Cuil Bay ( gd, A' Chùil), meaning recess, corner, niche or nook, is a 237° facing, large sand and shingle coastal

embayment A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a gulf, sea, sound, or bight. A cove is a small, circular bay with a narr ...

with a semi-circular outline, on a chord of 2 km, situated on the south‐west part of the

Ardsheal peninsula Clan Stewart of Appin is the West Highland branch of the Clan Stewart and have been a distinct clan since their establishment in the 15th century. Their Chiefs are descended from Sir James Stewart of Perston, who was himself the grandson of Al ...

, on the southern coast of the sea loch of

Loch Linnhe Loch Linnhe () is a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland. The part upstream of Corran is known in Gaelic as (the black pool, originally known as Loch Abar), and downstream as (the salty pool). The name ''Linnhe'' is derived from the Gaelic w ...

, in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

of Lismore and Appin, within the council area of

Lochaber Lochaber ( ; gd, Loch Abar) is a name applied to a part of the Scottish Highlands. Historically, it was a provincial lordship consisting of the parishes of Kilmallie and Kilmonivaig, as they were before being reduced in extent by the creation ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It was formerly part of

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute ( sco, Argyll an Buit; gd, Earra-Ghàidheal agus Bòd, ) is one of 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod (14 July 2020) ...

before boundary changes occurred. The bay is situated adjacent to the village of

Duror Duror, ( gd, An Dùrar ) (meaning hard water), occasionally Duror of Appin is a small, remote coastal village that sits at the base of Glen Duror, in district of Appin, in the Scottish West Highlands, within the council area of Argyll and But ...

. The bay is reached by a small road that leads from the Duror Primary School, leaving the main A828 road, following the line of the River Duror, as it races to meet the sea, before opening out into a vista of a long shore of meadows and sea-grasses as the land meets the bay proper.

Geography

The bay, which has an orientation of south-east to north-west, bounded to the north by

which has the same orientation, faces Loch Linnhe in a southeasterly direction, with the full width of Loch Linnhe partially obscured by Ardsheal peninsula, where the bay is located, on its westerly edge. The small island of Eilean Balnagowan can be plainly seen from the bay, at a distance of 2 km, behind the island, lies

Shuna Island Shuna Island or simply Shuna is an island in Loch Linnhe, offshore from Appin. The island is approximately long and wide and extends to some in total. The island is characterised by a table topped hill at its southern end. The name Shuna is ...

at 7.42 km from the shingle beach, which can clearly be seen on the left of hand side of Eilean Balnagowan, with the Sound of Shuna, that separates the island from Appin coast clearly visible. Around 13.71 km from the bay, that be seen from the north end of Cuil Bay on a clear day, is the north coast of the garden island of Lismore, which is oriented from south-west to north-east, following the orientation of Loch Linnhe, roughly parallel to the

Great Glen Fault The Great Glen Fault is a strike-slip fault that runs through the Great Glen in Scotland. The fault is mostly inactive today, but occasional moderate tremors have been recorded over the past 150 years. Location Aligned northeast to southwest, t ...

. Cuil Bay is part of the ancient district of Lorne.

Salmon Fishing

A Salmon fishing station using the ancient set bag net style of fishing is located close to the Rubha Beag headland at the north west end of the bay. There is evidence that Salmon fishing has occurred in Cuil Bay for some 400 years, which is important for Scotland heritage. The main species of Salmon fished is the

Salmo salar The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlantic salmon are ...

. The fishing technique uses a fixed engine bag, which is a trap for fish, where a leader runs into two or three other chambers, where the fish are trapped. This is both an ancient and environmentally healthy way to fish, as fish can be kept or released depending on size, weight and condition.

Langoustine ''Nephrops norvegicus'', known variously as the Norway lobster, Dublin Bay prawn, ' (compare langostino) or ''scampi'', is a slim, orange-pink lobster which grows up to long, and is "the most important commercial crustacean in Europe". It is n ...

and

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature ...

are also fished by pot in the same spot.

Biology

Cuil Bay is known for providing the ideal biology for the giant tachinid fly which resembles a

bumblebee A bumblebee (or bumble bee, bumble-bee, or humble-bee) is any of over 250 species in the genus ''Bombus'', part of Apidae, one of the bee families. This genus is the only extant group in the tribe Bombini, though a few extinct related gener ...

in flight. A large amount of dry, open

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non-woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or artifi ...

s and

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler ...

s that surround the bay make for ideal breeding grounds. It breeds from February until September and is a parasite of large caterpillars.

