Thurso (pronounced ; sco, Thursa, gd, Inbhir Theòrsa ) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

and former

burgh A burgh is an autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland and Northern England, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burg ...

on the north coast of the Highland council 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 has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Situated in the historical County of

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...

, it is the northernmost town on the island of Great Britain. From a latitudinal standpoint, Thurso is located further north than the southernmost point of

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and in addition lies more than north of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. It lies at the junction of the north–south A9 road and the west–east A836 road, connected to Bridge of Forss in the west and Castletown in the east. The

River Thurso The River Thurso ( gd, Abhainn Theòrsa) has Loch Rumsdale in Caithness as its source, about 26 kilometres south and 14 kilometres west of the burgh of Thurso, Caithness, and about 2 kilometres south of the railway line linking the burghs of T ...

flows through the town and into

Thurso Bay Thurso Bay, known also as Scrabster Bay, is a bay of Atlantic water between the points of Clairdon Head and Holborn Head on the north coast of Caithness, Scotland. The bay receives fresh water from the River Thurso and the Wolf Burn. The river ...

and the

Pentland Firth The Pentland Firth ( gd, An Caol Arcach, meaning the Orcadian Strait) is a strait which separates the Orkney Islands from Caithness in the north of Scotland. Despite the name, it is not a firth. Etymology The name is presumed to be a corruption ...

. The river estuary serves as a small harbour. At the 2011 Census, Thurso had a population of 7,933. The larger Thurso civil parish including the town and the surrounding countryside had a population of 9,112. Thurso functioned as an important Norse port, and later traded with ports throughout northern Europe until the 19th century. A thriving fishing centre, Thurso also had a reputation for its linen-cloth and tanning activities. , the Dounreay Nuclear Research Establishment, although mostly decommissioned at the end of the 20th century, employs a significant number of the local population. The Category-A listed ruined Old St Peter's Church (St. Peter's Kirk) is one of the oldest churches in Scotland, dating to at least 1125. The current church, St Andrew's and St Peter's, was built in 1832 to a design by William Burn in the Gothic style. The town contains the main campus of North Highland College and Thurso High School, the northernmost secondary school on the British mainland, which was established in 1958. Thurso Castle, built in 1872, is in ruins. Thurso is home to the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

team Thurso FC, established in 1998, who play in the

North Caledonian League The North Caledonian Football Association is a football (soccer), football association operating throughout the Highlands and Islands of Scotland and is a recognised body of the Scottish Football Association (SFA) and as such has its senior footb ...

, and the rugby teams

Caithness Crushers The Caithness Crushers are a Scottish rugby league team based in Thurso. Formed in 2011 the goal is to compete in Scotland Rugby League's Conference Division 1. See also *Rugby league in Scotland *List of rugby league clubs in Britain This ...

and

Caithness RFC Caithness Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club from 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 Cou ...

. Thurso railway station, opened in 1874, was the most northern station on the Sutherland and Caithness Railway. The nearby port of Scrabster provides ferry services to the

Orkney Islands Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

; the NorthLink ferry () operates between Scrabster and

Stromness Stromness (, non, Straumnes; nrn, Stromnes) is the second-most populous town in Orkney, Scotland. It is in the southwestern part of Mainland Orkney. It is a burgh with a parish around the outside with the town of Stromness as its capital. E ...

Etymology

Originally Thurso was known by the Celtic name of meaning "bull water" or "bull river"; similarly Dunnet Head was standing for "bull fort" and the name of the town name may have its roots there. Norse influence translated its name to , then altered it to , based on the deity of

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred groves ...

and translating as (the place on) Thor's River. The local Scots name, , derives from the Norse, as does the modern

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

. means a river mouth, and is generally found as ''Inver'' in many anglicised names.

History

Thurso's history stretches back to at least the era of Norse

Orcadian Orcadians, also known as Orkneymen, are an ethnic group native to the Orkney Islands, who speak an Orcadian dialect of the Scots language, a West Germanic language, and share a common history, culture and ancestry. Speaking Norn, a native North G ...

rule in

, which ended conclusively in 1266. Neolithic horned cairns found on nearby Shebster Hill, which were used for burials and rituals, date back about 5,000 years. The town was an important Norse port, and has a later history of trade with ports throughout northern Europe until the 19th century. In 1330 Scotland's standard unit of weight was brought in line with that of Thurso at the decree of King David II of Scotland, a measure of the town's economic importance. Old St Peter's Kirk is said to date from circa 1220 and the time of Caithness Bishop Gilbert Murray, who died in 1245. In 1649, Gaels from Ireland, led by Donald Macalister Mullach, attacked Thurso and were chased off by the residents, headed by Sir James Sinclair. One of the locals, a servant of Sinclair was said to have killed Mullach by "cutting a button from his master's coat and firing it from a musket". In 1811, the parish had 592 houses with a population of 3,462. This had decreased to 2,510 people by 1841. Following the passage into law of the 1845

Poor Law Act Poverty is the state of having few material possessions or little

income< ...

