Cromarty
Encyclopedia
The Royal Burgh
of Cromarty ˈkrɒmərti (Cromba in Gaelic) is a burgh
in Ross and Cromarty
, Highland
, Scotland
.
of the former county
of Cromartyshire
. The burgh is a seaport on the southern shore of the mouth of Cromarty Firth
, 5 miles from Invergordon
on the opposite coast.
The name Cromarty variously derives from the Gaelic crom (crooked), and from bati (bay), or from àrd (height), meaning either the "crooked bay", or the "bend between the heights" (referring to the high rocks, or Sutors, which guard the entrance to the Firth
), and gave the title to the earldom of Cromarty. Its name in 1264 was Crumbathyn.
The town grew around its port, formerly used by ferries
, to export locally-grown hemp fibre, and by trawlers trawling for herring
s. The port was a British naval base during the First World War and HMS Natal
blew up close by on 30 December 1915 with heavy loss of life.
The port was home to the UK
's smallest vehicle ferry, running across the Firth to Nigg
(home to a large facility formerly used for the manufacture and maintenance of oil platform
s and an oil terminal connected to the Beatrice oilfield). It runs from June to October, from roughly 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. The vessel was called the Cromarty Rose
, it was sold in 2009 and replaced for the 2011 season by a new 4 car ferry called the Cromarty Queen.
Cromarty is architecturally important for its Georgian merchant houses that stand within a townscape of Georgian
and Victorian
fisherman's cottage
s in the local vernacular
style. It is an outstanding example of a 18th/19th century burgh 'the jewel in the crown of Scottish Vernacular Architecture'. The thatched house with crow-stepped gables in Church Street, in which the geologist
Hugh Miller
was born (in 1801), still stands, and a statue has been erected to his memory. To the east of the burgh is Cromarty House, occupying the site of the old castle of the earls of Ross. It was the birthplace of Sir Thomas Urquhart
, the translator of Rabelais.
The burgh is also noted as a base for viewing the local offshore sea life. These include one of the most northerly groups of bottlenose dolphins. Cromarty along with Chanonry Point
just round the coast is one of the best places in Europe to see these animals close to the shore. The University of Aberdeen
Department of Zoology Lighthouse Field Station is based in Cromarty.
Cromarty gives its name to one of the sea areas of the British Shipping Forecast
.
The small community is also known for being a hub of creative activity including a promoting group, several arts venues and hosts its own Film Festival each December. The Cromarty "Favourite" Film Festival is small but perfectly formed and has won the hearts of many over the years. Guests of the 2008 festival included Kirsty Wark
& Alan Clements, Donald Shaw
and Karen Matheson
, Janice Forsyth, David Mackenzie
and Michael Caton-Jones
. Each guest selected five of their favourite films, one of which was shown during the weekend. In addition to the Favourite Films, there is an outdoor screening on a Gable End, Gaelic Short films, Animation workshop, photographic exhibition and late night Pizza and Film screenings. All crammed into one weekend in a small town in the Highlands.
, Dornoch
, Kirkwall
, Tain and Wick
in the Wick Burghs
constituency
of the House of Commons
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
. Known also as Northern Burghs, the constituency was a district of burghs. It was represented by one Member of Parliament
. In 1918 the constituency was abolished and the Cromarty component was merged into the county constituency of Ross and Cromarty
.
Royal burgh
A royal burgh was a type of Scottish burgh which had been founded by, or subsequently granted, a royal charter. Although abolished in 1975, the term is still used in many of the former burghs....
of Cromarty ˈkrɒmərti (Cromba in Gaelic) is a burgh
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
in Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use...
, Highland
Highland (council area)
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
History
It was previously the county townCounty town
A county town is a county's administrative centre in the United Kingdom or Ireland. County towns are usually the location of administrative or judicial functions, or established over time as the de facto main town of a county. The concept of a county town eventually became detached from its...
of the former county
Counties of Scotland
The counties of Scotland were the principal local government divisions of Scotland until 1975. Scotland's current lieutenancy areas and registration counties are largely based on them. They are often referred to as historic counties....
of Cromartyshire
Cromartyshire
Cromartyshire was a county in the Highlands of Scotland, consisting of a main portion between Sutherland and Ross-shire and a series of exclaves within Ross-shire. Ross-shire and Cromartyshire were combined as the single county of Ross and Cromarty by the Local Government Act 1889, and this...
