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North Highlands Highlight

Dunnet Head & Mary Ann's Cottage

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DUNNET HEAD(127m) is the most northerly point in mainland Britain. The lighthouse was built in 1831 by robert Stevenson. and stands atop the imposing 90m cliffs of Easter Head. The viewpoint offers fine vistas in all directions over the Pentland Firth to Orkney and Stroma.

In summer it is home to breeding Puffins, Guillemots, razorbills, Kittiwakes, Fulmars, Shags and Cormorants. The site is now managed by the RSPB. The clifftops are carpeted with wild flowers in early summer, while inland habitats include moorland, wetlands lochs and heathland.

WWII saw the installation of a Chain Home Low radar station on Dunnet Head. Burifa Hill was also the site of the Master Station of the Northern GEE chain which helped bombers to navigate accurately on their missions.

Mary-Ann’s Cottage is a 19th century crofthouse at West Dunnet on the way to Dunnet Head. it was home of Mary-Ann Calder until 1990 when she was 93. it was built by her grandfather, John Young, in 1850. His son William took over, followed by Mary-Ann and her husband, James Calder.

The croft is not a museum, rather an authentic social document. The buildings, rooms, fittings, artifacts, tools and implements are all original. Except that it has electricity and running water, it provides a window into a quite recent past.

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