, a combination poorhouse was constructed; work commenced in 1854 and was completed by 1856. The building, which had a capacity to house 149 inmates, was on a site to the west of Thurso Road and provided

poor relief In English and British history, poor relief refers to government and ecclesiastical action to relieve poverty. Over the centuries, various authorities have needed to decide whose poverty deserves relief and also who should bear the cost of hel ...

for Thurso and the parishes of

Bower Bower may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Catherine, or The Bower'', an unfinished Jane Austen novel * A high-ranking card (usually a Jack) in certain card games: ** The Right and Left Bower (or Bauer), the two highest-ranking cards in the g ...

, Canisbay,

Dunnet Dunnet is a village in Caithness, in the Highland (council area), Highland area of Scotland. It is within the Parish of Dunnet. Village The village centres on the A836 road, A836–B855 road junction. The A836 leads towards John o' Groats ...

Halkirk Halkirk ( gd, Hàcraig) is a village on the River Thurso in Caithness, in the Highland council area of Scotland. From Halkirk the B874 road runs towards Thurso in the north and towards Georgemas in the east. The village is within the parish o ...

, Olrig,

Reay Reay ( gd, Ràth) 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 village is on the A836 road some ...

and

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 ...

. Many of the poorhouses in Scotland were under used, and by 1924 the building had been unoccupied for several years so was sold; it was later utilised as housing but by 2001 was again abandoned. Much of the town is a planned 19th-century development. In 1906, a new

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

boathouse and slipway was inaugurated near Scrabster Harbour. A fire on 10 December 1956 destroyed the building and its

47ft Watson-class lifeboat The 47 ft Watson-class was a class of non self-righting displacement hull lifeboat built from 1955 to 1963 and operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution between 1956 and 1991. History The 47 ft Watson was the final devel ...

and a new building and boat was built, launched the following year. A new lifeboat, named "The Three Sisters" was inaugurated in 1971 by the Queen Mother. A major expansion occurred in the mid-20th century when the Dounreay

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...

was established at

Dounreay Dounreay (; gd, Dùnrath) is a small settlement and the site of two large nuclear establishments on the north coast of Caithness in the Highland area of Scotland. It is on the A836 road west of Thurso. The nuclear establishments were create ...

in 1955, to the west of the town. The arrival of workers related to the power station caused a three-fold increase in the population of Thurso; the 1951 census gave a figure of 3,000 but this had swelled to 9,000 by 1971. This led to around 1,700 new houses being built in Thurso and nearby Castletown, a mixture of local authority housing blended with private houses and flats built by the

United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of fusion energy. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy ...

. Decommissioned at the end of the 20th century, it is estimated the site will not be cleared of all the waste until the 2070s, so will continue to provide employment. Thurso is also the name of the

viscountcy A viscount ( , for male) or viscountess (, for female) is a title used in certain European countries for a noble of varying status. In many countries a viscount, and its historical equivalents, was a non-hereditary, administrative or judicial ...

held by the Sinclair family in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Thurso hosted the National Mòd in 2010, which was the first time this festival of Gaelic language and culture had been held so far north.

Governance

Thurso has history as a

burgh of barony A burgh of barony was a type of Scottish town (burgh). Burghs of barony were distinct from royal burghs, as the title was granted to a landowner who, as a tenant-in-chief, held his estates directly from the crown. (In some cases, they might also ...

dating from 1633 when it was established by Charles I. From 1870, the burgh council was based at Thurso Town Hall. In 1975, under the

Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The Act followed and largely implemented the report of the Royal Commission on Local Gove ...

