Nairn (district)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The County of Nairn (also called Nairnshire) ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Narann) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county was used for local administration until the county council, based at 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
Nairn Nairn (; gd, Inbhir Narann) is a town and royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nairn enters the Moray Firth. It is the tradit ...
, was abolished 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 area becoming one of the eight districts 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. This arrangement ended in 1996 when the Highland council area was made a unitary authority. The county borders Inverness-shire to the west and south,
Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...
to the east, and has a coastline along the
Moray Firth The Moray Firth (; Scottish Gaelic: ''An Cuan Moireach'', ''Linne Mhoireibh'' or ''Caolas Mhoireibh'') is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotl ...
to its north.


Geography

Nairnshire is about 22 miles in length and 15 miles in breadth (35×24 km); comprising an area of , or 128,000 acres.''Nairnshire'', in ''A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland'' by Samuel Lewis (1846), pp. 298-309, accessed 2 March 2008
/ref> The county consists of a flattish coastal region where the vast majority of the population live, with a sparsely populated hilly interior, rising to the foothills of the Grampian Mountains in the south. These moorlands reach at , on the county march (boundary) just east of summit on the A9. There is no old-established name for these heights, but they have been termed the "Nairnshire Hills". The coast forms an arc shape, with the
Whiteness Head Whiteness may refer to: * Dental shade scale of teeth * Light skin * Whiteness (colorimetry), the degree to which a surface is white * Whiteness, Shetland, a place in Scotland * Conceptual studies of "Unified Cultural Identity of White People" (Whi ...
peninsula in the west and The Bar peninsula in the east. The main rivers are the
River Nairn The River Nairn ( gd, Narann / Abhainn Narann) is a 35 mile long river in the Scottish Highlands. Etymology The hydronym ''Nairn'' is Pictish in origin. The name may involve ''*Naverna'', of which the ultimate genesis is the Celtic root ''*(s) ...
and the Findhorn, which both follow deeply incised courses across the general slope northwards. The chief bodies of water are
Loch Loy ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spelling ...
,
Cran Loch Cran may refer to: * C-RAN, cellular network architecture *CRAN (R programming language) *Cran (unit), of uncleaned herring *Representative Council of France's Black Associations Surname *Chris Cran (born 1949), a Canadian painter *James Cran (bor ...
,
Clunas Reservoir Clunas is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Charles Clunas (1894–1916), Scottish footballer * Craig Clunas (born 1954), Scottish art historian * Gordon Clunas, Australian rugby player * William Clunas William McLean Clunas ...
,
Loch of Boath ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spel ...
and
Loch Kirkcaldy ''Loch'' () is the Scottish Gaelic, Scots and Irish word for a lake or sea inlet. It is cognate with the Manx lough, Cornish logh, and one of the Welsh words for lake, llwch. In English English and Hiberno-English, the anglicised spelling ...
. Nairn can be seen from several distant points such as Ben Rinnes, a peak that is a common point of distant view to such places as Inverness-shire and Longman Hill in
Banffshire Banffshire ; sco, Coontie o Banffshire; gd, Siorrachd Bhanbh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray ...
. To the north, Nairn is bounded by the
Moray Firth The Moray Firth (; Scottish Gaelic: ''An Cuan Moireach'', ''Linne Mhoireibh'' or ''Caolas Mhoireibh'') is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of north of Scotl ...
.


Functions

Nairn ( gd, Inbhir Narann) is a land registration county."Land Register Counties"
. Registers of Scotland. Retrieved 27 July 2013.
Nairn is a lieutenancy area, defined as the district of Nairn as abolished as a local government area under the
Local Government (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-tier st ...
. Since 1996 it has had no formal meaning in terms of local government.


Local Government


19th century

Until 1891 Nairnshire had a number of
exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...
s in other counties, the most considerable of which was situated some distance away from the bulk of the county of Nairn, in the
county of Inverness Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populati ...
. Another sizable portion existed in the County of Ross, around the village of Urquhart, on the Black Isle. Other, smaller, detached parts existed in the
County of Moray Moray; ( gd, Moireibh ) or Morayshire, called Elginshire until 1919, is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland, bordering Nairnshire to the west, Inverness-shire to the south, and Banffshire to the east. It w ...
. Under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889, these detached parts became part of their host territories. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 established a uniform system of county councils in Scotland and realigned the boundaries of many of Scotland's counties. Subsequently, Nairn County Council was created in 1890. The new county council was based at
Nairn Town and County Buildings Nairn Town and County Buildings is a municipal structure in the High Street, Nairn, Highland, Scotland. The structure, which is used as a service point for The Highland Council, is a Category B listed building. History The first municipal buil ...
. However, Nairn County Council amalgamated with Moray County Council for almost all aspects of administration in 1930.


