of a young Viking boy was discovered exposed by the erosion of the sand dunes at [[Faraid Head]].<ref>{{cite book |url=http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/45706/1/45706.pdf |first1=Colleen E. |last1=Batey |first2=Caroline |last2=Paterson |date=2012 |chapter=A Viking burial at Balnakeil, Sutherland |editor1-last=Reynolds |editor1-first=A. |editor2-last=Webster |editor2-first=L. |title=Early Medieval Art and Archaeology in the Northern World: Studies in Honour of James Graham-Campbell |series=Northern World (58) |publisher=Brill |place=Leiden, Netherlands |pages=631–659 |isbn=9789004235038 |via=Enlighten: Publications, [[University of Glasgow]] |access-date=3 July 2018 |archive-date=4 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180704011242/http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/45706/1/45706.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> At Sangobeg beach, a probably Viking settlement and the body of a prehistoric (170 BCE–30 CE) child was discovered in 2000.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=BRADY|first1=KEVIN|last2=LELONG|first2=OLIVIA|last3=BATEY|first3=COLLEEN|last4=GIDNEY|first4=LOUISE|last5=CERON-CARRASCO|first5=RUBY|last6=MILLER|first6=JENNIFER|last7=RAMSAY|first7=SUSAN|date=2007|title=A Pictish burial and Late Norse/Medieval settlement at Sangobeg, Durness, Sutherland|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/27917589|journal=Scottish Archaeological Journal|volume=29|issue=1|pages=51–82|doi=10.3366/E147157670800020X|jstor=27917589|issn=1471-5767|access-date=28 July 2021|archive-date=28 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210728202817/https://www.jstor.org/stable/27917589|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
==History==
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.
At [[Ceannabeinne]] lies "Clach a Breitheanas" or the Judgement Stone. This was said to be where judgement was meted out to malefactors and those found guilty were thrown over the cliff to their doom below.
The parish of Durness was for centuries a part of Dùthaich MhicAoidh, the land of the [[Clan Mackay]], who held their title to the land extending from Melvich in the east to Kylesku in the west. The area is also important to the [[Clan Morrison]], who live with their traditional allies, the Clan Mackay. "Many sanguinary battles, still recounted by tradition , were fought between the Mcleods and Macaulays on one side and the Morisons on the other. At last the Morisons were forced to leave Lewis and take refuge with that part of their clan which was settled in Duirness and Edderachyllius, Sutherland, where still, in 1793, the natives were all, except a few, of the three names of Mac Leay, Morison or Mcleod."<ref name="M1">[[#M1|Morrison 1880]]:pp 31.</ref>
[[Loch Eriboll]] was used by the battle fleet of King Haakon of Norway on its way south to the disastrous [[Battle of Largs]] in 1266. During the [[Second World War]], the battle cruiser "Jamaica" sustained an outbreak of measles on board and was quarantined in the loch for months. At cessation of hostilities in 1945 it saw the surrender of some 30 German U-boats. During the Second World War, the RAF built a [[Chain Home]] [[radar]] station at Sango near Durness. After the war there was also a [[ROTOR]] radar station at Faraid Head near Balnakeil, part of which is used by the modern military range and the accommodation area is used for various crafts.<ref name=subbrit>{{cite web |url=http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/f/faraid_head/ |title=RAF Faraid Head ('RAI') CEW R10 ROTOR Radar station |work=Subterranea Britannica |date=15 June 2004 |accessdate=20 February 2013 |archive-date=28 July 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728093937/http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/f/faraid_head/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
In the early 19th century the population of the parish was around 1,100,<ref>Second Statistical Account (1834), pub General Assembly of Church of Scotland</ref> spread widely throughout scattered small townships. The population today is much diminished, with the whole of the Durness area suffering greatly from the [[Highland Clearances]], the first in 1809 and thereafter throughout the greater part of the 19th century until the Crofting Act of the 1886 finally gave crofters a measure of security of tenure. The Durness Riots of 1841 were caused by a clearance when the women of Ceannabeinne township defied the Sheriff Officer sent to deliver the summons of eviction and subsequent disorder occurred at the village inn in Durness when a second attempt was made, causing the officers to be again run out of town.