Overview of Applecross

A village on the coast of Wester Ross in Highland Council Area, Applecross occupies a remote location on a peninsula between Loch Torridon and Loch Kishorn. Anciently known as Abercrossan, it was inaccessible by road until the late 18th Century and can now be reached via the long coastal road from Shieldaig (completed in 1982) or the Bealach na Ba (Pass of the Cattle) which at 625m (2035 feet) is one of the highest roads in Scotland and certainly one of the most spectacular. In the 7th century AD St. Maelrubha, an Irish monk, founded a community here which continued for two centuries but was destroyed by Viking invaders. A few relics of that early period remain in the church, which was built in 1817. In the churchyard are a Celtic cross-slab and the remains of a 15th century chapel. An outstation of the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre (BUTEC), based in Kyle of Lochalsh, was established here in the 1970s.