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
Highland ( gd, A' Ghàidhealtachd, ; sco, Hieland) is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the 2011 census. It share ...
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 latitudal 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 This is a list of roads designated A9.
* A009 road (Argentina), a road in the northeast of Santa Fe Province
* ''A9 highway (Australia)'' may refer to :
** A9 (Sydney), a road linking Windsor and Campbelltown
** A9 highway (South Australia), a l ...
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 m ...
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
William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred t ...
in the Gothic style.
The town contains the main campus of
North Highland College
North Highland College provides further education and higher education in the north of Scotland through a network of learning centres and by distance learning. It is a constituent college of the University of the Highlands and Islands.
History ...
and
Thurso High School
Thurso High School in Thurso, 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 Suthe ...
, the northernmost secondary school on the British mainland, which was established in 1958.
Thurso Castle
Thurso Castle (alternatively, Castrum De Thorsa, Castle of Ormly, and Castle of Ormlie) is a ruined 19th-century castle, located in Thurso, Caithness, in the Scottish Highlands. Situated in Thurso East, off Castletown Road, east of the River Thur ...
, 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
Thurso Football Club are a senior football club from Thurso in Caithness, Scotland. They play in the North Caledonian Football League and are based at Sir George's Park.
History
The current club was formed in 1998, although there was a pre ...
, established in 1998, who play in the
North Caledonian League, and the rugby teams
Caithness Crushers and
Caithness RFC.
Thurso railway station
, symbol_location = gb
, symbol = rail
, image = 158701 Thurso.jpg
, caption = 158701 departing Thurso bound for
, borough = Thurso, Highland
, country = Scotland
, coor ...
, opened in 1874, was the most northern station on the
Sutherland and Caithness Railway
The Sutherland and Caithness Railway was a Scottish railway company that built a line from Helmsdale, the terminus of the Duke of Sutherland's Railway to Wick and Thurso in Caithness, giving the northern towns access to Inverness. It was driven ...
. The nearby port of
Scrabster
Scrabster ( sco, Scraibster, gd, Sgrabastair/Sgrabstal) is a small settlement on Thurso Bay in Caithness on the north coast of Scotland. It is some from Thurso, from Wick, from Inverness and 271.7 miles (437.2 km) from Edinburgh. Scra ...
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
Dunnet Head ( gd, Ceann Dùnaid) is a peninsula in Caithness, on the north coast of Scotland. Dunnet Head includes the most northerly point of both mainland Scotland and the island of Great Britain.
Geography
The point, also known as Easter ...
was standing for "bull fort" and the name of the town name may have its roots there. Norse influence altered its name to , then , 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 rule in
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 ...
, 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
David II (5 March 1324 – 22 February 1371) was King of Scots from 1329 until his death in 1371. Upon the death of his father, Robert the Bruce, David succeeded to the throne at the age of five, and was crowned at Scone in November 1331, becom ...
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,
a combination
poorhouse
A poorhouse or workhouse is a government-run (usually by a county or municipality) facility to support and provide housing for the dependent or needy.
Workhouses
In England, Wales and Ireland (but not in Scotland), ‘workhouse’ has been the ...
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
Canisbay is a rural hamlet located about southwest of Huna and southwest of John o' Groats in Caithness, Scottish Highlands, and is in the Scottish council area of Highland. It lies on the A836 coast road, which bypasses the hamlet to the n ...
,
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
Olrig is a parish in Caithness, Scotland. The main settlement in the parish is Castletown. Prior to the 19th century, the parish was sub-divided into ten townlands or "fermlands". Townland boundaries were mostly disregarded and lost during the a ...
,
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 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
''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...
. 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 ...
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 ...
was merged into the
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 ...
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 Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which created the current local government structure of 32 unitary authorities covering the whole of Scotland.
It abolished the two-tie ...
, 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
ward
Ward may refer to:
Division or unit
* Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward
* Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a pris ...
s, 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), Cllr Ron Gunn
(Scottish Liberal Democrats) 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
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...
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
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 ...
. It is situated at the northern terminus of the
A9 road This is a list of roads designated A9.