, the

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

was merged into the

district of the two-tier

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 ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

. In 1996, under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994, the district was abolished and the region became a

unitary council area A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

. From 1996 until 2007, the town of Thurso was covered by two or three wards, each electing one councillor by the

first-past-the-post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast their ...

system of election. In 2007, a single Thurso ward was created to elect three councillors by the

single transferable vote Single transferable vote (STV) is a multi-winner electoral system in which voters cast a single vote in the form of a ranked-choice ballot. Voters have the option to rank candidates, and their vote may be transferred according to alternate p ...

system. In 2017 the Thurso ward was absorbed into a new multi member ward along with the Western portion of Landward Caithness, the new ward, named Thurso and Northwest Caithness, was contested for the first time in the Highland Council election of 2017. The incumbent councillors are Cllr Matthew Reiss (Independent), Provost Struan Mackie (

Scottish Conservative The Scottish Conservative & Unionist Party ( gd, Pàrtaidh Tòraidheach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Tory an Unionist Pairty), often known simply as the Scottish Conservatives and colloquially as the Scottish Tories, is a centre-right political par ...

), Cllr Ron Gunn (

Scottish Liberal Democrats The Scottish Liberal Democrats ( gd, Pàrtaidh Libearal Deamocratach na h-Alba, sco, Scots Leeberal Democrats) is a liberal, federalist political party in Scotland, a part of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats. The party currently holds 4 o ...

) and Cllr Karl Rosie (

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

). Electing four members to the new ward, it is one of two within the

Highland Council The Highland Council (' ), the political body covering the Highland local authority created in 1995, comprises 21 wards, each electing three or four councillors by the single transferable vote system, which creates a form of proportional represe ...

's Caithness ward management area and one of seven within the council's Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross corporate management area. Thurso Community Council was created in 1975 when the burgh was abolished. The

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

is not a tier of local government, but it is recognised as a level of statutory representation. The community council represents an area which is somewhat smaller than that represented by ward councillors. The ward area also includes parts of other community council areas.

Geography

Thurso is the most northerly town on the British mainland, situated on the northern coastline overlooking the

. It is situated at the northern terminus of the A9 road, the main road linking

with the south of Scotland, and is west of John o' Groats and northwest of Wick, the closest town. Thurso railway station is the most northerly location served by Britain's

rail network Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

, which links the town directly with Wick, the

county town In the United Kingdom and Ireland, a county town is the most important town or city in a county. It is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county and the place where the county's members of Parliament are elect ...

of Caithness, and with Inverness. Thurso is bordered by the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest, often termed a parish priest, who might be assisted by one or m ...

es of Olrig and

to the east,

to the south, and

to the west, and stretches from

Holborn Head Holborn Head is a headland on the north-facing Atlantic coast of Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland. The ''point'' of Holborn Head is at (grid reference ). It has a lighthouse at its south end and the remains of an old fort at its tip. ...

and Crosskirk Bay in the west to Dunnet Head and

Dunnet Bay Dunnet is a village in Caithness, in the Highland area of Scotland. It is within the Parish of Dunnet. Village The village centres on the A836– B855 road junction. The A836 leads towards John o' Groats in the east and toward Thurso an ...

in the east. It lies slightly further north than the Alaskan capital of

Juneau The City and Borough of Juneau, more commonly known simply as Juneau ( ; tli, Dzánti K'ihéeni ), is the capital city of the state of Alaska. Located in the Gastineau Channel and the Alaskan panhandle, it is a unified municipality and the se ...

, and slightly further south than the Swedish capital of

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

The

, reputable for its salmon fishing, flows through the town and into

and the

. The river estuary serves as a small harbour. Thurso has a fine harbour and beach and looks out over the Pentland Firth to the Orkney island of

Hoy Hoy ( sco, Hoy; from Norse , meaning "high island") is an island in Orkney, Scotland, measuring – the second largest in the archipelago, after Mainland. A natural causeway, ''the Ayre'', links the island to the smaller South Walls; the two ...

and the towering Old Man of Hoy (a stack of rock standing out from the main island).

Climate

Thurso has a cool

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

( Köppen ''Cfb''), featuring similar weather to the

Scottish Highlands The Highlands ( sco, the Hielands; gd, a’ Ghàidhealtachd , 'the place of the Gaels') is a historical region of Scotland. Culturally, the Highlands and the Lowlands diverged from the Late Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Sco ...

. The highest temperature recorded was (July 1995) and the lowest (December 2010). Although Thurso is mild enough to permit the growth of trees, the windswept surroundings mostly consist of grasslands resembling the offshore northern archipelagoes of

Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) north ...

and

Shetland Shetland, also called the Shetland Islands and formerly Zetland, is a subarctic archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands and Norway. It is the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the no ...

