Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Contin

Contin, a very large Highland parish of central and south-eastern Ross-shire. Its church and school, towards the SE corner, stand on the right bank of the Blackwater, a little above its influx to the Conan, 4¼ miles SW of Strathpeffer station, on the Dingwall and Skye railway (1870), this being 4½ miles N by W of Dingwall, under which Contin has a post office. Itself it contains three stations on that railway, Garve, Lochluichart, and Achnasheen, distant respectively from Dingwall 11¾, 17, and 27¾ miles. Bounded NW by Lochbroom parish, NE and E by Fodderty, S by Urray, and W by outlying portions of Fodderty and by Lochcarron and Gairloch parishes, it has an irregular outline, and sends off a long south-western wing, in which are Lochs Fannich, Rosque, and Benachran. Its greatest length is 22¼ miles from NW to SE, viz., from Ben Dearg to the Conan; its width varies between 43/8 and 16¼ miles. The principal streams are the Sheen and Meig, uniting to form the Conan, and the Blackwater, joining the latter at Moy. Lakes, with their utmost length and width and altitude above sea-level, are Lochs Achilty (7 x 3 furl., 170 ft.), Garve (1½ x ½ mile, 220 ft.), Luichart (1¾ mile x 6½ furl., 270 ft.), Fannich (65/8 mile x 6½ furl., 822 ft.), Rosque (3 x ½ mile), Benachran (2 x 1 mile), A Garbh Raoin (4½ x 3 furl., 900 ft.), and Coire Lair (6 x 1 furl., 980 ft.). There are, besides, close upon fifty smaller lochs, most of them, like the above, affording capital angling. The surface sinks in the extreme SE to 53 feet above sea-level, thence rising westward to Carn Sgolbaidh (1342), *Carn na Cloiche Moire (1936), *Meall nan Damh (2198), and Sgurr Mairc-suidhe (1899), where asterisks mark those summits that culminate on the borders of the parish; north-westward to Carn na B


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

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a very large Highland parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions")
Administrative units: Contin ScoP       Ross Shire ScoCnty
Place: Contin

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