Sandwood Bay
Sandwood Estate is the northern half of what used to be Kinlochbervie Estate. It is roughly triangular in shape. Best known for its beaches, cliffs and peatlands. It includes eight islands and a sizeable freshwater loch.
The whole estate is under crofting tenure. There are three grazings, Sheigra, Oldshorebeg and Oldshoremore. Each is run by a grazing committee on which the Trust is represented. As on all our crofted estates, a local management committee deals with issues like visitor management and estate maintenance.
The glacially eroded, peatland landscape with coastal crofting settlements is characteristic of north-west Sutherland and unique to Scotland. Some of the features are considered to be of world class; notably Sandwood Bay, bordered by dramatically eroded cliffs and backed by dynamic sand dunes set in a coastline which curves away gracefully to the most north-westerly point on mainland Britain.
It is wild land, but not a wilderness, and the evidence of people who lived here before is all around - from prehistoric times to the Highland Clearances and to the 20th century.
Sandwood Bay can only be reached by a walk of 8 miles there and back. At the south end of the bay stands a 60 metre sandstone stack, Am Buachaille. The area is also good for bird watching.
Contact
John Muir Trust
Kinlochbervie
Sutherland
IV27
Scotland
Tel: +44 (131) 5540114
WWW: http://www.jmt.org/cons/sand
