Midfield is a remote

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

on the north coast of

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 ...

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

in the Highland Council Area. It is a mile south of Tormade Point and just over a mile north of

Talmine Talmine ( ar, ﻃﺎﻟﻤﻴﻦ) is a town and commune in Charouine District, Adrar Province, in south-central Algeria. According to the 2008 census it has a population of 12,768, up from 9,469 in 1998, with an annual growth rate of 3.1%. Geog ...

and the Achininver Beach and said location's Lodge are located within Midfield. Midfield is 4 miles from the

A838 The A838 is a major road in Sutherland, in the Highland area of Scotland. It runs generally northwest from the A836 in the Lairg area to Laxford Bridge on the west coast of Scotland, then generally northeast to Durness on the north coast, and ...

and 5 miles from the larger settlement of

Tongue The tongue is a muscular organ (anatomy), organ in the mouth of a typical tetrapod. It manipulates food for mastication and swallowing as part of the digestive system, digestive process, and is the primary organ of taste. The tongue's upper surfa ...

. Midfield is also labelled as a crofting settlement according to the Gazetteer for Scotland. Midfield is a part of the

Melness Melness (Gaelic: Taobh Mhealanais) is a locality, comprising a group of small remote crofting townships, lying to the west of Tongue Bay opposite Coldbackie, in the north coast of Sutherland, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council are ...

area.

Access

The settlement is far away from most decently sized streets and towns with the nearest big road being the A9 nearly 40 miles away. The only access to the hamlet is by a small road that links to the

and passes through

and

, despite being on the coast, there is no proper nearby

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

access with Port Vasgo within the hamlet not being anything more than a mere tourist attraction.

Etymology

The name comes from basic

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

quite literally meaning the middle of a field. Although potentially written as Middlefield at first, over time it would've been shortened to Midfield. Meanwhile, Achininver the name of the nearby beach comes from the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

word Inbhir which means the mouth of a river meaning the mouth of the River Achin. Unlike most town names in

named after the river they sit on the mouth of such as

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

, the word Inver comes after the river name.

References

{{reflist Populated places in Sutherland