Watten () is a small village in
Caithness
Caithness (; ; ) is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area of Scotland.
There are two towns, being Wick, Caithness, Wick, which was the county town, and Thurso. The count ...
, in the
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...
area of Scotland, on the main
road
A road is a thoroughfare used primarily for movement of traffic. Roads differ from streets, whose primary use is local access. They also differ from stroads, which combine the features of streets and roads. Most modern roads are paved.
Th ...
(
A882-
A9) between the
burgh
A burgh ( ) is an Autonomy, autonomous municipal corporation in Scotland, usually a city, town, or toun in Scots language, Scots. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when David I of Scotland, King David I created ...
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 ...
and the
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
of
Thurso
Thurso (pronounced ; , ) 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 Britain. From a latitudinal s ...
, about twelve kilometres (eight miles) west of Wick and close to
Wick River and to
Loch Watten. The village is on The
Far North railway line but trains stopped calling at the village in 1960.
The railway station is now a private house.
The village is within the parish of Watten, which has the parish of
Bower to the north, that of Wick to the east, that of
Latheron to the south and that of
Halkirk to the west.
Loch Watten is the largest body of water in Caithness. The name of the village and loch appear to come from the
Old Norse
Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
''Vatn'', meaning water or lake, and the loch is famous for its
brown trout
The brown trout (''Salmo trutta'') is a species of salmonid ray-finned fish and the most widely distributed species of the genus ''Salmo'', endemic to most of Europe, West Asia and parts of North Africa, and has been widely introduced globally ...
fishing. The local
public house
A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption Licensing laws of the United Kingdom#On-licence, on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the ...
is also named "The Brown Trout" after the local produce.
Prisoner of war camp
A military camp was built in Watten during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, in early 1943, and at the end of the war this became
POW
POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict.
POW or pow may also refer to:
Music
* P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...
Camp 165. This had been described as "Britain's most secretive prisoner of war camp" because many prominent
Nazis
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
were moved there from
POW Camp 21 at
Comrie Comrie may refer to:
Places
*Comrie (crater), a lunar crater
*Comrie, Fife, a village in Fife, Scotland
*Comrie, Perth and Kinross, a village and parish in Strathearn, Scotland
People with the surname
*Aaron Comrie (born 1997), Scottish footba ...
in
Perthshire
Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...
.
New book provides insight into Watten POW camp, John O'Groat Journal 14 December 2007
/ref> These prisoners included Gunter d'Alquen, Himmler's chief propagandist, leading U-boat
U-boats are Submarine#Military, naval submarines operated by Germany, including during the World War I, First and Second World Wars. The term is an Anglicization#Loanwords, anglicized form of the German word , a shortening of (), though the G ...
captain Otto Kretschmer, dubbed the "Wolf of the Atlantic", and SS-Sturmbannführer
__NOTOC__
''Sturmbannführer'' (; ) was a Nazi Party paramilitary rank equivalent to Major (rank), major that was used in several Nazi organizations, such as the Sturmabteilung, SA, Schutzstaffel, SS, and the National Socialist Flyers Corps, NSFK ...
Max Wünsche
__NOTOC__
Max Wünsche (20 April 1914 – 17 April 1995) was a member of the of Nazi Germany and a regimental commander during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves.
Biography
Max Wünsche was ...
. The camp closed in 1948.
Notable people
Watten was the birthplace of Alexander Bain, inventor of a type of pendulum-regulated electric clock and the fax machine. Bain is commemorated by a carved stone monument outside the village hall. The fax machine is referred to on this monument as "The Electric Printing Telegraph".
References
External links
{{commons category-inline
Populated places in Caithness
World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Scotland
Parishes in Caithness