. The burgh is a seaport on the southern shore of the mouth of Cromarty Firth
Cromarty Firth
The Cromarty Firth of Cromarty') is an arm of the North Sea in Scotland. It is the middle of the three sea lochs at the head of the Moray Firth: to the north lies the Dornoch Firth, and to the south the Beauly Firth....
, 5 miles from Invergordon
Invergordon
Invergordon is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.-History:The town is well known for the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. More recently it was also known for the repair of oil rigs which used to be lined up in the Cromarty Firth on which the town is situated...
on the opposite coast.
The name Cromarty variously derives from the Gaelic crom (crooked), and from bati (bay), or from àrd (height), meaning either the "crooked bay", or the "bend between the heights" (referring to the high rocks, or Sutors, which guard the entrance to the Firth
Firth
Firth is the word in the Lowland Scots language and in English used to denote various coastal waters in Scotland and England. In mainland Scotland it is used to describe a large sea bay, or even a strait. In the Northern Isles it more usually refers to a smaller inlet...
), and gave the title to the earldom of Cromarty. Its name in 1264 was Crumbathyn.
The town grew around its port, formerly used by ferries
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
, to export locally-grown hemp fibre, and by trawlers trawling for herring
Herring
Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...
s. The port was a British naval base during the First World War and HMS Natal
HMS Natal (1905)
HMS Natal was a Duke of Edinburgh-class armoured cruiser built for the Royal Navy in the mid-1900s. She escorted the royal yacht in 1911–1912 for the newly-crowned King George V's trip to India to attend the Delhi Durbar. During World War I the ship was assigned to the 2nd Cruiser Squadron of the...
blew up close by on 30 December 1915 with heavy loss of life.
The port was home to the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's smallest vehicle ferry, running across the Firth to Nigg
Nigg, Highland
Nigg is a village and parish on the north east shore of Nigg Bay in north east Ross-shire and is in the Scottish council area of Highland...
(home to a large facility formerly used for the manufacture and maintenance of oil platform
Oil platform
An oil platform, also referred to as an offshore platform or, somewhat incorrectly, oil rig, is a lаrge structure with facilities to drill wells, to extract and process oil and natural gas, and to temporarily store product until it can be brought to shore for refining and marketing...
s and an oil terminal connected to the Beatrice oilfield). It runs from June to October, from roughly 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. The vessel was called the Cromarty Rose
Cromarty Rose
MV Cromarty Rose a small vehicle ferry operating a summer service across the Cromarty Firth.-History:MV Cromarty Rose is the smallest car ferry in the UK, and the only ferry serving the Black Isle, crossing the Cromarty Firth between Nigg and Cromarty...
, it was sold in 2009 and replaced for the 2011 season by a new 4 car ferry called the Cromarty Queen.
Cromarty is architecturally important for its Georgian merchant houses that stand within a townscape of Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
and Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
fisherman's cottage
Cottage
__toc__In modern usage, a cottage is usually a modest, often cozy dwelling, typically in a rural or semi-rural location. However there are cottage-style dwellings in cities, and in places such as Canada the term exists with no connotations of size at all...
s in the local vernacular
Vernacular
A vernacular is the native language or native dialect of a specific population, as opposed to a language of wider communication that is not native to the population, such as a national language or lingua franca.- Etymology :The term is not a recent one...
style. It is an outstanding example of a 18th/19th century burgh 'the jewel in the crown of Scottish Vernacular Architecture'. The thatched house with crow-stepped gables in Church Street, in which the geologist
Geologist
A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...
Hugh Miller
Hugh Miller
Hugh Miller was a self-taught Scottish geologist and writer, folklorist and an evangelical Christian.- Life and work :Born in Cromarty, he was educated in a parish school where he reportedly showed a love of reading. At 17 he was apprenticed to a stonemason, and his work in quarries, together with...
was born (in 1801), still stands, and a statue has been erected to his memory. To the east of the burgh is Cromarty House, occupying the site of the old castle of the earls of Ross. It was the birthplace of Sir Thomas Urquhart
Thomas Urquhart
Sir Thomas Urquhart of Cromarty was a Scottish writer and translator, most famous for his translation of Rabelais.-Life:...
, the translator of Rabelais.
The burgh is also noted as a base for viewing the local offshore sea life. These include one of the most northerly groups of bottlenose dolphins. Cromarty along with Chanonry Point
Chanonry Point
Chanonry Point lies at the end of Chanonry Ness, a spit of land extending into the Moray Firth between Fortrose and Rosemarkie on the Black Isle, Scotland....
just round the coast is one of the best places in Europe to see these animals close to the shore. The University of Aberdeen
University of Aberdeen
The University of Aberdeen, an ancient university founded in 1495, in Aberdeen, Scotland, is a British university. It is the third oldest university in Scotland, and the fifth oldest in the United Kingdom and wider English-speaking world...
