Sleat
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Sleat is a peninsula and
civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
on the island of
Skye The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated b ...
in the
Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
council area 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 ...
, known as "the garden of Skye". It is the home of the clan ''
MacDonald of Sleat Macdonald, MacDonald or McDonald may refer to: Organisations * McDonald's, a chain of fast food restaurants * McDonald & Co., a former investment firm * MacDonald Motorsports, a NASCAR team * Macdonald Realty, a Canadian real estate brokerage ...
''. The name 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 ...
, which in turn comes from
Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...
''sléttr'' (smooth, even), which well describes Sleat when considered in the surrounding context of the mainland, Skye and
Rùm Rùm (), a Scottish Gaelic name often anglicised to Rum (), is one of the Small Isles of the Inner Hebrides, in the district of Lochaber, Scotland. For much of the 20th century the name became Rhum, a spelling invented by the former owner, Sir ...
mountains that dominate the horizon all about Sleat.


Geography

The peninsula extends from an isthmus between the heads of Loch Eishort and Loch na Dal for southwest to Point of Sleat at the southern tip of Skye. It is bounded on the northwest by Loch Eishort and on the southeast by the
Sound of Sleat The Sound of Sleat is a narrow sea channel off the western coast of Scotland. It divides the Sleat peninsula on the south-east side of the Isle of Skye from Morar, Knoydart and Glenelg on the Scottish mainland. The Sound extends in a south-sou ...
. Most of Sleat, unlike most of Skye, is fairly fertile, and though there are hills, most do not reach a great height.


Communities

Sleat is a traditional parish that has several communities and two major landowners (the Clan Donald Lands Trust and Eilean Iarmain Estate). Most of the population lives on the southern side of the peninsula. The main settlements along the Sound of Sleat are, from north east to south west,
Isleornsay Isleornsay (Scottish Gaelic: Eilean Iarmain) is a village lying off the main Armadale to Sleat road (the A851) on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It overlooks, but is not upon, the island of Ornsay. The island itself shelters one of the best nat ...
,
Teangue Teangue ( gd, An Teanga) is a fishing village on the Sleat peninsula, Isle of Skye, Highlands of Scotland. It is situated in Knock Bay on the west side of the Sound of Sleat. It is in the Scottish council area of Highland. Knock Castle is lo ...
, Ferindonald, Kilmore, Armadale,
Ardvasar Ardvasar ( gd, Àird a’ Bhàsair) is a village near the southern end of the Sleat peninsula, on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It is just to the south of the village of Armadale, where a ferry crosses to Mallaig. Nearby attractions include Arm ...
and
Aird of Sleat Aird of Sleat ( gd, Àird Shlèite) is a village on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It is at the southern end of the Sleat Sleat is a peninsula and civil parish on the island of Skye in the Highland council area of Scotland, known as "the gar ...
. On the northwest side are Tokavaig and
Tarskavaig Tarskavaig (''Tarsgabhaig'' in Scottish Gaelic) is a crofting village on the west coast of Sleat on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It sits in a glen which meets Tarskavaig Bay and lies opposite the Isles of Eigg, Rum and Canna. It is often said t ...
. Sleat Community Trust ( gd, Urras Coimhearsnachd Shlèite), the local
development trust Development trusts are organisations operating in the United Kingdom that are: *community based, owned and led *engaged in the economic, environmental and social regeneration of a defined area or community *independent but seek to work in partners ...
, has purchased the Skye Ferry Filling Station at Armadale and in common with many communities is investigating the options for renewable energy production. It also owns Sleat Renewables Ltd., a timber production company. In October 2007 the Trust hosted the
Highlands and Islands Community Energy Company Community Energy Scotland is an independent Scottish charity established in 2008 that provides advice and financial support for renewable energy projects developed by community groups in Scotland.HICEC. (2006) ''Highlands and Islands Community E ...
annual conference.