* A009 road (Argentina), a road in the northeast of Santa Fe Province
* ''A9 highway (Australia)'' may refer to :
** A9 (Sydney), a road linking Windsor and Campbelltown
** A9 highway (South Australia), a l ...
, the main road linking
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 ...
with the south of Scotland, and is west of
John o' Groats and northwest 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 placenames ...
, the closest town.
Thurso railway station
, symbol_location = gb
, symbol = rail
, image = 158701 Thurso.jpg
, caption = 158701 departing Thurso bound for
, borough = Thurso, Highland
, country = Scotland
, coor ...
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
Olrig is a parish in Caithness, Scotland. The main settlement in the parish is Castletown. Prior to the 19th century, the parish was sub-divided into ten townlands or "fermlands". Townland boundaries were mostly disregarded and lost during the a ...
and
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 ...
to the east,
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 ...
to the south, and
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 ...
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
Dunnet Head ( gd, Ceann Dùnaid) is a peninsula in Caithness, on the north coast of Scotland. Dunnet Head includes the most northerly point of both mainland Scotland and the island of Great Britain.
Geography
The point, also known as Easter ...
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
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 ...
, reputable for its salmon fishing, 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 m ...
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. 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 tw ...
and the towering
Old Man of Hoy
The Old Man of Hoy is a sea stack on Hoy, part of the Orkney archipelago off the north coast of Scotland. Formed from Old Red Sandstone, it is one of the tallest stacks in the United Kingdom. The Old Man is popular with climbers, and was first c ...
(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 Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Bernd Köppen (born 1951), German pianist and composer
* Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan
* Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author and ...
''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 temperatures 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
Scrabster ( sco, Scraibster, gd, Sgrabastair/Sgrabstal) is a small settlement on Thurso Bay in Caithness on the north coast of Scotland. It is some from Thurso, from Wick, from Inverness and 271.7 miles (437.2 km) from Edinburgh. Scra ...
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
MV ''Hamnavoe'' is a car and passenger ferry, built in 2002 and operated by NorthLink Ferries across the Pentland Firth from the mainland of Scotland to the Orkney Islands.
Description
The ship, with a length of and beam , measures . ''Hamna ...
'', 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
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 ...
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 ...
, Caithness Horizons, 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
This is a list of Category A listed buildings in Scotland, which are among the listed buildings of the United Kingdom.
For a fuller list, see the pages linked on List of listed buildings in Scotland.
Key
The organization of the lists in th ...
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
William Burn (20 December 1789 – 15 February 1870) was a Scottish architect. He received major commissions from the age of 20 until his death at 81. He built in many styles and was a pioneer of the Scottish Baronial Revival,often referred t ...
in the Gothic style with buttressed walls and a square tower. The pipe organ was added by
Norman & Beard in 1914, and in 1922
Oscar Paterson contributed some of the stained glass windows such as 'The Sower'. In 2013 gravestones were vandalised in the graveyard.
Holburn Head Lighthouse, within the parish territory, was completed in 1862 to a design by David & Thomas Stevenson and has since achieved Category B listed status.
The Swanson Gallery of Thurso hosts exhibitions throughout the year, and showcases glass art by
Ian Pearson
Ian Phares Pearson (born 5 April 1959) is a British Labour Party politician who was a member of parliament (MP) from 1994 until 2010, representing Dudley West from 1994 until 1997, and then Dudley South from 1997 until his retirement from th ...
. The Caithness Horizons building contains a museum and 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
North Highland College provides further education and higher education in the north of Scotland through a network of learning centres and by distance learning. It is a constituent college of the University of the Highlands and Islands.
History ...
, 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
Thurso High School in Thurso, 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 Suthe ...
, 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
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 ...
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.
Caithness Horizons is a small museum that opened in 2008. The museum now houses 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
Thurso Football Club are a senior football club from Thurso in Caithness, Scotland. They play in the North Caledonian Football League and are based at Sir George's Park.
History
The current club was formed in 1998, although there was a pre ...
(nicknamed "the Vikings"), was established in 1998 and plays in the
North Caledonian League.
