Evanton
Encyclopedia
Evanton is a large village in Easter Ross
, in the Highland
Council Area of Scotland. It lies between the river Sgitheach
and the Allt Graad
, is 24 kilometres (14.9 mi) north of the city of Inverness, some 6.5 km (4 mi) south-west of Alness
, and 10 km (6.2 mi) north-east of Dingwall
. The village has a dozen or so streets, the main one being Balconie Street (B817). It has been described by analysts at Highland Council as a "commuting settlement", because most of the inhabitants work in other areas of Easter Ross and the greater Inverness area.
The current town was founded in the early nineteenth century by Alexander Fraser of Inchcoulter/Balconie who named it after his son Evan
, but the core of the village buildings date from the Victorian era. Evanton has several tourist attractions, including the Fyrish monument
, the Black Rock Gorge
and the ruined church of Kiltearn
lying near the river Sgitheach as it flows into the Cromarty Firth
, as well as other miscellaneous natural, historical and archaeological attractions in the surrounding area. There are two Churches, one Church of Scotland
and one Free Church of Scotland
. There is one primary school, but the nearest high schools are in Dingwall and Alness. It has one convenience store, a post-office, two public inns (Balconie Inn and Novar Arms) and several other miscellaneous businesses. The village hall is named the 'Diamond Jubilee Hall.'
Cill Tighearna), within the medieval lands known as Ferindonald (Fearann Dhòmhnaill) in the heart of the old "Earldom" of Ross
. Traditionally, Ferindonald is supposed to be derived from a grant of King Máel Coluim III
to Donald Munro of Foulis
(Domhnall mac an Rothaich), the legendary progenitor of Clan Munro
. However, there is no evidence for the existence of this family until the fourteenth century.
Evanton is in close proximity to the site of Balconie Castle
, an old seat of the Mormaers and Earls of Ross
. By the early modern period, the area was dominated by the Munros of Foulis
(Foghlais), who had their Foulis Castle just a few kilometres away. Indeed, the latter began to bury their family at Kiltearn after 1588. The Cille place-name in Kiltearn tells us that there had been a very ancient Gaelic church near Evanton, like all Cille place-names, founded before 800. The current Gaelic name Cill Tighearna ("Church of the Lord") is probably a corruption of an older form, both because the name formation is unusual in being dedicated to the Lord Himself, and because the form given in 1227 is Kiltierny, suggesting some kind of connection to Tigernach
in Ireland. Other suggestions have included a dedication to St Ternan. The church lay next to the lordly residence of Balconie. By the later Middle Ages, Balconie was one of the five lordships of Ross, as well as an individual seat of the Earls of Ross. Place-name evidence suggests that the site may once have been a Pictish residence. A charter granted by Aodh, Earl of Ross
in 1281 records the name Petkenny, but a charter of 1333 refers to a location called Balkenny. The development of the name Pitlochry
, where Pictish Pit- is replaced by Gaelic Baile, suggests the names are the same, but the great early twentieth century toponymist
William J. Watson
was doubftful.
In Kiltearn there had been a settlement, an old ferm toun known as Drummond (Drumainn), near the location of Evanton, and several lordly residences, such as Foulis, Novar and Balconie Castle. In 1807, the local landowner Alexander Fraser was clearing his estates to make way for sheep, and founded Evanton as a planned settlement for the relocated residents, modestly naming it after his son. To this day, in the words of one historian, Evanton "remains today an attractive example of a well planned, regularly laid out estate village". The Reverend Thomas Munro expressed similar sentiments in the 1840s, when he wrote that "the village was built on a waste of land, and differs from all others in the country by its regular and neat appearance". The village suffered from the severe famine that plagued the Highlands in 1840s. There was a riot in the village in 1846, because the authorities continued to export grain despite the failure of the previous year's potato crop; similar riots occurred in Rosemarkie
, Balintraid
and Avoch
. In 1847, there was near starvation in the village, and the villagers managed to maintain themselves on turnip
s. However, the village population recovered; by the beginnings of the First World War, Evanton had taken much of its current physical shape, and at this point in time contained businesses as diverse as a tobacconist and a bicycle shop, both of which have subsequently disappeared.
