Cromarty
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Template:Infobox Scotland place Template:GBdot The Royal Burgh of Cromarty (Cromba in Gaelic) is a burgh in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. It was previously the county town of the former county of CromartyshireTemplate:Mn. 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 crow (crooked), and from bati (bay), or from ard (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.
The town grew around its port, formerly used by ferries, to export locally-grown hemp fibre (from cannabis), and by trawlers trawling for herrings. Today, the port is used for the manufacture and maintenance of oil rigs, and is home to the UK's smallest vehicle ferry, running to Nigg. It runs from May to October, from roughly 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. The vessel is called the Cromarty Rose.
Cromarty is architecturally important for its Georgian terraces, and Victorian cottages in the local vernacular style. The thatched house with crow-stepped gables in Church Street, in which Hugh Miller the geologist was born 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.
Cromarty gives its name to one of the British Sea Areas used to provide weather forecasts to shipping.
Parliamentary burgh
From 1832 to 1918 Cromarty was a parliamentary burgh, combined with Dingwall, 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.
Footnote
- Template:Mnb From 1889 to 1975 Cromartyshire was merged with Ross-shire under the Ross and Cromarty county council. Ross and Cromarty has later usage as the name of a district of the Highland region (1975 to 1996), and is today an area committee of the modern Highland unitary authority.
References
- This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition{{#if:{{{article|}}}| article {{#if:{{{url|}}}|[{{{url|}}}}} "{{{article}}}"{{#if:{{{url|}}}|]}}{{#if:{{{author|}}}| by {{{author}}}}}}}, a publication now in the public domain.
- Template:Cite webfr:Cromarty