Transport and communications

The
A851 road The A851 road is one of the principal roads of the Isle of Skye in the Inner Hebrides off the west coast of mainland Scotland. It connects the ferry port of Armadale on the south of the island with the A87 road for Portree and the Scottish ma ...
links Armadale to the rest of Skye. In the early 2000s the final section of a new double-track road through Sleat from Armadale Ferry to Broadford was finished. After later substantial upgrades by June 2019 it became a S2 road throughout. Most teenage school-children in Sleat travel along the A851 to attend
Portree High School Portree High School ( Gaelic: ') is a state co-educational comprehensive school in Portree, Isle of Skye in Scotland. , the school enrols 490 pupils and employs 80 teachers and support staff. The school's catchment area draws from 15 primary sch ...
, where there is a hostel for those who live particularly far away. Minor roads connect the two coasts of Sleat, and a minor road also extends beyond Armadale to Aird of Sleat. Beyond Aird a track leads to the
Point of Sleat Lighthouse The Point of Sleat Lighthouse is a lighthouse on Skye in the Inner Hebrides, Scotland. It was built in 1934 at the Point of Sleat at the southern end of the island. In 2003 the tower was dismantled and replaced by a concrete structure with a ...
. A
Caledonian MacBrayne Caledonian MacBrayne ( gd, Caledonian Mac a' Bhriuthainn), usually shortened to CalMac, is the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries, and ferry services, between the mainland of Scotland and 22 of the major islands on Scotland's west ...
car ferry connects Armadale to
Mallaig Mallaig (; gd, Malaig derived from Old Norse , meaning sand dune bay) is a port in Lochaber, on the west coast of the Highlands of Scotland. The local railway station, Mallaig, is the terminus of the West Highland railway line (Fort William ...
on the mainland.


Gaelic

After the
Trotternish Trotternish or Tròndairnis (Scottish Gaelic) is the northernmost peninsula of the Isle of Skye, in Scotland. Its most northerly point, Rubha Hùinis, is the most northerly point of Skye. One of the peninsula's better-known features is the Trot ...
peninsula, the Sleat peninsula is the second strongest Gaelic-speaking area in Skye. In the 1901 census, 91% of the population was recorded as speaking Gaelic, with 10% recorded as Gaelic monolinguals. In the 2011 census, 39% of the population in Sleat were recorded as speaking Gaelic, with the highest percentage of Gaelic speakers in
Tarskavaig Tarskavaig (''Tarsgabhaig'' in Scottish Gaelic) is a crofting village on the west coast of Sleat on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It sits in a glen which meets Tarskavaig Bay and lies opposite the Isles of Eigg, Rum and Canna. It is often said t ...
and Achnacloich (51%), and the lowest in Armadale (27%). The local primary school,
Bun-sgoil Shlèite Bun-sgoil Shlèite is a primary school on the Sleat peninsula of the island of Skye in Scotland. It is Scotland's only Gaelic Medium School with an English department. It was established in August 2007 though the building originally opened in No ...
, is a designated Gaelic-medium school. There was some local and national controversy in 2006 about the decision to change the status of the school from an English school with a Gaelic medium unit to a Gaelic school but in the end the
Highland Council The Highland Council (' ), the political body covering the Highland local authority created in 1995, comprises 21 wards, each electing three or four councillors by the single transferable vote system, which creates a form of proportional represe ...
opted for a compromise solution, designating the school as an all-Gaelic school but with an English-medium unit.Plan agreed for all-Gaelic school
BBC News. 27 October 2006 Sleat is home to Scotland's only Gaelic-medium college,
Sabhal Mòr Ostaig Sabhal Mòr Ostaig () (Great Barn of Ostaig) is a public higher education college situated in the Sleat peninsula in the south of the Isle of Skye, with an associate campus at Bowmore on the island of Islay, Ionad Chaluim Chille Ìle (the ...
, which provides university-level education in a number of subjects in Gaelic, and is the largest employer in the area. The Gaelic feature-length film, '' Seachd: The Inaccessible Pinnacle,'' was largely filmed in Sleat and produced by
Christopher Young Christopher Young (born April 28, 1957) is an American composer and orchestrator of film and television scores. Many of his compositions are for horror and thriller films, including ''Hellraiser'', ''Species'', ''Urban Legend'', ''The Grudge'', ...
, a Sleat resident and partial Gaelic speaker.


References


External links


Sleat Community Trust

archive of Sleat Community Council Website

Bun-sgoil Shlèite website

SEALL – Sleat's promoter of Arts
{{coord, 57.11016, N, 5.93223, W, region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(NG6209), display=title Landforms of the Isle of Skye Peninsulas of Scotland Landforms of Highland (council area) Civil parishes of Scotland