Weydale () is a remote scattered crofting settlement, lying 3 miles southeast of

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

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 ...

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 ...

and is in the Scottish council area of

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 ...

Features

Despite a sparse population Weydale covers a large area of the farming land south-east of Thurso, which is mainly used for grazing of livestock. Within the area are four former flagstone quarries, which despite no longer producing the stones are now noted for the excellent preservation of the

fossil fish The evolution of fish began about 530 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion. It was during this time that the early chordates developed the skull and the vertebral column, leading to the first craniates and vertebrates. The first fish ...

Osteolepis ''Osteolepis'' (from el, ὀστέον 'bone' and el, λεπίς 'scale') is an extinct genus of lobe-finned fish from the Devonian period. It lived in the Lake Orcadie of northern Scotland. ''Osteolepis'' was about long, and covered with ...

''. Weydale was previously served by a small primary school, which was created more for a local gypsy settlement, who, up until the early 1900s, were banned from entering Thurso and settled in the area. The former school and the quarries are part of a number of sites and buildings within Weydale that hold some historical significance, however a more modern bungalow, "Stoneybank", made the news when originally built as at that time its west-facing side contained Britain's largest single-pane window. The window has since been removed. The area did make the news again in the late 1990s when the Bomb Disposal Unit undertook a controlled explosion at Bulliemore Farm, following the find of a World War II weapons and explosives store left over by the Auxiliary Unit which trained in the area.

References

Populated places in Caithness {{Highland-geo-stub