. The sea remains chilly also in summer and offshore

sea surface temperature Sea surface temperature (SST), or ocean surface temperature, is the ocean temperature close to the surface. The exact meaning of ''surface'' varies according to the measurement method used, but it is between and below the sea surface. Air mass ...

s do not fluctuate much throughout the year.

Economy

Historically, Thurso was known for its production of linen cloth and had a thriving tanning business. Fishing has always been of major significance in the running of the local economy, and the Thurso Shipowner's Association overlooked much of the shipping activity. The port of Scrabster lies about to the west of the estuary of the River Thurso, and plays a significant role in the white fish industry in Scotland. Scrabster has deep water in the shelter of Holborn Head. The harbour includes a berth for the '' MV Hamnavoe'', a

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

operated by Northlink linking the Scottish mainland with

on Orkney. There is also a large fishmart and the local lifeboat is stationed there too. From June 2007, a summer-only weekly ferry service operated by the Faroese company

Smyril Line Smyril Line is a Faroese shipping company, linking the Faroe Islands with Denmark and Iceland. It previously also served Norway and the United Kingdom. is the Faroese word for the merlin. History Since 1983, the company has operated a r ...

reopened, connecting Scrabster with the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

and Norway, but has now been discontinued. Thurso boasts a small

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...

, North Coast Visitor Centre, several hotels and bars, a surf shop/cafe stocking famous brands, and a small skatepark. There is also a sizeable

British Telecom BT Group plc (trade name, trading as BT and formerly British Telecom) is a British Multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered in London, England. It has operations in around 180 countries and is th ...

call centre and a plant making lithium-ion batteries for the MoD on the west side of the town, which along with the Dounreay Nuclear power plant, provide a high level of employment in Caithness. On 12 January 2010, approval was granted for the Baillie wind farm near Thurso which will feature 21 turbines and supply 52.5 MW, enough for 25,000 homes.

Landmarks

The Category A listed ruined Old St Peter's Church (St. Peter's Kirk) is one of the older churches in Scotland, dated to at least 1125, and at one time it was the principal church for the county, administered by the Bishops of Caithness. The church held hearings against criminal activity and determined how those caught should be punished. In 1701, a woman who had a relationship with a Dutch sailor had her head shaved and was publicly shamed, paraded through the town by the local hangman. The current church, St Andrew's and St Peter's, was built in 1832 to a design by William Burn in the Gothic style with buttressed walls and a square tower. The pipe organ was added by

Norman & Beard Norman and Beard were a pipe organ manufacturer based in Norwich from 1887 to 1916. History The origins of the company are from a business founded in Diss in 1870 by Ernest William Norman (1851–1927). In 1876 he moved to Norwich where he wen ...

in 1914, and in 1922

Oscar Paterson Oscar Paterson (1863 – 1934) was a Scottish artist based in Glasgow, who specialised in stained glass. Work Paterson's work has been described as "the epitome of the Glasgow Style", and is still celebrated today. He is best known for his st ...

contributed some of the stained glass windows such as 'The Sower'. In 2013 gravestones were vandalised in the graveyard.

Holburn Head Lighthouse Holburn is a hamlet in the English county of Northumberland. Holburn is located between Lowick and Belford. Governance Holburn is in the parliamentary constituency of Berwick-upon-Tweed. See also *Holburn Lake and Moss ...

, within the parish territory, was completed in 1862 to a design by David & Thomas Stevenson and has since achieved Category B listed status. HolburnHead

The Swanson Gallery of Thurso hosts exhibitions throughout the year, and showcases glass art by Ian Pearson. The North Coast Visitor Centre also hosts exhibitions. Hotels of note include the 103-room Royal Hotel, Pentland Hotel, Waterside House, Murray House and the Category B listed Forss House Hotel, about 4 miles to the west of Thurso in a Georgian country mansion. At Sir John's Square is an ornamental garden and statue which was donated to the town by Sir Tollemache Sinclair in memory of his grandfather

Sir John Sinclair Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster, 1st Baronet, (10 May 1754 – 21 December 1835), was a British politician, a writer on both finance and agriculture, and was one of the first people to use the word ''statistics'' in the English language, in h ...

