Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Halkirk

Halkirk, a village and a parish of Caithness. The village, regularly built, stands 135 feet above sea-level, on the right bank of the river Thurso, ¾ mile N of Halkirk station on the Sutherland and Caithness railway (1874), this station being 1½ mile WSW of Georgemas Junction, 8¼ S by E of Thurso, and 15½ WNW of Wick. It has a post office, with money order and savings', bank departments; a fair is held here on the third Tuesday of Dec-; and on the opposite side of the river, ½ mile to the N, stands Thurso Combination Poorhouse, which, built in 1855, contain accommodation for 149 inmates. Pop. (1871) 391, (1881) 372.

The parish contains also Scotscalder and Altnabreac stations, 2¾ and 12 miles SW of Halkirk. It is bounded N by Thurso, NE by Thurso and Bower, E by Watten, SE and S by Latheron, and W by Reay and a detached portion of Thurso. Its utmost length, from NNE to SSW is 213/8 miles; its breadth varies between 3½ and 13 miles; and its area is 98,063¾ acres, of which 2301 are water. Of fully fifty lakes and lakelets the larger, from N to S, are Lochs Calder (23/8 miles x 7½ fur;-; 205. feet), Olginey (5½ x 3 fur;-; 235 feet), Madie (1 mile x 3 fur;-; 372 feet), and More (5¾ x 4 fur;-; 381 feet). Glut or Strathmore Water, rising in the extreme SW at an altitude of 1400 feet, winds 14½ miles north-eastward to Loch More, and, issuing thence as the river Thurso, continues 19 miles north . north . eastward through the interior, then 2¼ miles north-north-westward along the boundary with Thurso. It is joined in this course by a number of affluents, and drains the greater portion of the parish, whose NW border, however, is traced or skirted for 5 miles by Forss Water. The surface, which sinks to 70 feet above sea-level along the Thurso, is much of it flat and monotonous, the higher points of the northern district being the Hill of Sour *359 feet), the Hill of Calder (306), and, on the Watten boundary, Spital Hill (577); but to the SW, at the Latheron and Sutherland borders, rise Ben Alisky (1142) and the Knockfin Heights (1442). The rocks, of the Old Red Sandstone system, furnish plenty of `Caithness flag' for home use and exportation; limestone too has been quarried, and mar; has been raised from Calder Loch; whilst ironstone and lead ore are also known to exist. The soil ranges from clay or loam mixed with moss to gravel resting on a cold rocky bottom, being mostly wet and difficult to dry; still, great improvements have been effected in the way of reclamation and building, Co;. Guthrie alone having nearly trebled the rental of his property in thirty years. Little more than a tenth of the entire area is under cultivation, by far the greater part being moor or flowmoss. The arable holdings are for the most part small; the sheep farms, on the other hand, are large. Several 'Picts' houses' and standing stones are dotted over the parish, in which stood two pre-Reformation chapels, and special features of which are noticed separately under Achavarn, Braal, Dirlet, and Lochmore. Five proprietors holds each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 2 of between £100 and £500, and 2 of from £20 to £50. The present parish comprises the two ancient parishes of Halkirk and Skinnet. Skinnet church was dedicated to to Thomas, and that of Halkirk to St Fergus, a Pictish bishop of Ireland, who came to Caithness in the 8th century. It is in the presbytery of Caithness and synod of Sutherland and Caithness; the living is worth £327. The parish church, at the village, was built in 1753, and, as enlarged in 1833, contains 756 sittings. A Free church stands 2½ miles S of the station; and six public schools-Calder, Halkirk North, Harpsdale, Leurery, Spital, and Westerdale -with total accommodation for 582 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 260, and grants amounting to £294, 17s. Valuation (1860) £9622, (1883)£16,639, 9s-, of which nearly two-fifths are held by Sir John G. Tollemache Sinclair of Ulbster. Pop. (180l) 2545, (1841) 2963, (1861) 2864, (1871) 2664, (1881) 2705, of whom 253 were returned as `Gaelic-speaking.'-Ord. Sur., shs. 116, 117, 109, 110, 1877-78.


(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Halkirk ScoP       Caithness ScoCnty
Place: Halkirk

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