Building record MHG5370 - Slipway, Kylerhea

NG72SE 35 7889 2118

This slipway was built by Thomas Telford in 1821. It is constructed of large dressed whinstone blocks laid in courses, shelving into the water. It is paved with stone setts, currently covered in concrete screed (2009). A coped rubble approach road with retaining wall adjoins the slipway to the south.
The slipway, along with its counterpart at Glenelg, marks the shortest and most historically significant crossing-place between the mainland and the Isle of Skye, being the primary cattle driving route out of the islands. It is likely that a natural cut in the rock, a short distance south of the slipway itself, was probably utililised to funnel cattle into the water. A passenger ferry is recorded as operating here from as early as the 17th century and the crossing was used as part of the military road system in the mid 18th century. A swivel-deck ferry boat continues (2009) to run between April and October. <1><2>

A photographic survey was carried out in 2011 by Tony Usher as part of a condition on a planning application.<3>