Reay

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Reay (Scottish Gaelic: Ratha) is a village which has grown around Sandside Bay on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. It is within the historic Parish of Reay and the historic county of Caithness. The origin of the name is uncertain, but possibilities include the Gaelic Reidh, a flat place or Ratha a fort or enclosure; or the Norse Ra, a boundary marker or Vra, a nook or corner. Another possibility is the word Ra, a now obsolete word for the yardarm of a boat. Interestingly, a prehistoric mound at the west end of the beach is called Cnocstanger, which means pole hill.

The village is on the A836 road some 12 miles west of the town of Thurso and 3 miles west of Dounreay.

Along with Thurso the village grew dramatically in the mid-20th century with the development of the experimental nuclear power facility at Dounreay, where technologies such as fast breeder reactors were developed.

The last force-fire in Reay occurred about 1830.

1 Parish
2 Sandside Bay
3 History
4 Local government
5 Map references
6 See also
7 External links

[edit] Parish

The parish includes the hamlets of Fresgoe, Islaud and Shebster, which are close to the boundary between Caithness and the neighbouring county of Sutherland. The parish had a parish council from 1894 to 1930, and has two neighbouring parishes in Caithess: the Parish of Thurso to the east and the Parish of Halkirk to the south. Dounreay is within the parish.

[edit] Sandside Bay

Sandside Bay in August 2006

One of the main environmental issues caused by the Dounreay Nuclear Power Development Establishment are radioactive nuclear fuel particles that have escaped from the site into the sea, and are now on the seabed near the plant and in Sandside Bay. Some of these are being washed ashore, including a small number on the privately owned Sandside Bay beach which is open to the public and is part of the 10,000 acre Sandside Estate. UKAEA's contractors irregularly monitor the beach, but propose developing a long-term management plan that will. The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs committed to clean up and open oversight of the work on 25th October 2006. [1] The Dounreay Particles Advisory Group recommended that the particle monitoring frequency of the beach should be increased to fortnightly. [2]

Sandside Bay is a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

[edit] History

The area around the village has been occupied for millennia. Within the modern village are the remains of a stone circle, several Viking houses and burials, the site of a bronze age settlement and a mysterious unexcavated mound which is possibly a Simple Atlantic Roundhouse. The church in Reay, which is still in use, was built in 1739 to a highly unusual T-plan, and is now a Grade A Listed Building. The village contains the remains of a far earlier church, dating from the 16th century but on an ancient dedication to St Colman, along with its small, walled graveyard. The existent remains of this old church include a 9th century cross slab. Although there are none actually within the village, the Parish of Reay contains the remains of several brochs. In 1437, the MacKays defeated the men of Caithness at Sandside Bay in the battle known as the Sanset Chase, turning there on the pursuers that had chased them away from an attempted raid.