Balnakeil

Balnakeil
Ruined church at Balnakeil
Balnakeil is located in Sutherland
Balnakeil
Balnakeil
Location within the Sutherland area
OS grid referenceNC394678
Council area
Lieutenancy area
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDurness
Postcode districtIV27 4
PoliceScotland
FireScottish
AmbulanceScottish
List of places
UK
Scotland
58°34′34″N 4°46′05″W / 58.576°N 4.768°W / 58.576; -4.768

Balnakeil is a hamlet in the parish of Durness, Sutherland,[1] Scottish Highlands, and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. It is on the north coast of Scotland around 3⁄4 mile (1.2 kilometres) northwest of Durness. The ruin of Balnakeil Church is a scheduled monument. The Kyle of Durness is west of Balnakeil which gives its name to the two-mile-wide (three-kilometre) Balnakeil Bay which the Kyle opens into.[2]

The peninsula of Faraid Head is to the north of Balnakeil. It was the site of a 1950s radar station and remains the range control for Ministry of Defence bombing operations in the Cape Wrath Training Area to the west.[3]

Three small lochs are to the south of Balnakeil: Loch Croispol, Loch Borralie and Loch Caladail. Durness Golf Course is to the southwest.[4]

  1. ^ Microsoft; Nokia. "Balnakeil" (Map). Bing Maps. Microsoft. Retrieved 20 April 2017.
  2. ^ Groome.F.H (1885) 'Parish of Durness', Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, (available online). Retrieved 2013-02-20.
  3. ^ RAF Faraid Head ('RAI') CEW R10 ROTOR Radar station, Subterranea Britannica, 2004-06-15. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
  4. ^ Loch Borralie, Kyle of Durness Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Historic Scotland, 2003. Retrieved 2013-02-20.