Department of Zoology Lighthouse Field Station is based in Cromarty.
Cromarty gives its name to one of the sea areas of the British Shipping Forecast
Shipping Forecast
The Shipping Forecast is a four-times-daily BBC Radio broadcast of weather reports and forecasts for the seas around the coasts of the British Isles. It is produced by the Met Office and broadcast by BBC Radio 4 on behalf of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency. The forecasts sent over the Navtex...
.
The small community is also known for being a hub of creative activity including a promoting group, several arts venues and hosts its own Film Festival each December. The Cromarty "Favourite" Film Festival is small but perfectly formed and has won the hearts of many over the years. Guests of the 2008 festival included Kirsty Wark
Kirsty Wark
Kirsteen Anne Wark is a British journalist and television presenter best known for fronting the BBC Two's news and current affairs programme Newsnight since 1993, and its weekly arts annexe Newsnight Review which is now relaunched as "The Review Show".-Biography:Wark was born in Dumfries to Jimmy...
& Alan Clements, Donald Shaw
Donald Shaw
Donald Shaw may refer to:* Donald Shaw , professor and critic of Latin American literature* Donald Shaw , keyboard and accordion player for Capercaillie, a Scottish folk music group* Don Shaw , American baseball player...
and Karen Matheson
Karen Matheson
Karen Matheson OBE is a Scottish folk singer, who frequently sings in Scottish Gaelic. She is lead singer of the group Capercaillie and was a member of Dan Ar Braz's group L'Heritage des Celtes, with whom she often sang lead vocals, either alone or jointly with Elaine Morgan...
, Janice Forsyth, David Mackenzie
David Mackenzie (director)
David Mackenzie is a Scottish film director. His brother is actor Alastair MacKenzie.-Selected films:*Perfect Sense starring Ewan McGregor and Eva Green*You Instead David Mackenzie (born 10 May 1966) is a Scottish film director. His brother is actor Alastair MacKenzie.-Selected films:*Perfect...
and Michael Caton-Jones
Michael Caton-Jones
Michael Caton-Jones is the director of such films as Scandal, Rob Roy, Memphis Belle and The Jackal...
. Each guest selected five of their favourite films, one of which was shown during the weekend. In addition to the Favourite Films, there is an outdoor screening on a Gable End, Gaelic Short films, Animation workshop, photographic exhibition and late night Pizza and Film screenings. All crammed into one weekend in a small town in the Highlands.
Parliamentary burgh
From 1832 to 1918 Cromarty was a parliamentary burgh, combined with DingwallDingwall
Dingwall is a town and former royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,026. It was formerly an east-coast harbor but now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest castle north of Stirling. On the town's present-day outskirts lies Tulloch Castle, parts...
, Dornoch
Dornoch
Dornoch is a town and seaside resort, and former Royal burgh in the Highlands of Scotland. It lies on the north shore of the Dornoch Firth, near to where it opens into the Moray Firth to the east...
, Kirkwall
Kirkwall
Kirkwall is the biggest town and capital of Orkney, off the coast of northern mainland Scotland. The town is first mentioned in Orkneyinga saga in the year 1046 when it is recorded as the residence of Rögnvald Brusason the Earl of Orkney, who was killed by his uncle Thorfinn the Mighty...
, Tain and Wick
Wick, Highland
Wick is an estuary town and a royal burgh in the north of the Highland council area of Scotland. Historically, it is one of two burghs within the county of Caithness, of which Wick was the county town. The town straddles the River Wick and extends along both sides of Wick Bay...
in the Wick Burghs
Wick Burghs (UK Parliament constituency)
Wick Burghs, sometimes known as Northern Burghs, was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1918...
constituency
United Kingdom constituencies
In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...
of the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
of the Parliament of the United Kingdom
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
. Known also as Northern Burghs, the constituency was a district of burghs. It was represented by one Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
. In 1918 the constituency was abolished and the Cromarty component was merged into the county constituency of Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty (UK Parliament constituency)
Ross and Cromarty was a county constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1983. The constituency elected one Member of Parliament using the first-past-the-post voting system....
.
External links
- The Cromarty Archive & Forum
- Cromarty Lighthouse
- Lighthouse Field Station
- http://www.cromartyfilmfestival.org/