Cape Wrath

cape · GB

58.6248, -5.0015

The north-western extreme of mainland Great Britain, a wedge of moorland and cliff in Sutherland. The name comes not from weather but from the Old Norse hvarf, meaning turning place: the point where Viking ships rounded the corner. A lighthouse has stood here since 1828, built by Robert Stevenson. The only access for vehicles is by a passenger ferry across the Kyle of Durness and a twelve-mile minibus ride along a rough track through a military live-firing range. The cape is uninhabited. Its coastline is given over to seabirds, and the light still operates automatically under the Northern Lighthouse Board.