In the twentieth century, the village enjoyed a variety of fortunes. The distillery closed in 1926 (see below) and one of the most important historical locations in Easter Ross, Balconie Castle, was demolished in 1965. It had been an old seat of the Earls of Ross, but by the 1960s the owner could not afford to repair the dry rot. There was a RAF
airfield constructed near Evanton in 1922, on Alness Bay. It was first known as the "Novar Base", because of its location on the Novar Estates, then later as HMS Fieldfare
. It was serviced from Leuchars
, and was used by the aircraft from the nearby Home Fleet base of Invergordon
. The largest aircraft to have landed there was a USAAF B17. On Empire Day, 1939, RAF bases all over the United Kingdom were opened to the public, and the Evanton Aerodrome was the most northerly location to participate, attracting 9000 visitors. The base closed in the 1970s. However, the oil boom of the 1970s caused radical expansion of the village. It has been growing steadily ever since.
Evanton is more or less enclosed to the north-east and the south-west by two rivers, the Allt Graad
and the River Sgitheach
. The Allt Graad, sometimes called the River Glass, is a picturesque river that flows from Loch Glass, near Ben Wyvis
, for 9 km (5½ miles) until it passes the northern end of the village, and empties into the Cromarty Firth. However, some 3 km (1.9 mi) before it reaches the Cromarty Firth, it passes through the Black Rock Gorge. The latter is a few hundred metres in length and reaches 36 metres (120 ft) in depth. In April, 2004, ten days of filming took place in the area for the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
and the Gorge is the setting for the scene where Harry is chased by a dragon. The River Sgitheach, sometimes written as Skiack or Skiach, is not as large a river as the Allt Graad and can run low in the summer. It flows from the mountains of inland Ross and is complemented by numerous other streams until it passes several waterfalls before flowing past the southern end of the village, and the northern end of the old settlement of Drummond, into the Cromarty Firth about 1 km from the mouth of the Allt Graad.
, tourism and catering. A significant number of people work in larger nearby localities, such as Inverness
, Dingwall, Alness and Invergordon, which is why only 13% of households in the zone own no car. 10.4% of the population of the zone are self-employed, and 28% economically inactive, roughly corresponding with the Highland averages. There are also two hotels and two bars, which soak up much of the tourist income that the town generates.
There had been a distillery in the Evanton area of the Kiltearn parish as early as the eighteenth century, its existence being reported by Harry Robertson, the author of the late eighteenth century Kiltearn section of the late eighteenth century 1st Statistical Account. The Glen Skiack distillery opened in 1896 and only ever produced a relatively small amount of Whisky. However, the effects of the U.S. Prohibition
law, which damaged the income of all Scottish distilleries, proved too much for Glen Skiack, and the operation was forced to close in 1926. The building itself was demolished in 1933.
", still passes by the seaward side of the town, and the trains can still be heard from a great distance. The nearest train station is Alness.
The A9, the great road connecting Edinburgh with Inverness and the far north, once ran through Evanton, on the path of Balconie Street. However, a bypass was created as part of a general scheme to shorten the journey between Inverness to Invergordon. This reduced the amount of traffic going through the village, but decreased the revenue available to local businesses. The road also cut through much of the farmland of the zone, distorting the shape of the fields. This was compounded by the closure of the filling station in the village. For those who do not have cars, the only means of transport is either by foot or by the #25 bus service operated by Stagecoach
. Recently, the express service running from Inverness to Dornoch began to stop in Evanton. Now residents can travel from and to Inverness without the long diversion through Dingwall, making it easier to work in the city of Inverness without personal transport.