<ref>{{cite book |last=Prebble |first=John |year=1963 |title=The Highland Clearances |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |pages=167–169}}</ref> In the first attempt, in August, 1841, a party of sheriff officers and constables were attacked by a mob of about 400 people who were armed with weapons, at the inn of Durine in the parish of Durness. The whole party were injured by the mob and some of them narrowly escaped with their lives. Their eviction papers were also burned by the mob in the presence of the leading sheriff officer who was of the surname Campbell. The second attempt was made by the police super-intendant, Phillip Mackay, but he was treated in a similar manner and returned home. Mackay made another attempt with a stronger force on 17 September 1841, again consisting of a party of sheriff officers and special constables, arriving the following evening. They were observed approaching and eventually 200 to 300 local people had gathered, all armed with weapons, to oppose them. The mob made a rush to seize Mackay, but they were defeated and Mackay and his men made it to the inn. However, the local mob now with an additional 100 people, smashed the windows and broke down the doors. The constables were all dragged outside and given similar treatment as before, being totally dispersed. The sheriff officers who were in another room were then also dragged outside and dispersed. The locals were later threatened that a military force would be raised against them and did not rise up again.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.historylinksarchive.org.uk/picture/number5054.asp |title=The Durness Riots - 1841 |website=historylinksarchive.org.uk/|access-date=April 10, 2020 |quote=As printed in Am Bratach}}</ref>
==Geography==
The main sources of employment in the village are [[Croft (land)|crofting]] and [[tourism]]. It is the largest village in the northwestern corner of Scotland, has a population of around 400, and is on the [[A838 road]]. It is located on the north coast between the towns of [[Thurso]], {{convert|72|mi|km|abbr=on}} to the east, and [[Ullapool]] {{convert|68|mi|km|abbr=on}}, to the south. This area is notable for being the most sparsely populated region in [[Western Europe]].{{citation needed|date=February 2013}} Until some 50 years ago, Durness was a predominantly [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic]] speaking area.
==Geology==
The landscape of the Durness area is a stark contrast to the surrounding areas due to a down-faulted, isolated wedge of [[Cambrian|Cambro]]-[[Ordovician]] [[Durness Group]] carbonates, also historically (and often now informally) known as the 'Durness Limestone'. Although the unit outcrops as far south as [[Skye]], the full sequence can only be seen in the Durness area, hence the name of the unit. This thick sequence (c. {{convert|2625|ft|m|order=flip|abbr=on|disp=or}}) of [[Dolomite (rock)|dolomite]]s with subordinate [[limestone]]s and [[chert]] is softer than the surrounding hills which are formed of more resistant [[Lewisian complex|Lewisian Gneiss]] or Torridonian sandstones, sometimes capped by Cambrian [[Quartzite]]. As a result, the local area is generally flatter and more fertile than other areas in the North West Highlands due to the carbonate bedrock and resultant lime-rich soils.
An unusually wide variety of rock types for such a relatively small area can be found within the parish. This is partly due to extensive faulting in the area which has placed a variety rocks of different ages ([[Archean|Archaean]] – [[Ordovician]]) in contact with one another. A down-faulted section of the [[Moine Thrust Belt|Moine Thrust]] can also be seen in the area at both [[Faraid Head]] and Sango Bay despite the main thrust area being found several miles east at [[Loch Eriboll]]. The thrust exposures within Sango Bay are the most accessible localities to observe the Moine Thrust Zone. Additionally, Sango Bay (geologically a [[graben]]) also exposes some of the best basin bounding fault outcrops in the [[British Isles]].
Faraid Head is also important geologically for one of Scotland's largest sand dune systems where the prominent headland is exposed to strong winds, building a variety of sand dunes types up to {{convert|200|ft|m|order=flip|-1}} above sea level. The cliffs on the eastern side of this headland show the only preserved exposures of [[Moine Supergroup|Moine]] [[metasediment]]s west of the main outcrop of the Moine Thrust in Scotland (as a result of thrusting and later normal-faulting) and excellent [[machair]] examples have developed between the cliff top and the dunes, partly due to the high sea-shell content of the sands in the Durness area.
As a result, Durness is part of the [[North West Highlands Geopark]] and is a popular destination for both postgraduate and undergraduate [[geology]] students during the summer.