20th century

In 1927 Nairnshire, along with many of Scotland's other counties, matriculated a coat of arms by the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the governor of Scotland's heraldry. The arms was as follows: ''Or, a chevron gules, between two water-bougets in chief and a stag's head cabossed in base sable, three mullets argent.'' The motto was ''UNITE AND BE MINDFUL''. 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 council was superseded and the area (including the
burgh of Nairn Nairn (; gd, Inbhir Narann) is a town and royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nairn enters the Moray Firth. It is the tradit ...
) became, without change of boundaries, a council 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. Local government council functions were divided between the regional council and the district council. For example, education was a regional responsibility, and housing was a district responsibility. In 1996, under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, the local government council district was merged into the unitary Highland council area. The new unitary
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 ...
adopted the areas of the former council districts as management areas. Each management area was represented, initially, by area committees consisting of councillors elected from areas (groups of local government wards) corresponding to the management areas, but changes to ward boundaries in 1999 created a mismatch between committee areas and management areas.


21st century

In 2007, following further changes to ward boundaries, the Local Government council created a new management structure, with three new corporate management areas and 16 new ward-level management areas. Therefore, Nairn is now both one of the 22 wards of the Highland council area and one of the Highland Council's 16 ward-level management areas. The Nairn ward elects four of the council's 80 members by the
single transferable vote system 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 ...
of election, which is designed to produce a form of proportional representation. The ward is on the boundary between the Highland council area and the
Moray Moray () gd, Moireibh or ') is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Between 1975 ...
council area, which lies to the east. Within the Highland area there is the Badenoch and Strathspey ward and the Inverness South ward to the south, and the Culloden and Ardersier ward to the west. The Nairn ward is one of nine within the Highland Council's Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey corporate area, and the Nairn management area is one of six ward-level management areas within the corporate area. There is significant difference between the boundaries of the new Nairn management area and those of the area abolished in 2007. The new area is smaller, part of the old area being now within the Culloden and Ardersier ward-level area and within Inverness city ward-level area 4.


Civil parishes

Civil parishes are still used for some statistical purposes, and separate census figures are published for them. As their areas have been largely unchanged since the 19th century this allows for comparison of population figures over an extended period of time. The county consisted of the royal burgh of
Nairn Nairn (; gd, Inbhir Narann) is a town and royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nairn enters the Moray Firth. It is the tradit ...
(chartered in 1476), the four parishes of Ardclach, Auldearn, Dyke & Moy and Nairn; and most of the parish of Cawdor (also known as Calder), and parts of those of: Croy & Dalcross;
Moy Moy may refer to: Places * Loch Moy, a loch south of Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland ** Moy, Highland, a village beside Loch Moy ** Moy Hall Moy Hall near the village of Moy, south of Inverness, is the home of the chiefs of the Clan M ...
& Dalarossie; Petty; and Urquhart & Logie Wester."Calder Parish: Clunas 1782"
Am Baile. Retrieved 27 July 2013.


Parliamentary constituencies

The parliamentary constituency for the Westminster Parliament is Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey and the MP is Drew Hendry of the Scottish National Party. The parliamentary constituency for the
Scottish Parliament The Scottish Parliament ( gd, Pàrlamaid na h-Alba ; sco, Scots Pairlament) is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Scotland. Located in the Holyrood area of the capital city, Edinburgh, it is frequently referred to by the metonym Holyro ...
is Inverness and Nairn, represented by Fergus Ewing MSP.


Transport

The Aberdeen–Inverness railway line runs through the north of the county west–east.


Settlements

* Ardclach * Auldearn * Cawdor *
Clephanton Clephanton is a small hamlet 2 miles south-east from Ardersier and 7 miles south-west of Nairn in Inverness-shire, Scottish Highlands. It is in the Scottish council area of Highland. Some notable features near the settlement include the Kilravoc ...
*
Culcharry Culcharry is a small residential settlement, close to the village of Cawdor and the hamlet of Brackla, lying 4 miles southwest of Nairn, in Nairnshire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland Highlands or uplands ...
* Delnies *
Ferness Ferness ( gd, Feàrnais) is a settlement and rural area in Strathdearn, in the council area of Highland. The settlement is situated in a forested area of the valley of the River Findhorn at the crossroads of the A939 Nairn– Grantown-on-S ...
* Firhall * Geddes * Glenferness *
Littlemill Littlemill is a village located close to Nairn in Nairnshire, Scottish Highlands 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 ...
*
Nairn Nairn (; gd, Inbhir Narann) is a town and royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It is an ancient fishing port and market town around east of Inverness, at the point where the River Nairn enters the Moray Firth. It is the tradit ...
*
Piperhill Piperhill is a village, located four miles south of Nairn in Nairnshire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous pl ...
*
Regoul Regoul is a small rural hamlet, located 4.5 miles south of Nairn, in Nairnshire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mount ...


Notes and references

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nairn (Boundaries) Former counties of Scotland Lieutenancy areas of Scotland Counties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922)