In 1845, the local minister wrote that "the language generally spoken is an impure form of Gaelic, but it is rapidly losing ground" and that "in Evanton, both English and Gaelic are spoken indifferently". The minister wrote that the people, especially the children, learned English with ease after they had learned to write Gaelic. The minister also gave some reasons why the people were keen to learn English, telling us that "English being the language universally spoken by the higher classes, the mass of the people attach a notion of superior refinement to the possession of it". Half a century previously, Harry Robertson had praised the spirit of one watchmaker in the region, but added "it is a pity that he can hardly read nor write, and hardly speaks English".
Today, one can see Gaelic written on the walls of the parish church, but the language has effectively died out, and English is totally dominant. Nevertheless, there are still some 72 residents (4.3%) of the village who know the language. The village is also a big location on the Highland folk-circuit, and enjoys a vibrant musical culture in the Gaelic tradition. It is a regular practice for local musicians to meet in the Balconie Inn, one of the two licenced establishments
of the town, and engage in evening-long sessions. Many prominent musicians on the Celtic music
scene have visited, including Eilidh Steel and Dougie MacLean
.
Evanton is home to the Headquarters of the international charity
Blythswood Care.
The "naked rambler" Stephen Gough
was reported and arrested at Evanton in November, 2003. He was engaged in a naked trek through Britain. While walking through Evanton wearing only a hat, a backpack and boots, he was spotted and reported by a local resident. He was sentenced two months later at Dingwall Sheriff Court
. His arrest at Evanton meant that he still had one hundred miles to go in order to complete his journey. He completed his journey in January 2004 and repeated the feat in 2006.
Evanton was the venue for the premier of the 1st tour of the new Scottish National Theatre in 2006. Unable to find a suitable location in Inverness, the National Theatre chose to present "Home" at the studio of Arts In Motion, on the Evanton Industrial Estate.
Evanton has a number of public facilities including the Diamond Jubilee Hall, Chapel Road, builing work started in December 1897, Major Randle Jackson of Swordale House gave 50% of the building costs and the people of Evanton (Parish of Kiltearn) raised the rest. The hall opened on 5th of November 1898 with a grand concert over 500 people from the village attending. Diamond Jubilee Hall transfered from Highland Council to the Community on Thursday 29th September 2011. Evanton Sports Centre (opposite Kiltearn Primary School) is the other public facilies in the village which cateres for various sporting activities badminton, basketball, football and tennis. Evanton also has a good sized park at Teandallon. In recent years a local group of parents and young people has worked with Highland Council and various funding bodies to install a multisport area, a BMX track and a Half-Pipe ramp, a new playpark for toddlers was added in 2007 by EYE. In 2008 Highland Council upgraded the orginal park which was installed in 1970's.
Easter Ross
Easter Ross is a loosely defined area in the east of Ross, Highland, Scotland.The name is used in the constituency name Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, which is the name of both a British House of Commons constituency and a Scottish Parliament constituency...
, in the Highland
Highland (council area)
Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and...
Council Area of Scotland. It lies between the river Sgitheach
River Sgitheach
River Sgitheach also known as Skiach or Skiack, is a river in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland...
and the Allt Graad
Allt Graad
Allt Graad is a river in Easter Ross, Highland, Scotland. It is named on Ordnance Survey maps variously as Allt Graad and River Glass. It has also been known as the "Allt Grande", and the archaic Anglicization, "Aultgraad"....
, is 24 kilometres (14.9 mi) north of the city of Inverness, some 6.5 km (4 mi) south-west of Alness
Alness
Alness is a town and civil parish in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland. It lies near the Cromarty Firth, with the town of Invergordon to the east and the village of Evanton to the south west...
, and 10 km (6.2 mi) north-east of Dingwall
Dingwall
Dingwall is a town and former royal burgh in the Highland council area of Scotland. It has a population of 5,026. It was formerly an east-coast harbor but now lies inland. Dingwall Castle was once the biggest castle north of Stirling. On the town's present-day outskirts lies Tulloch Castle, parts...