==Tourism==
[[File:Smoocave.jpg|thumb|right|Durness with [[Smoo Cave]]; the youth hostel is upper right]]
Tourists are catered for by a campsite spectacularly sited on the cliffs above the beach (with easy access down to the beach), a hostel operated by [[Hostelling Scotland]] (housed in some converted army buildings), bed and breakfast accommodation, and two hotels and restaurants: Mackay's and the Smoo Cave Hotel. The village is also used as a base by visitors to [[Cape Wrath]].
The main attractions in Durness are [[Smoo Cave]], a conjoined [[sea cave]] and freshwater cave with a small river running through it and a [[waterfall]] in wet weather, unspoilt beaches backed by cliffs and the local [[seabird]]s, [[Pinniped|seals]], [[porpoise]]s and [[minke whale]]s. The surrounding coastline is some of Europe's most isolated and spectacular, with the nearby Clo Mor Cliffs being the highest on the British mainland, at {{convert|922|ft|m}} high.
[[Balnakeil]] Old Church, is a scheduled monument with the grave of Donuill Mac Morraichaidh, a serial bandit and murderer, inside one wall of the church so, it is said, "that his enemies couldn't walk over his grave". The area around Loch Croispol and Loch Borrallie abounds in archeological interest, from brochs to round houses to medieval and pre-clearances settlements.
The Balnakeil Craft Village can be found approximately {{convert|1|mi|km|round=0.5|abbr=off}} outside Durness and is a collection of former MoD units dating from the 1950s, which now house various independent shops.<ref>{{cite web|title = Durness.org The Past and Present of Durness {{!}} Balnakeil Craft Village|url = http://new.durness.org/?page_id=1028|website = new.durness.org|access-date = 8 October 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150717050914/http://new.durness.org/?page_id=1028|archive-date = 17 July 2015|url-status = dead}}</ref>
==Culture and community==
Durness is the birthplace and burial site of the poet [[Rob Donn]], born at Achnacaillich in [[Strathmore, Sutherland|Strathmore]] in 1714. The Gaelic publication ''Am Fèillire'' remarked, in 1875, that he was known for being shrewd and satirical, as well as moral and mannerly.<ref name=af>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://archive.org/stream/amfeillire01inbh#page/10/mode/2up |chapter=Rob Donn, Mac Aoidh |title=Am Fèillire |date=1875 |accessdate=6 March 2013}}</ref>
== John Lennon ==
In 2007 Durness hosted the ''John Lennon Northern Lights Festival'', a celebration of music, poetry, theatre and other cultural activities in celebration of the spirit of [[John Lennon]] who, when in childhood, took summer holidays in the village. Lennon returned for a visit in 1969 with [[Yoko Ono]] and their children but the visit was cut short when Lennon drove his car off the road by [[Loch Eriboll]]. The track "[[In My Life]]" from ''[[Rubber Soul]]'' is said to be based on a poem about Durness which Lennon wrote on a teenage holiday in the area, although most of the original poem's meaning was lost during songwriting with [[Paul McCartney]]. A monument dedicated to John Lennon has been erected in a memorial garden by the village hall and has three large stone slabs inscribed with lyrics from “In My Life”. The house where he stayed has now been demolished and replaced with a modern house. A plaque on the gable of the new house reads “John Lennon 1940-1980 Singer and Songwriter and member of The Beatles Spent many childhood holidays here”.
The [[Balnakeil]] craft village,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://balnakeilcraftvillage.weebly.com/?page_id=1028 |title=Balnakeil Craft Village |website=balnakeilcraftvillage.weebly.com |access-date=22 March 2017 |archive-date=23 March 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170323143317/http://balnakeilcraftvillage.weebly.com/?page_id=1028 |url-status=live }}</ref> established in 1963 on an unused military radar station near to Durness was the subject of a 1974 BBC documentary "The Road to Balnakeil" by [[Derek Cooper (journalist)|Derek Cooper]]. Ceramic artist [[Lotte Glob]] was among early residents. The village is home to well-known chocolate manufacturers [[Cocoa Mountain]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-17590224 |title=Chocs away as Sutherland sweet firm expands |date=3 April 2012 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=20 June 2018 |archive-date=10 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010024903/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-17590224 |url-status=live }}</ref>
There are claims<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.culture24.org.uk/places-to-go/west-midlands/birmingham/tra14268 |title=J. R. R. Tolkien Museum Trail |website=culture24.org |access-date=23 August 2014 |archive-date=27 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727081214/http://www.culture24.org.uk/places-to-go/west-midlands/birmingham/tra14268 |url-status=live }}</ref> that the rugged scenery around Durness and [[Cape Wrath]] may have inspired [[Tolkien]] in creating his [[Middle Earth]] epics.
