Sunart
Sunart is a rural district and
parish in south west
Lochaber,
Highland,
Scotland, on the north shore of
Loch Sunart. Today is often labelled as part of
Ardnamurchan. The main village is
Strontian, at the head of the
loch, which is the location of
Ardnamurchan High School, the local fire station, police station and other facilities.
The district is bounded to the south by the eastern half of Loch Sunart and by part of
Morvern, to the west by the
Ardnamurchan peninsula (beyond
Salen), to the north by
Loch Shiel, and to the east and north east by the district of
Ardgour, from which it is divided by a range of high hills. Main access to the area today is via
Glen Tarbert, from the
Corran Ferry, although there is also a road coming in from
Lochailort, via
Moidart, to the north. Although the area may seem isolated now, in the past the main mode of transport in the
West Highlands was boat, and the district was well-integrated into the west coast economy and culture.
Nearly all of the population live in a narrow ribbon of small settlements along the northern shore of Loch Sunart, with a southerly aspect. The inland, including the shore of Loch Shiel, consists of rough, hilly country, mainly
moorland,
peat bog and woodland, dominated by the main hill,
Beinn Resipol, which is a
Corbett.
The main income for the area is
tourism, with some
salmon fish-farming.
The area is renowned for the richness of its wildlife, and it contains some of the best surviving remnants of the
ancient temperate Atlantic oak forest which once clothed most of the west coast of Scotland,
Wales,
Cornwall and
Brittany, but only survives in isolated pockets. Loch Sunart itself also has a rich
flora and
fauna. In the past salmon and
sea trout angling was important to the local hotels, but, like much of
Europe, the runs of fish in the spring and summer are much reduced.
The area is reputed to have the widest variety of
fungi,
lichen and
bryophyte species in the whole of Europe, due to the mild, wet
oceanic climate.
At present a campaign is underway to remove
Rhododendron ponticum, an
invasive introduced species.
*Achnanellan, Anaheilt, Ard Airigh, Ardery, Ardnastaing, Ariundle
*Drumnatorran
*Glenhurich, Gorstanvorran
*Polloch
*Resipole
*
Salen, Scamodale, Scotstown,
Strontian*
Ariundle Oakwood*
Claish Moss*
River Strontian*
Strontian Lead Mines*
Strontianite*
Strontium*
Sessile oak*
Tourism in Scotland*
lochaber.com - Sunart*
Sunart Oakwoods Initiative*
Ariundle Oakwood,
Scotland's National Nature Reserves