, a prominent local figure responsible for the "compilation of the First Statistical Account of Scotland and the pioneering of agricultural reforms in Caithness". A Category C listed fountain was built in 1894 by the son of Sir George Sinclair. Also of note is the wellhouse of Meadow Well at the junction of Traill Street and Manson's Lane, which was the primary water supply for Thurso for centuries. The current well, with a conical roof, was completed in 1823. The war memorial in Thurso dates from 1922 and was designed by

Percy Portsmouth Percival ("Percy") Herbert Portsmouth RSA FRSBS (1874–1953) was a 20th-century British sculptor. His most notable public work is Elgin War Memorial, and the similar War Memorial in Thurso. Life He was born in Reading, England, in 1874, the ...

Education

The main campus of North Highland College, formerly Thurso College, is one of several partner colleges which constitute the University of the Highlands & Islands. It offers several certificate, diploma and degree courses from subjects as diverse as Nuclear Decommissioning, Hairdressing, Gamekeeping and Golf Management. Adjacent to the UHI is Thurso High School, the most northerly secondary school on the British mainland, established in 1958. The town also has three primary schools, Pennyland, Miller Academy Primary and Mount Pleasant. Mount Pleasant Primary School has a

medium unit, part of a revival of the language in Caithness. According to the 2011 census, 110 residents of the town age three and over (1.43%) speak Gaelic while 181 overall (2.35%) have some facility with the language. A Gaelic language nursery school, Cròileagan Inbhir Theòrsa, was created in the town in 1996. North Coast Visitor Centre is a small museum that opened in 2021, following the closure of Caithness Horizons in 2019. The museum continues to host panels from the control room at the Dounreay Materials Testing Reactor (DMTR), which in 1958 had become Scotland's first operation nuclear reactor.

Sport

With its powerful swells, Thurso is a notable location for

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

and

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

, with international surfing championship events having regularly been held in the area. It attracts surfers from all over the world, and both the European Surfing Championships and Scottish Surf Kayaking Championships have been held in Caithness, with Thurso East being the main focus of activity. An annual raft race is organised by the North Coast Branch of Coastguard Association. The football team, Thurso FC (nicknamed "the Vikings"), was established in 1998 and plays in the

are a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club playing in the Scotland Rugby League Conference Division 1, while

are a

rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

club that participate in the Caledonia One. The local athletics club is Caithness Amateur Athletics Club (C.A.A.C.); hurdler Moira Mcbeath was a 1986 Commonwealth Games athlete. Thurso has the largest swimming club in the Highland area, Thurso Amateur Swimming Club (TASC), with over 250 members. Thurso Bowling Club is next door to the

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

supermarket. Also of note is Caithness Motocross Club, which stages races fortnightly during the summer on tracks around the county.

Transport

Thurso Station geograph-4040779-by-Ben-Brooksbank

Thurso railway station opened in 1874. It was the most northern station on the Sutherland and Caithness Railway. The station became part of the Highland Railway Company in the late 19th century before being absorbed into the

London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with LNER, GWR and SR. The London, Midland and Scottish Railway's corporate image used LMS, and this is what is generally u ...

in 1923. and it is now part of the Far North Line. The nearby port of Scrabster provides ferry services to the

. The A9 trunk road, which connects Thurso to

Inverness Inverness (; from the gd, Inbhir Nis , meaning "Mouth of the River Ness"; sco, Innerness) is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for The Highland Council and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands. Histori ...

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, the M90 motorway and the

Central Belt The Central Belt of Scotland is the area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in 2019), including Great ...

ends at the ferry terminal.

Stagecoach A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

run bus services from Thurso to Wick and John o' Groats, and a long-distance service to

Helmsdale Helmsdale ( sco, Helmsdal, gd, Bun Ilidh) is a village on the east coast of Sutherland, in the Highland (council area), Highland council area of Scotland. The modern village was planned in 1814 to resettle communities that had been removed from ...

and

Twin towns

Thurso is twinned with Brilon, Germany. Clive Campbell, Scout Leader at 2nd Thurso met Joachim Brill, Brilon Scout Leader at Gilwell Park in London in 1971. Brill brought his group to Thurso in 1972; a reciprocal visit to Brilon happened in 1973, when Campbell met Hans Witteler, another Brilon Leader with whom he formed a close friendship. Brill moved to Bielefeld shortly afterwards, but the close friendship between the Campbell and Witteler families as well as their respective Scout Groups continued, and in 1979 the towns were formally twinned. Scouts from Thurso and Brilon continue to meet regularly, and 2019 marks the 40th anniversary of the formal twinning with 60 German Scouts and 12 civic guests from Brilon visiting Thurso to mark the occasion.

