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Dunnet

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"DUNNET, a parish in the county of Caithness, Scotland. It is in the presbytery of Caithness and synod of Sutherland and Caithness. It has a ferry over Pentland Firth to the Orkneys. The village contains the parish church, a Free church, and schools. Near here is a promontory called Dunnet Head, on which is a lighthouse. Markets are held four times a year."

Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868)

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Churches

Presbyterian / Unitarian
Dunnet, Church of Scotland
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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Dunnet which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, Samuel Lewis - 1851

DUNNET, a sea-port and parish, in the county of Caithness, 9 miles (E. N. E.) from Thurso; containing 1880 inhabitants. This parish, the origin of the name of which is involved in obscurity, is one of the most northern in Scotland; it is about ten miles in length, and varies in breadth from two to four miles. Dunnet is bounded on the south by the parish of Bower, on the south-west by that of Olrig, on the east by Cannisbay, and on the north and north-west by the Pentland Firth, into which projects the extensive promontory of Dunnet Head. This Head consists of numerous hills and valleys, covered with fine pasture for cattle and sheep, and throughout its whole extent of coast, which is about nine miles, presents to the sea a front of broken rocks from 100 to 400 feet high. An isthmus of low land, about two miles broad, connects it with the rest of the parish; but with the exception of the keepers of the lighthouse, it is entirely uninhabited. A large number of sea-fowl, especially the layer or puffin, visit it during the season of incubation. The shore to the east of Dunnet Head is low and rocky, and the current of the Firth during spring tides is so strong that no vessel can stem it, from which circumstance, and the velocity of contiguous currents in opposite directions, the navigation here is dangerous to strangers. Of the several good havens for small craft, Brough and Ham or Holm havens are considered capable of great improvement. In the interior the parish is of level surface, there being scarcely an eminence deserving the name of a hill. The larger portion consists of moss and moor, and the soil in the cultivated parts is in general of a light nature, with little clay or loam; in some places it is sandy, and in others a light black earth, and rich clay. Adjoining the shore, east of Dunnet bay, is a barren tract nearly two miles in breadth, which is said to have been formerly arable ground.

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference ND237696 (Lat/Lon: 58.607274, -3.315562), Dunnet which are provided by:

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Societies

  • The Caithness Family History Society covers this county.
  • The Highland Family History Society covers this county.
  • The Highland Family History Society is based at the Highland Archive and Registration Centre at Bught Park, Inverness.