Roshven
Encyclopedia
Roshven is an estate located on the coast between the Sound of Arisaig
and Loch Ailort
, in Lochaber
, in the council area of Highland, Scotland
. Towering above it is Rois-bheinn
, the highest hill in the area.
, an artist, and her husband, Hugh Blackburn
, Professor of mathematics at Glasgow University, bought the Roshven Estate, presumably from Anderson. Blackburn was noted for capturing the area's scenery, flora and fauna in her nationally-famous illustrations. She was particularly adept at painting birds and flowers. Roshven Estate covers some 4500 acres. They subsequently renovated the Georgian house in the hamlet. Their homes in Glasgow and at Roshven became a focus for visits from some of the most celebrated figures of the century including John Ruskin, Sir John Everet Millais, Anthony Trollope
, the Duke of Argyll
, Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Lister, Professor Helmholtz
, Lord Kelvin and James Clerk-Maxwell, Jemima's first cousin.
On January 12, 1894, around 11.50 pm, the aftershock of an earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale was experienced at Roshven and the settlements of Arisaig
and Glenmoidart.
along the A861 road
, southwest of the settlement of Inverailort and east of Glenuig
. Boats can be moored in hallow water on the Loch near Roshven House. At one time there were plans to build a terminal and a pier at Roshaven. The area is mountainous, Rois-Bheinn being the highest and most dominant mountain, although Roshven is surrounded by other mountains such as An Stac, Sgurr Na Ba Glaise and Sgurr Dhomhuill Mor. The largest burn that comes through Roshven is the Irene Burn which originates in Lochan na Craoihhe and runs down past Roshven Farm and its estuary is located on the shore in front of the farm.
Roshven has quite a varied and unpredictable climate. Fort William which is located around 30 miles away experiences on average 3500-4500mm of rainfall every year. It experiences warm and wet summers and mild and wet winters. Snow is not very frequent because Roshven, like much of Lochaber, is subject to warm, moist air from the Gulf Stream.
According to the Royal Meteorological Society
, one of the descendants of Hugh and Jemima Blackburn, Vera Philippa Blackburn (widow of William) who died in 1932, was keen on meteorology and had kept a rain gauge at Roshven in which she recorded the climate and rainfall for many years.
, sea trout
and salmon
. Brown trout
are also found in the burns and streams which run down off the surrounding hills. There have been occasional sitings of dolphin
s and whale
s in the loch, and once a whale died after being washed up onto the beach. Deer
, fox
es, wild cat
s, squirrel
s and pine martins are regularly seen in the area. The birds however are the major attraction of Roshven and this is what inspired Blackburn in her paintings. Golden eagle
s are often seen either flying over the loch or, more frequently, in front of the mountains and trees.
Sound of Arisaig
The Sound of Arisaig in Lochaber, Scotland, separates the Arisaig peninsula to the north from the Moidart peninsula to the south. At the eastern, landward end, the sound is divided by Ardnish into two sea lochs. Loch nan Uamh lies to the north of Ardnish, Loch Ailort to the south...
and Loch Ailort
Loch Ailort
Loch Ailort is a sea loch loch in Morar, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. Loch Ailort is a shallow V shaped loch, with the small Ardnish Peninsula on the north side, and the large southwest facing Moidart Peninsula to the south...
, in Lochaber
Lochaber
District of Lochaber 1975 to 1996Highland council area shown as one of the council areas of ScotlandLochaber is one of the 16 ward management areas of the Highland Council of Scotland and one of eight former local government districts of the two-tier Highland region...
, in the council area of Highland, 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...
. Towering above it is Rois-bheinn
Rois-bheinn
Rois-bheinn is the joint highest hill in the Scottish region of Moidart, a title it shares with its neighbour Beinn Odhar Bheag.The mountain may be climbed by its west ridge from the small village of Roshven , or from Inverailort to the north.The Moidart peninsula is separated from the lands to its...
, the highest hill in the area.
History
Historically, the hamlet was named Irine. According to the 1841 census, the main house by the burn was occupied by a Mary Anderson, originally from Kinlochailort. In 1854, Jemima BlackburnJemima Blackburn
Jemima Wedderburn Blackburn was a Scottish painter whose work gives us an evocative picture of rural life in 19th-century Scotland. One of the most popular illustrators in Victorian Britain, she illustrated 27 books. Her greatest ornithological achievement was the second edition of her Birds from...
, an artist, and her husband, Hugh Blackburn
Hugh Blackburn
Bailie Hugh Blackburn was a Scottish mathematician. A lifelong friend of William Thomson , and the husband of illustrator Jemima Blackburn, he was professor of mathematics at the University of Glasgow from 1849 to 1879...
, Professor of mathematics at Glasgow University, bought the Roshven Estate, presumably from Anderson. Blackburn was noted for capturing the area's scenery, flora and fauna in her nationally-famous illustrations. She was particularly adept at painting birds and flowers. Roshven Estate covers some 4500 acres. They subsequently renovated the Georgian house in the hamlet. Their homes in Glasgow and at Roshven became a focus for visits from some of the most celebrated figures of the century including John Ruskin, Sir John Everet Millais, Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope
Anthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...
, the Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll
Duke of Argyll is a title, created in the Peerage of Scotland in 1701 and in the Peerage of the United Kingdom in 1892. The Earls, Marquesses, and Dukes of Argyll were for several centuries among the most powerful, if not the most powerful, noble family in Scotland...
, Benjamin Disraeli, Lord Lister, Professor Helmholtz
Hermann von Helmholtz
Hermann Ludwig Ferdinand von Helmholtz was a German physician and physicist who made significant contributions to several widely varied areas of modern science...