Caithness Crushers 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
The Scotland Rugby League is the governing body for rugby league football in Scotland. It administers the Scotland national rugby league teams.
The Scotland Division of the Rugby League Conference serves as the domestic competition. It was fo ...
Conference Division 1, while
Caithness RFC 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 railway station
, symbol_location = gb
, symbol = rail
, image = 158701 Thurso.jpg
, caption = 158701 departing Thurso bound for
, borough = Thurso, Highland
, country = Scotland
, coor ...
opened in 1874. It was the most northern station on the
Sutherland and Caithness Railway
The Sutherland and Caithness Railway was a Scottish railway company that built a line from Helmsdale, the terminus of the Duke of Sutherland's Railway to Wick and Thurso in Caithness, giving the northern towns access to Inverness. It was driven ...
. 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 Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick. As the name suggests, it is the northernmost railway in the United Kingdom. The line is entirely single-trac ...
.
The nearby port of
Scrabster
Scrabster ( sco, Scraibster, gd, Sgrabastair/Sgrabstal) is a small settlement on Thurso Bay in Caithness on the north coast of Scotland. It is some from Thurso, from Wick, from Inverness and 271.7 miles (437.2 km) from Edinburgh. Scra ...
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
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
The M90 is a motorway in Scotland. It runs from Junction 1A of the M9 motorway, south of the Queensferry Crossing, to Perth. It is the northernmost motorway in the United Kingdom. The northern point goes to the western suburbs of Perth at ...
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
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 placenames ...
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
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 ...
.
Twin towns
Thurso is twinned with
Brilon
Brilon (; Westphalian: ''Brailen'') is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, central Germany, that belongs to the Hochsauerlandkreis.
Geography
Brilon is situated on the Brilon Heights at an altitude of about 450 m on the upper reaches of the r ...
, 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
Andrew Geddes Bain (baptised 11 June 1797 – 20 October 1864), was a South African geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer.
Life history
The only child of Alexander Bain and Jean Geddes, both of whom died when Bain was still a ...
(1797–1864) — geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer.
*
Colin Birss
Sir Colin Ian Birss (born 28 January 1964 in Thurso) is a judge of the Court of Appeal of England and Wales.
Career
Birss attended Largs Academy and then Lancaster Royal Grammar School. He graduated from Downing College, Cambridge in 1986 with ...
(born 1964) — British judge.
*
David Orson Calder (1823–1884) — academician and pioneer settler in Utah.
*
John Charles "Jock" Campbell (VC) (1894–1942) — British Army officer.
*
Martin Carr
Martin Carr (born 29 November 1968) is an English musician and writer who was the chief songwriter and lead guitarist with the band The Boo Radleys. Born in Thurso, Scotland, he was raised in Wallasey, England.
Life and career
Carr was born i ...
(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 ...
(1811–1866) — geologist; lived in Thurso from 1830 until death.
*
John Finlaison (1783–1860) — civil servant and government actuary.
*
George Finlayson
George Finlayson (1790–1823) was a Scottish naturalist and traveller. He was called one of the best naturalists of his day, and he was noted for his pioneering studies of the plants, animals, and people of southern Thailand and the Malay penin ...
(1790–1823) — naturalist and traveler.
*
Bryan Gunn
Bryan James Gunn (born 22 December 1963) is a Scottish former professional goalkeeper and football manager. After learning his trade with Aberdeen in the early 1980s, he spent most of his playing career at Norwich City, the club with which h ...
(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
James Williamson Galloway Macdonald (31 May 1897 – 3 December 1960), commonly known in his professional life as Jock Macdonald, was a member of Painters Eleven (Painters 11, or P11), whose goal was to promote abstract art in Canada. Macdo ...
(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 (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, KBE (1877–1971) — moral philosopher, editor and translator of Aristotle.
*
Arthur St. Clair (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.
*Very Rev
Walter Ross Taylor (1805–1896) Moderator of the Free Church of Scotland in 1884 and his son Very Rev
Walter Ross Taylor (1838–1907) Moderator in 1900
References
Notes
Citations
Sources
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External links
*
Guide to Thursoat 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