NSA Special Qualities

Extract from: Scottish Natural Heritage (2010). The special qualities of the National Scenic Areas . SNH Commissioned Report No.374. The Special Qualities of the Morar, Moidart and Ardnamurchan National Scenic Area • A landscape of outstanding coastal scenery • Seascapes both intimate and distant • The distinctive backdrop of the Small Isles • Peaceful, unspoilt and remote • The formal element of designed landscapes • Strong historical associations • The indented Ardnamurchan coast • The spectacular volcanic landforms • The flat expanse of Kentra Bay and Kentra Moss • Loch Moidart and its islands • Castle Tioram, romantic ruin and cultural icon • Sound of Arisaig, Loch Ailort and Loch nan Uamh Special Quality Further information • A landscape of outstanding coastal scenery This extensive area of the western Seven Landscape Character Types either lie within or seaboard possesses richly varied directly adjoin the NSA. It is the relationship between these adjoining types - their arrangement, transitions, scenery of outstanding quality. The relative dominance and sequence – which gives the area coastline is deeply fragmented with its unique combination of characteristics, producing a numerous promontories, bays, islands distinct sense of place. and sea lochs. Inland there is a backdrop of hills and mountains, while The mountain backdrop varies north to south: out to sea there is a horizon of • The pyramidal mountain summits (e.g. Rois Bheinn) spectacular islands. The small can be glimpsed along the Ardnish peninsula and the settlements are interspersed with north Moidart coast. lengths of wild, uninhabited coast. • The lower, rounded rocky coastal hills of South Morar form a backdrop to north-facing views along the north Hence strikingly different views can be Moidart coast. had, depending on whether the location • The skyline at Kentra Bay is formed by is open to the sea or enclosed by Ardnamurchan’s Rugged Coastal Hills, which present islands; whether it borders a sea loch or a distinctive series of ridges to south and east, e.g. an estuary; it falls gently to the sea, or is Beinn Gheur. stepped or cliffed; it is rocky, sandy, boggy, or wooded; it is inhabited or uninhabited; or whether the backdrop is of mountains or islands. This variety ensures the eye is constantly drawn to the next turn in the road or path, in the expectation of another breathtaking view. • Seascapes both intimate and distant As the coastline itself varies, so do the Seascapes vary as follows views out to sea. Large-scale outward • In the north, the coasts of the Arisaig and Ardnish panoramas contrast with those which are peninsulas, and the north Moidart coast from Glenuig enclosed and inward-looking; views of far eastwards, enclose the Sound of Arisaig. Seascapes distant islands contrast with those of here are enclosed to north and south, and on the small, inshore archipelagos. mainland side by the Morar and Moidart hills. • In contrast seaward views, northwards and north- westwards from the Ardnamurchan coast, and from Smirisary, Moidart are open, outward-looking and panoramic. The Loch Moidart coast offers strongly enclosed, channelled glimpses of the sea. Intermittent views from the north boundary of the NSA on the A830 look out over Loch nan Uamh, and Loch Ailort. Other sections are screened by thick Atlantic oakwoods. • The distinctive backdrop of the Small Isles The Small Isles, each island with its own ‘…through the western peninsulas of Ardnamurchan and distinct profile, dominate the western Morvern, we cannot fail to be lured by the tantalizing presence of those fabled isles across the sapphire- horizon: the long extended line of Canna, coloured seas.’ Murray (1970) the verticality of Muck’s basalt cliffs, Rum’s jagged peaks, and Eigg’s The Small Isles are visible northward from much of the distinctive, sloping Sgurr. Ardnamurchan peninsula; and north-west from Moidart. These landmarks engender both a strong sense of place and anticipation – a tantalizing prospect of further places to reach and explore. • Peaceful, unspoilt and remote The area is rural, there is a lack of large- The majority of the NSA cannot be accessed by roads or vehicular tracks, in particular: scale development, housing is generally scattered and human population is low. • The Arisaig peninsula. • The Ardnish peninsula. Road access is constrained, with many • The rugged, mountainous ranges of Moidart (a small small coastal settlements being found at area at the eastern end of the NSA lies within an SNH the end of no-through roads. The interior Wild Land Search Area). is rugged, rock-strewn moorland, with • The seaward, rocky coastal extremities of Smirisary, great tracts of land uninhabited and not and those north of the Ardtoe peninsula. served by any roads, being accessible only to the walker. Access to northern Ardnamurchan’s coast is along a series of single track, no-through roads, with footpaths leading to This imbues the landscape with a strong the shore. Few places are directly accessible by road. sense of solitude and peace, although at In the past, settlements were cleared to make way for times tinged with melancholy owing to sheep-farming, and crofts were created. Hence there has the evidence of long-gone populations been considerable depopulation, as witnessed by the from the abandoned townships and visible remains of houses and settlements. This can evoke the memory of a once-populated landscape where people blackhouses. are now largely missing. 