A bench placed on the shore of Loch Borralie by actress [[Juliet Stevenson]] commemorates her elder brother Johnny who died in a car accident at the Kyle of Durness in 2000.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/oct/06/theatre |title=Q&A: Juliet Stevenson, actor |first=Rosanna |last=Greenstreet |date=6 October 2007 |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |___location=London |access-date=2022-04-14 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303230432/http://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/oct/06/theatre |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Transport==
Durness is on the [[A838 road]]. This links the parish to the [[A836 road|A836]] at [[Tongue, Highland|Tongue]] to the east, and loops around the coast through [[Rhiconich]] near [[Kinlochbervie]], to meet the A836 again north of [[Lairg]], which generally runs to [[Bonar Bridge]] and the south. The road is single track along most of its length.<ref name=bbc1feb13>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-21292326 |title=Earthquake recorded at Durness in Sutherland |date=1 February 2013 |work=[[BBC News]] |access-date=23 February 2013 |archive-date=4 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130204030606/http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-highlands-islands-21292326 |url-status=live }}</ref> Bus services are sparse in the area, although one bus<ref>{{cite web |title=The Durness Bus |url=http://www.thedurnessbus.com/ |website=The Durness Bus |access-date=12 May 2021 |archive-date=12 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512171701/http://www.thedurnessbus.com/ |url-status=live }}</ref> a day from Monday to Saturday links Durness with the [[Far North Line|Far North railway line]] at [[Lairg railway station]] and also continues on to Inverness. The [[Lairg railway station]] provides rail services north to [[Wick, Highland|Wick]] and south to [[Inverness]]. All bus services around Durness are provided by Durness Bus,<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Durness Bus – Bus services around The Far North of Scotland |url=https://www.thedurnessbus.com/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |language=en-GB}}</ref> with one bus also going to Wick.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Durness to Thurso – The Durness Bus |url=https://www.thedurnessbus.com/thurso/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |language=en-GB}}</ref> A local Dial-a-Ride bus system is also available from Monday to Friday<ref>{{Cite web |title=Dial a Bus – The Durness Bus |url=https://www.thedurnessbus.com/dial-a-bus/ |access-date=2025-04-01 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
==Education==
Durness primary school educates children from nursery age to age 11. In the 2012–13 academic year the school had 22 children enrolled, a figure which is predicted to decline to 13 by 2026–27.<ref name=devplan>{{cite web |url=http://www.developingdurness.org/uploads/2/1/1/5/21151184/cape_wrath_development_plan_final.pdf |title=Outline development plan for Cape Wrath |via=developingdurness.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160527203333/http://www.developingdurness.org/uploads/2/1/1/5/21151184/cape_wrath_development_plan_final.pdf |archive-date=27 May 2016 }}, Highlands and Islands social enterprise zone, August 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2014.</ref> Children transfer to [[Kinlochbervie High School]] which opened in the 1990s. Before this school opened children had to lodge during the week to attend schools at [[Dornoch Academy]] or [[Golspie High School]].
==Military Presence==
[[Cape Wrath]], to the west of the parish across the [[Kyle of Durness]] is the site of the Cape Wrath Training Area, a military live firing range. The area is used for gunnery practice by naval and air forces as well as a training area for land forces. It is the only military firing range in the UK where aircraft are allowed to deliver {{convert|1000|lb|kg|abbr=off|adj=on}} bombs.
==See also==
*[[List of listed buildings in Durness, Highland]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Durness}}
{{Wikivoyage}}
*[http://www.durness.scot/ new Durness community website]
*[http://www.thedurnessbus.com/ The Durness Bus website]
{{Scottish provinces|minor}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Civil parishes of Scotland|Durness]]
[[Category:Populated places in Sutherland|Durness]]
[[Category:Parish of Durness|Durness]]
[[Category:1841 in Scotland]]
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