Scotland Thurso, Caithness

Thurso on the far northern coast of Caithness is the most northerly town on mainland Britain. It is an ideal situation set a sheltered bay and protected from storms by the mass of Dunnet Head to the east. The bay has long been used as a shelter and port.

There are views across the Pentland Firth to the island of Hoy. Scrabster, a mile away, is one of the ferry ports for the Orkney Islands.

The town has a long history and the Vikings were well established here by the C9th and C10th, and Thurso became an important Norse settlement using the river mouth as a port and harbour for trade with Scandinavia and the Baltics. Little information exists from this period and most of that comes from the Norse sagas.

Early development was on the west bank of the river, in an area known as Fisherbiggins. Only the C12th ruined Old St Peter’Church survives from that time, although some of the original street plan remains with narrow curved streets. The church was founded by the Bishop of Caithness and was the principle church for the county.. The bishop even had a palace here although nothing remains of it.

The importance of Thurso was recognised in 1330 when David II decreed that the Caithness pound weight would become the standard for all Scotland.

It was made a free burgh in 1633 and its significance grew. It had a weekly market and four fairs a year, attracting buyers and sellers from across Scotland. Trade flourished with the export of beef, hides, fish and grain. The main imports were main imports were iron, wine, salt, and timber. The Turnpike House on Shore Street dates from around 1688 and is thought to have belonged to a wealthy merchant.

With the growth of the Caithness flagstone industry in the C19th, four large works were built along the river to dress and ship the stone. Before the introduction of steam power, they employed oer a thousand men. As well as being used locally for building and roofs the flagstones were also used for field boundary walls. They were also exported to provide paving stones for the rest of Britain as well as Europe and as far as Australia.

The town expanded and grew in size on a grid plan devised by Sir John Sinclair who lived in Thurso Castle. At the time the old town was described “wretched houses were so irregular, and so huddled together, as to be too often mere receptacles for filth, discomfort, and sickness.” Not only did this provide improved housing and conditions, he also re-established the cod industry which had almost been abandoned as well as providing capital to establish the herring fishery

Agriculture wasn’t ignored and he encouraged the sheep farming and the knock on spinning and weaving industry.

Thurso ’New Town’ is characterised by wide streets lined with stone houses.

A breakwater was built in 1855 to help keep back the encroaching sea.

The railway arrived in 1874.

During both World Wars, the town was busy with regular troop trains arriving in Thurso and the movement of troops and equipment between Scrabster and Scapa Flow, Orkney. Many of the survivors from the Royal Oak torpedoed in Scapa Flow were billeted in Thurso before heading south.

Dounreay Nuclear Reactor and Research Establishment were built a few miles west of Thurso in the 1950s, resulting in a massive growth in population. The plant closed in 1994 and although work on decommissioning the site continues for many years, it resulted in an increase in unemployment and consequent decline in population as people moved away in search of jobs. Now the emphasis is on renewable energy.

Scrabster harbour has been extended. As well as providing a daily ferry service to Stromness, it is the main commercial fishing port for the area.

North Highland College, formerly Thurso College, is now part of the University of the Highlands & Islands.

cont...

 

[Eleanor]

A walk around Thurso

Before a bridge was built, the only way across the river was by stepping stones or by boat. The present bridge was built in 1897, replacing an earlier bridge. The River Thurso is still one of the best salmon rivers in Scotland. Originally known as the Mall, and given to the town by Sir Tollemache Sinclair, there is now a riverside walk along both sides of the river.

Immediately across the river is the Church of St Peter and the Holy Rood with its turret like tower, which was built in 1885. This was open for private prayer for a couple of hours on a Wednesday evening.

It is quite as simple church inside and much of the furnishings were the gift of the Sinclair family of Thurso Castle and their memorials are in the church. The carved reredos behind the altar depicts the Ascension and Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon Jesus’s followers allowing them to speak many different languages.

The font is at the back of the church. The tall pew behind it came for Old St Peter’s Church. The stained glass window depicts the Good Samaritan

St George’s Street continues up the hill to St John Square which was gifted to the town by Sir Tollemache Sinclair. The Church of St Peter and St Paul with its square tower sits in the square, surrounded by flower gardens.

The church is surrounded by gardens and was built in 1833 to replace the old St Peter’s Church.

The splendid statue in front of the church is of Sir John Sinclair who was responsible for the grid pattern of the New Town. In front of it is the war memorial. The drinking fountain now at the back of the church was originally here but had to be moved to make way for the war memorial.

To the left is Sinclair Street, lined with stone terraced workers houses.

The large white building at the far end of the street is now the library. Built in 1860, it was originally the Miller Institution, a boy’s school.

To the right is Trail Street, which was one of the first streets to be built by Sir John Sinclair. Many of the buildings are now shops.

Just off Trial Street is The Meadow Well which was the main water supply for Thurso. The building with its conical roof dates from 1823 and still houses the pump installed around 1850 and used until the 1920s when piped water arrived in Thurso. It was one of the places local fisherwomen would meet to sell their fish.

Trail street leads to the pedestrianised Rotterdam Street with many independently owned shops.

The Burgh Chambers are on here. These used to be the former town hall and are still used for council meetings.

Rotterdam Street leads into High Street with the splendid Town Hall building with the Carnegie Library next to it. This is now the North Coast Visitor Centre with a museum covering the history of Caithness, a collection of Pictish carved stones and also an exhibition about Dounreay, including its control panel.

The square by the town hall was once used for the local markets.

Old St Perter’s Kirk is on Wilson Lane, running between Shore Street and the River. This would have been the hearty of the Old Town. The church is thought to date from around 1220 and may have been built on the site of an older church. It was used by the Bishop of Caithness when at his summer palace near Scrabster and also served as the parish church. The church was extended in the C16th, when a room above the chancel was used as a courthouse and the tower as a prison.

BY the end of the C18th the church was beginning to be structurally unsafe and a new and larger church was built on St John’s Square. The church was closed in 1832 and the roof removed.

It survives as s ruin surrounded by its large walled graveyard. There is no access to the church apart from special open days. It is looked after by a dedicated group of volunteers

The river had been the main harbour 
of Thurso until a new and better harbour was built at Scarbster in the 1850s.

There are good views across the river to the ruins of Thurso Castle.

The site has a long history as there was a defensive Viking earthwork here. The Earls of Caithness built a castle here in 1660. In the late C19th, Sir Tollemache Sinclair incorporated part of the tower into his Scottish Baronial Mansion House.

By 1914, the tower had started to lean and was no longer used. A sea mine washed ashore and blew out the windows although causing no further structural damage. There was a fire and the castle was abandoned in 1951. The roof was removed and parts of the castle was demolished. Now all that remains is the gateway and Castle Lodge next to it.

Thurso also boasts a long sandy beach. This is a tramping beach rather than one for sunbathing and is popular with surfers. There are views across to Hoy on the horizon.