2 • The formal element of designed landscapes Four designed landscapes create a Arisaig House, Kinlochmoidart and Eilean Shona, are all formal element within the wider recognised on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes on account of their outstanding scenic value countryside. Their policy woodlands offer and their historical, architectural and horticultural interest. variety and more managed looking From Shiel Bridge northwards, the River Shiel, an important places within the wider untamed sporting river, is laid out with ornamental plantings and th landscape. This is highlighted by pools, the 19 century design dating to activity by the Dorlin ornamental plantings, managed and Ardnamurchan Estates. woodland and estate-style buildings The Dorlin estate belonged to James Hope Scott (1855), (lodges and architectural features). married to Charlotte Mariot Jane, the granddaughter of Sir Walter Scott. They did much to improve the estate, as did Generally, these private estates are Lord Howard of Glossop who bought it in 1871. The house secluded and situated to take advantage was demolished post World War 1. of spectacular scenery – as with Eilean Shona’s landscape design, which has strong views of the sea, smaller off-shore islands, Castle Tioram and the South Channel of Loch Moidart. Elsewhere the public road passes through or alongside the policies, for example Kinlochmoidart, the riverside plantings at Shiel Bridge and the drive to the Dorlin shore at Loch Moidart. • Strong historical associations Strong historical associations link Loch There is a cairn on the shores of Loch nan Uamh (Loch of nan Uamh to Jacobite history. It is the the Caves) commemorating Bonnie Prince Charlie, erected by the 1745 Association in 1956. place where Prince Charles Edward Stuart first set foot on the mainland (25 Kinlochmoidart House also has historical associations with July 1745). He also departed from here Prince Charles Edward Stuart, who stayed here in August to France after his wanderings following 1945, before raising the Jacobite standard at Glenfinnan. the defeat of the Jacobite forces at the Battle of Culloden in April 1746. The book Commando Country (National Museums of Scotland) describes the use of the landscape during WWII; Dorlin, Inverailort, Kentra and many other places were Landscape features at Kinlochmoidart used. House, dating from the 19 th century, commemorate the ’45: ‘The Seven Men of Moidart’, originally seven beech trees but now replanted are said to represent the Prince’s loyal companions – of whom Aeneas MacDonald, of Kinlochmoidart was one. The Prince’s Walk is a formal avenue leading to the Kirk. The area was also extensively used for commando training during the Second World War, which has left its legacy on the landscape. 3 Location-specific qualities • The indented Ardnamurchan coast North Ardnamurchan has an indented, ‘We are now in the realms of the Hebrides, which have their rocky coastline typifying Hebridean own special scenery… Were it not for a narrow isthmus near Salen, the long arm of Ardnamurchan would itself be scenery. To arrive here necessitates a insular… In most other ways, however, it is Hebridean, not journey along the length and breadth of least in its remarkable geology and scenery .’ Whittow the Ardnamurchan peninsula, the most (1977) westerly landmass on mainland Britain. After experiencing the volcanic landforms The western section of the coast differs from those further east. This is due to the peninsula’s geological structure of the interior, the coastal landscape is a (volcanic in origin) and sea-erosion. ‘ Marine erosion is marked contrast and surprise. currently battering away at the outer ramparts of the igneous complex, and at Sanna Bay has broken through as The long coast is distinctive due to the far as the Great Eucrite ridge. The coasts of western strong rhythmic landscape of rugged, Ardnamurchan, therefore, are characterized by an alternation of dark, forbidding cliffs and headlands with rocky headlands interrupted by coves delightful bays backed by beaches of creamy shell sand .’ and sandy bays. Some bays are backed Whittow (1977) by dunes and machair, as at Sanna. Although an exposed coastline, small, localised pockets of shelter can be found within a succession of small glens that cut through the rocky landscape to the sea. Each glen has its own fine view out to the Small Isles. Additionally, many coastal spots give oblique views across to Morar’s beautiful ‘Silver Sands’ and hills. • The spectacular volcanic landforms The interior of the Ardnamurchan Ardnamurchan’s mass is made up of arcs of high, volcanic peninsula is composed of distinctive moorland hills.

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