Keppel Gate, Isle of Man

Slieau Ree Mountain Lands and Keppel Gate

Keppel Gate is located on the ridge of Slieau Ree, at grid reference 385825. Slieau Ree is described as a "flat, featureless plateau". At an elevation of 316 metres, it is not a peak: the ground rises to 445 metres near the nearby Windy Corner.

Origin of the name Keppel Gate

There are a number of alternative etymologies for the name Keppel Gate. The name Keppel may be Old Norse: keppa-fjall ) "Kippal Gate, big-trunk, stock, post hill, or looked like a tree-stump..."

Other explanations for the meanings for the name Keppel include a word for a horse (Irish capal, Welsh ceffyl, Spanish[caballo]) Another suggestion is that there was no gate at this position on the A18 Snaefell Mountain Road.

The Isle of Man antiquarian and TT historian, the Rev Canon Ernest H. Stenning MA wrote that the name originated from Old Norse: Kapel Gata ("the road to the summit"). Another suggestion by the author John J. Kneen MA is that the name Keppel Gate originates from the Scandinavian for Old Norse: Kappafjall ( "The Champion or Hero's mountain" or "Kappi's mountain").

A18 Snaefell Mountain Road

The section of the A18 Snaefell Mountain RoadCfrom Keppel Gate to the Gooseneck corner near Ramsey was built on former Crown Commons grazing land that were transferred to the Crown following the sale of the Island's feudal rights by the Duke of Atholl after the Disafforesting Commission of 1860.

The A18 Snaefell Mountain Road reflects typical 19th century highway and railway construction practices. Built over a period of time in the 19th century from a number of horse paths, ancient rights of way and a series of pre-existing cart-tracks and incomplete stone mountain paths which traversed mountain land, peat bogs and hillside sections. The Keppel Gate section is situated between the 4th and 5th milestone markers on the A18 Snaefell Mountain Road of the smaller metal "Garrow" type of markers from the period of James Garrow as Surveyor-General of Isle of Man Highways and Roads.

Motor sport heritage

The Keppel Gate section of the A18 Snaefell Mountain Road was part of the 52.15 mile Highland Course (altered to 40.38 miles in 1906) and the 37.50 mile Four Inch Course used for car racing including the 1904 Gordon Bennett Trial and the RAC Tourist Trophy car races held between 1905 and 1922. In 1911 the Four Inch Course was first used by the Auto-Cycling Union for the Isle of Man TT motorcycle races. This included the Keppel Gate section, and the course later became known as the 37.73 mile Isle of Man TT (Mountain) Course for motor-cycle racing; it has been used since 1911 for the Isle of Man TT and from 1923 for the "Mountain Course" for the Manx Grand Prix races.

Road safety

The Keppel Gate section of A18 Mountain Road was resurfaced during the winter of 2006–2007 by the Department of Transport. In August 2009, before the 2009 Manx Grand Prix, a section of grass bank was removed from the southern side of Keppel Gate to provide a run-off area after a practice crash by the Australian Isle of Man TT race winner Cameron Donald, and a further incident involving a TT Travelling Marshal, John McBride, during the 2009 races. In April 2015, the Highways Section of the Department of Infrastructure instigated a programme of landscaping at Keppel Gate corner, including the removal of a small grass bank on the north-eastern side of the corner, road reprofiling, restructuring and resurfacing work.