, Lord Kelvin and James Clerk-Maxwell, Jemima's first cousin.
On January 12, 1894, around 11.50 pm, the aftershock of an earthquake measuring 4 on the Richter scale was experienced at Roshven and the settlements of Arisaig
Arisaig
Arisaig is a village in Lochaber, Invernessshire, on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands.-History:On 20 September 1746 Bonnie Prince Charlie left Scotland for France from a place near the village following the failure of the Jacobite Rising. The site of his departure is marked by the Prince's...
and Glenmoidart.
Geography and climate
Roshven is situated in the Highlands of Scotland, in the area of Lochaber. It lies on the southeastern bank of Loch AilortLoch Ailort
Loch Ailort is a sea loch loch in Morar, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. Loch Ailort is a shallow V shaped loch, with the small Ardnish Peninsula on the north side, and the large southwest facing Moidart Peninsula to the south...
along the A861 road
A861 road
The A861 road is a circuitous, primarily coastal, road in Highland, Scotland.The A861 serves the communities of the remote Ardgour, Sunart, Moidart and Ardnamurchan areas Although the ends of this road are only fourteen miles apart its total length is seventy miles.Route *junction with the A830...
, southwest of the settlement of Inverailort and east of Glenuig
Glenuig
Glenuig is a small village in Moidart, Lochaber, Highland, on the west coast of Scotland. It is around 30 miles west of Fort William and 20 miles from Ardnamurchan Point.-Geography:...
. Boats can be moored in hallow water on the Loch near Roshven House. At one time there were plans to build a terminal and a pier at Roshaven. The area is mountainous, Rois-Bheinn being the highest and most dominant mountain, although Roshven is surrounded by other mountains such as An Stac, Sgurr Na Ba Glaise and Sgurr Dhomhuill Mor. The largest burn that comes through Roshven is the Irene Burn which originates in Lochan na Craoihhe and runs down past Roshven Farm and its estuary is located on the shore in front of the farm.
Roshven has quite a varied and unpredictable climate. Fort William which is located around 30 miles away experiences on average 3500-4500mm of rainfall every year. It experiences warm and wet summers and mild and wet winters. Snow is not very frequent because Roshven, like much of Lochaber, is subject to warm, moist air from the Gulf Stream.
According to the Royal Meteorological Society
Royal Meteorological Society
The Royal Meteorological Society traces its origins back to 3 April 1850 when the British Meteorological Society was formed as a society the objects of which should be the advancement and extension of meteorological science by determining the laws of climate and of meteorological phenomena in general...
, one of the descendants of Hugh and Jemima Blackburn, Vera Philippa Blackburn (widow of William) who died in 1932, was keen on meteorology and had kept a rain gauge at Roshven in which she recorded the climate and rainfall for many years.
Fauna
Many forms of wildlife are found at Roshven, both aquatic and land-based. In Loch Ailort there are many varieties of fish found such as mackerelMackerel
Mackerel is a common name applied to a number of different species of fish, mostly, but not exclusively, from the family Scombridae. They may be found in all tropical and temperate seas. Most live offshore in the oceanic environment but a few, like the Spanish mackerel , enter bays and can be...
, sea trout
Trout
Trout is the name for a number of species of freshwater and saltwater fish belonging to the Salmoninae subfamily of the family Salmonidae. Salmon belong to the same family as trout. Most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water...
and salmon
Salmon
Salmon is the common name for several species of fish in the family Salmonidae. Several other fish in the same family are called trout; the difference is often said to be that salmon migrate and trout are resident, but this distinction does not strictly hold true...
. Brown trout
Brown trout
The brown trout and the sea trout are fish of the same species....
are also found in the burns and streams which run down off the surrounding hills. There have been occasional sitings of dolphin
Dolphin
Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...
s and whale
Whale
Whale is the common name for various marine mammals of the order Cetacea. The term whale sometimes refers to all cetaceans, but more often it excludes dolphins and porpoises, which belong to suborder Odontoceti . This suborder also includes the sperm whale, killer whale, pilot whale, and beluga...
s in the loch, and once a whale died after being washed up onto the beach. Deer
Deer
Deer are the ruminant mammals forming the family Cervidae. Species in the Cervidae family include white-tailed deer, elk, moose, red deer, reindeer, fallow deer, roe deer and chital. Male deer of all species and female reindeer grow and shed new antlers each year...
, fox
Fox
Fox is a common name for many species of omnivorous mammals belonging to the Canidae family. Foxes are small to medium-sized canids , characterized by possessing a long narrow snout, and a bushy tail .Members of about 37 species are referred to as foxes, of which only 12 species actually belong to...
es, wild cat
Wild cat
The wildcat is a small cat with several subspecies and a very broad distribution, found throughout most of Africa, Europe, and southwest and central Asia into India, China, and Mongolia. It is a hunter of small mammals, birds, and other creatures of a similar or smaller size. Sometimes included is...
s, squirrel
Squirrel
Squirrels belong to a large family of small or medium-sized rodents called the Sciuridae. The family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, chipmunks, marmots , flying squirrels, and prairie dogs. Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas, Eurasia, and Africa and have been introduced to Australia...
s and pine martins are regularly seen in the area. The birds however are the major attraction of Roshven and this is what inspired Blackburn in her paintings. Golden eagle
Golden Eagle
The Golden Eagle is one of the best known birds of prey in the Northern Hemisphere. Like all eagles, it belongs to the family Accipitridae. Once widespread across the Holarctic, it has disappeared from many of the more heavily populated areas...
s are often seen either flying over the loch or, more frequently, in front of the mountains and trees.