From the Archives: Applecross peninsula was a true sanctuary
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For over a thousand years, Applecross has been known in Gaelic as A’Chomraich – ‘The Sanctuary’.
A parish in Ross and Cromarty until 1975, Applecross was a parish for both civil and religious purposes from the 18th century.
Applecross is a peninsula located between mountains and Skye, it is home to only a couple of hundred people and has two roads that access the area. The Bealach na Bà is a winding single track road through the mountains. The historic mountain pass was built in 1822 with very tight hairpin bends that turn back and forth going up the steep hillside. It has the steepest ascent of any road in the UK, rising from sea level at Applecross to 626 metres, and is the third highest road in Scotland.
The name is Gaelic for ‘Pass of the Cattle’ as it was used historically to drive cattle over the hill.
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Applecross is the name for the whole peninsula and the community is made up of the various crofting townships from north to south namely; Ardheslaig, Kenmore, Fearnabeag, Fearnamor, Cuaig, Lonbain, Applecross Bay and Shore Street, Milltown, Camusteil, Camusterrach, Culduie, Ard Dubh and Toscaig. The area around Applecross is believed to be one of the earliest settled parts of Scotland.
The coastal settlement of Sand, just to the north of Applecross, is the location of a major archaeological excavation.
At one time Applecross was legally recognised as a sanctuary, under the same medieval laws that made churches places of sanctuary. The whole area was regarded as holy ground and anyone fleeing from pursuit was safe if they came within six miles of the church at Clachan. The church stands on the spot where St Maelrubha of Bangor in Ireland established a monastery in 673 AD. Maelrubha is said to be second in importance only to St Columba of Iona in the story of the spread of Christianity in the north-west of Scotland.
The Mackenzie clan gained control of Applecross from the mid-1500s onwards. It had remained church land even after the monastery was destroyed, but when the Reformation of the 16th century removed the power and land of the Catholic Church, Applecross like much other church property, passed into the hands of powerful nobles. Applecross was obtained by the Mackenzies, and it was they who built Applecross House, which still looks out over Applecross Bay. The people of Applecross fought with their laird in the 1715 Jacobite rebellion, culminating in the battle of Sheriffmuir.
For most of its very long history, Applecross was a Gaelic-speaking community, with the language in daily use at all levels of society, from crofters and fishermen to clerics and clan chiefs. There is a rich and distinct local dialect, now spoken by only a small number of natives of the peninsula, which shows some commonality, in both vocabulary and pronunciation, with the Gaelic of other parts of Wester Ross and Lochalsh.
More recently tourism has been the main economic activity in Applecross, with all the benefits and challenges that it brings to remote and rural areas. The Highland Archive Centre holds parish council minutes, school log books and admission registers for Applecross, subject to closure periods.