Notable people

* Andrew Geddes Bain (1797–1864) — geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer. * Colin Birss (born 1964) — British judge. * David Orson Calder (1823–1884) — academician and pioneer settler in Utah. * John Charles "Jock" Campbell (1894–1942) — British Army officer, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

. * Martin Carr (born 1968) — writer and musician. *

Robert Dick Robert Dick (January 1811 – 24 December 1866), was a Scottish geologist and botanist. Life He was born at Tullibody, in Clackmannanshire. His father was an officer of excise in nearby Alloa. At the age of thirteen, after receiving a good e ...

(1811–1866) — geologist; lived in Thurso from 1830 until death. * John Finlaison (1783–1860) — civil servant and government actuary. * George Finlayson (1790–1823) — naturalist and traveler. * Bryan Gunn (born 1963) — professional football goalkeeper and manager. *

Robin Harper Robin Charles Moreton Harper, (born 4 August 1940) is a Scottish politician, who was a Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for the Lothians (Scottish Parliament electoral region), Lothians region (1999–2011). He was co-convener of the Scot ...

(born 1940) — politician. * William Henderson (1810–1872) — physician and homeopath. * Christina Keith (1889–1963), Scottish academic and author * Jock Macdonald (1897–1960) — Canadian painter and art educator. *

Gary Mackay-Steven Gary Sean Mackay-Steven (born 31 August 1990) is a Scottish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger for Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian. He will become a free ...

(born 1990) — professional football winger, currently playing for

Heart of Midlothian F.C. Heart of Midlothian Football Club, commonly known as Hearts, is a professional football club in Edinburgh, Scotland. The team competes in the Scottish Professional Football League. Hearts, the oldest and most successful football club in the S ...

Tommy McGee Tommy McGee (born 9 July 1979 in Thurso, Scotland) is a Scottish former rugby union footballer for Leeds Tykes. His usual position is at prop. McGee was released by Leeds in 2010 and later that year was appointed head coach of Wharfedale. He has ...

(born 1979) — Scottish rugby league and rugby union footballer. *

Anne McKevitt Anne McKevitt (born in 1967, in Caithness, Scotland) is a Scottish entrepreneur, TV personality, author and philanthropist. Early years Anne McKevitt was born in 1967 in Caithness, in northern Scotland. She spent her childhood in a poor area, ...

(born 1967) — entrepreneur, TV Personality, author and philanthropist. * Martin Rennie (born 1975) — professional football coach. * Sir William David Ross, (1877–1971) — moral philosopher, editor and translator of Aristotle. *

Arthur St. Clair Arthur St. Clair ( – August 31, 1818) was a Scottish-American soldier and politician. Born in Thurso, Scotland, he served in the British Army during the French and Indian War before settling in Pennsylvania, where he held local office. During ...

(1737–1818) — American Revolutionary War soldier and politician. * Sir William Alexander Smith (1854–1914) — founder of the

Boys Brigade The Boys' Brigade (BB) is an international interdenominational Christian youth organisation, conceived by the Scottish businessman Sir William Alexander Smith to combine drill and fun activities with Christian values. Following its inception ...

. *

Donald Swanson Chief Inspector Donald Sutherland Swanson (12 August 1848 - 24 November 1924) was born at Geise, where his father operated a distillery, before the family moved in 1851 to Thurso, and was a senior police officer in the Metropolitan Police in Lond ...

(1848–1924) — senior police officer in the Metropolitan Police during the Jack the Ripper murders. *Rev Walter Ross Taylor (1805–1896) Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland in 1884 and his son Rev

Walter Ross Taylor (1838–1907) Walter Ross Taylor (1838–1907) was a Scottish minister of the Free Church of Scotland who served as Moderator of the General Assembly in the critical year of Union in 1900. From 1900 he led the United Free Church of Scotland with its Modera ...

Moderator in 1900

References

Notes

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

External links

*
Guide to Thurso
at Travelscotland.co.uk {{Authority control Populated places in Caithness Towns in Highland (council area) Ports and harbours of Scotland Viking Age populated places Orkneyinga saga places Port cities and towns in Scotland Parishes in Caithness Populated coastal places in Scotland