Wick River, known also as River Wick, is a river in Caithness in

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. It has its source at the confluence of Scouthal Burn and Strath Burn near Achingale Mill at the northern end of Bardarclay Moss () in the

Flow Country The Flow Country is a large, rolling expanse of peatland and wetland area of Caithness and Sutherland in the North of Scotland. It is the largest expanse of blanket bog in Europe, and covers about . It is an area of deep peat, dotted with bog ...

. The

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of w ...

estuary An estuary is a partially enclosed coastal body of brackish water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea. Estuaries form a transition zone between river environments and maritime environm ...

(), is in the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

bay of Wick () and is straddled by the town of

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...

. The source is at a height of about 25 metres, about 11 kilometres west and 2 kilometres north of the estuary. The

river basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, t ...

includes

Loch Watten Loch Watten is a loch in the River Wick drainage basin in Caithness, Scotland. The name is a tautology, consisting of the word " loch" (of Gaelic origin) and ''vatn'', a Norse word meaning the very same, found in such names as "Þingvallavatn ...

and Loch Tofingall () to the west of the estuary, and Loch Hempriggs and the Loch of Yarrows () to the south/southwest.

Tributaries

Viewed upstream from the estuary, the river and its tributaries can be listed as follows: * Wick River ** Burn of Newton *** Loch Hempriggs **** Burn of Thrumster ***** Loch of Yarrows ** Burn of Gillock **

Achairn Burn Achairn Burn, known also as Haster Burn, is one of the major tributaries of Wick River, in Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland. The burn's source is in headwaters flowing from the northern slope of the Hill of Toftgunn, which rises to ...

*** Alt Beag-airighe *** Camster Loch *** Toftgunn

headwaters The headwaters of a river or stream is the farthest place in that river or stream from its estuary or downstream confluence with another river, as measured along the course of the river. It is also known as a river's source. Definition The ...

** Loch Burn, Watten ***

** Scouthal Burn *** Burn of Acharole **** Loch Burn (Toftingall) ***** Loch of Toftingall ** Strath Burn *** Kensary Burn *** Camster Burn, known also as Rowens Burn

Estuary

The Wick River

ranges from the vicinity of

Wick Harbour Wick ( gd, Inbhir Ùige (IPA: �inivɪɾʲˈuːkʲə, sco, Week) is a town and royal burgh in Caithness, in the far north of Scotland. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay. "Wick Locality" had a population ...

() to an area about 2.5 kilometres inland (). On both sides of the estuary, areas of Wick are built on artificial

embankment Embankment may refer to: Geology and geography * A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea * Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...

which have narrowed the river channel, or have fixed a channel where otherwise the area would be more that of

tidal Tidal is the adjectival form of tide. Tidal may also refer to: * ''Tidal'' (album), a 1996 album by Fiona Apple * Tidal (king), a king involved in the Battle of the Vale of Siddim * TidalCycles, a live coding environment for music * Tidal (servic ...

beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...

Bridges

The river is spanned by one railway, three roads and two footbridges. In order from the sea, they are: * Within Wick (), the Harbour Bridge spans the river at its mouth, to link Wick town centre with Wick Harbour and

Pulteneytown Wick ( gd, Inbhir Ùige (IPA: �inivɪɾʲˈuːkʲə, sco, Week) is a town and royal burgh in Caithness, in the far north of Scotland. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay. "Wick Locality" had a population of ...

. It stands instead of the earlier Service Bridge. * Also in Wick (), the river is spanned by the main road linking John o' Groats with

Latheron Latheron () is a small village and civil parish in Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland ...

and Inverness (the A99- A9). The bridge here is known as the Bridge of Wick and it carries an extension of Wick’s Bridge Street. * Around 500 metres west of the Bridge of Wick (), a footbridge spans the river via an

island An island (or isle) is an isolated piece of habitat that is surrounded by a dramatically different habitat, such as water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, skerries, cays or keys. An island ...

in the river, and this serves as a link between recreational

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat, or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as these areas maintain an open character. Meadows may be naturally occurring or arti ...

s on the north and south banks. * About halfway between the footbridge and the railway bridge there is another footbridge. * Around 300 metres east of Mary Ford (), the river is crossed by the railway which links the burgh of Wick with the burgh of

Thurso Thurso (pronounced ; sco, Thursa, gd, Inbhir Theòrsa ) is a town and former burgh on the north coast of the Highland council area of Scotland. Situated in the historical County of Caithness, it is the northernmost town on the island of Gre ...

and the

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of Inverness. * In

Watten Watten may refer to: Places * Watten, Nord, a commune in the Nord ''département'' of France ** ''Blockhaus d'Éperlecques'' or Watten bunker, intended to be a launching facility for the V-2 ballistic missile * Watten, Highland, a village in Cai ...

(), the river is crossed by the main highway, A882, linking Wick with Thurso, known as Achingale Bridge.

External links

{{authority control Rivers of Highland (council area)