Conservation designations

Cuil Bay is part of one

Special Protection Area A Special Protection Area (SPA) is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds. Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union (EU) have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and cert ...

, and one

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

. The first is biological in nature, the second is geological: * Special Protected Area:

Glen Etive Glen Etive ( gd, Gleann Èite) is a glen in the Highlands of Scotland. The River Etive ( gd, Abhainn Èite) rises on the peaks surrounding Rannoch Moor, with several tributary streams coming together at the Kings House Hotel, at the head of Gl ...

and

Glen Fyne A glen is a valley, typically one that is long and bounded by gently sloped concave sides, unlike a ravine, which is deep and bounded by steep slopes. Whittow defines it as a "Scottish term for a deep valley in the Highlands" that is "narrower ...

. Designated 28 October 2010 for internationally important aggregations of breeding birds -

golden eagle The golden eagle (''Aquila chrysaetos'') is a bird of prey living in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the most widely distributed species of eagle. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. They are one of the best-known bird of p ...

(''Aquila chrysaetos'') *

Ardsheal Peninsula Clan Stewart of Appin is the West Highland branch of the Clan Stewart and have been a distinct clan since their establishment in the 15th century. Their Chiefs are descended from Sir James Stewart of Perston, who was himself the grandson of Al ...

. Designated 1 February 1981 for

igneous petrology Igneous petrology is the study of igneous rocks—those that are formed from magma. As a branch of geology, igneous petrology is closely related to volcanology, tectonophysics, and petrology in general. The modern study of igneous rocks utilizes a ...

(Caledonian Igneous) and structural and

metamorphic Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...

geology (

Dalradian The Dalradian Supergroup (informally and traditionally the Dalradian) is a stratigraphic unit (a sequence of rock strata) in the lithostratigraphy of the Grampian Highlands of Scotland and in the north and west of Ireland. The diverse assemblag ...

Features

Dewar Manuscripts

It is mentioned in The Dewar Manuscripts, in one of the stories, that the

Lord of the Isles The Lord of the Isles or King of the Isles ( gd, Triath nan Eilean or ) is a title of Scottish nobility with historical roots that go back beyond the Kingdom of Scotland. It began with Somerled in the 12th century and thereafter the title w ...

had a hospitality house, located in Cuill, although the present location is not known. The tenant of the house paid no rent on the condition that if the Lord of the Isles visited, a feast would be laid on and the Lord would be entertained. The tenant of the hospitality house, one McTavish was told to prepare a feast, but the

River Etive Loch Etive (Scottish Gaelic, ''Loch Eite'') is a 30 km sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It reaches the sea at Connel, 5 km north of Oban. It measures 31.6 km (19 miles) long and from 1.2 km ( mile) to wide. Its ...

was in spate, so the Lord was delayed. Dugald MacIain Stewart of the

Clan Stewart of Appin Clan Stewart of Appin is the West Highland branch of the Clan Stewart and have been a distinct clan since their establishment in the 15th century. Their Chiefs are descended from Sir James Stewart of Perston, who was himself the grandson of Al ...

told McTavish that the visit would not take place, and that he and his close friends would eat the feast. When the Lord turned up a few days later, no feast was prepared, but Stewart had prepared a new feast, which was to be eaten between Kentallen Bay and Lettermore Wood. As a reward, he was given Cuil. The Lord of the Isles stated of the affair:

Achara Stone

Close to the start of the small road which leads to Cuil bay from Duror Primary School, between

and

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

of Achara ( gd, Achadh a' charraigh), opposite the primary school, within a field, is an ancient single

standing stone A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright rock (geology), stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. T ...

, that has been there for least 5000 years. The stone is 12 feet high, and gave its name to the Achara area.

Gallery

File:Cuil Bay towards Duror - geograph.org.uk - 192110.jpg, Cuil Bay towards Duror, taken from Rubha Beag. File:Cuil Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1705061.jpg, Cuil Bay looking south. File:Cuil Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1747201.jpg, Cuil Bay looking towards Shuna and Lismore. File:Cuil Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1705055.jpg, Cuil Bay looking towards the Salmon fishing station and the hills of Ardgour in the distance. File:The lochan above Cuil Bay - geograph.org.uk - 1805259.jpg, A small fresh lochan above Cuil Bay supporting Mute Swan and a few ducks.

References

{{reflist Bays of Highland (council area) Bays of Scotland Bays of Argyll and Bute Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Scotland Special Protection Areas in Scotland