. The village has a dozen or so streets, the main one being Balconie Street (B817). It has been described by analysts at Highland Council as a "commuting settlement", because most of the inhabitants work in other areas of Easter Ross and the greater Inverness area.
The current town was founded in the early nineteenth century by Alexander Fraser of Inchcoulter/Balconie who named it after his son Evan
Evan Fraser of Balconie
Captain Evan Baillie Fraser of Balconie was the son of Alexander Fraser of Inchcoulter/Balconie who founded the modern town of Evanton, naming it after his son. Evan married Christine Nicol in 1838 who bore him children: Alexander Thomas , John Thomas and Elma...
, but the core of the village buildings date from the Victorian era. Evanton has several tourist attractions, including the Fyrish monument
Fyrish Monument
The Fyrish Monument is a monument built in 1782 on Fyrish Hill , in Fyrish near Evanton, Easter Ross, Scotland, on the orders of Sir Hector Munro, 8th of Novar, a native lord of the area who had served in India as a general...
, the Black Rock Gorge
Black Rock Gorge
Black Rock Gorge is a deep and narrow cleft in Old Red Sandstone conglomerate through which the Allt Graad flows in Easter Ross, Scotland...
and the ruined church of Kiltearn
Kiltearn
Kiltearn is a parish in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland. The principal settlement is the village of Evanton, and the parish extends almost to Dingwall and about halfway to Alness. The old Kiltearn church and burial ground are on the shore of the Cromarty Firth. The current church is on the main...
lying near the river Sgitheach as it flows into the Cromarty Firth
Cromarty Firth
The Cromarty Firth of Cromarty') is an arm of the North Sea in Scotland. It is the middle of the three sea lochs at the head of the Moray Firth: to the north lies the Dornoch Firth, and to the south the Beauly Firth....
, as well as other miscellaneous natural, historical and archaeological attractions in the surrounding area. There are two Churches, one Church of Scotland
Church of Scotland
The Church of Scotland, known informally by its Scots language name, the Kirk, is a Presbyterian church, decisively shaped by the Scottish Reformation....
and one Free Church of Scotland
Free Church of Scotland (post 1900)
Free Church of Scotland is that part of the original Free Church of Scotland that remained outside of the union with the United Presbyterian Church of Scotland in 1900...
. There is one primary school, but the nearest high schools are in Dingwall and Alness. It has one convenience store, a post-office, two public inns (Balconie Inn and Novar Arms) and several other miscellaneous businesses. The village hall is named the 'Diamond Jubilee Hall.'
Kiltearn background
Evanton lies within the ancient parish of Kiltearn (Gd:Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
Cill Tighearna), within the medieval lands known as Ferindonald (Fearann Dhòmhnaill) in the heart of the old "Earldom" of Ross
Ross
Ross is a region of Scotland and a former mormaerdom, earldom, sheriffdom and county. The name Ross allegedly derives from a Gaelic word meaning a headland - perhaps a reference to the Black Isle. The Norse word for Orkney - Hrossay meaning horse island - is another possible origin. The area...
. Traditionally, Ferindonald is supposed to be derived from a grant of King Máel Coluim III
Malcolm III of Scotland
Máel Coluim mac Donnchada , was King of Scots...
to Donald Munro of Foulis
Donald Munro of Foulis
Donald Munro is the first traditional chief of the Clan Munro.There is no existing contemporary evidence for Donald's existence however he is documented in several later family manuscripts such as the Coul MS and Munro Tree 1734....
(Domhnall mac an Rothaich), the legendary progenitor of Clan Munro
Clan Munro
-Origins:The main traditional origin of the clan is that the Munros came from Ireland and settled in Scotland in the 11th century and that they fought as mercenary soldiers under the Earl of Ross who defeated Viking invaders in Rosshire...
. However, there is no evidence for the existence of this family until the fourteenth century.
Balconie Castle
Balconie Castle lay in the parish of Kiltearn, about half a mile east of the village of Evanton in the Highlands of Scotland.-History:The castle was an old seat of the Mormaers and Earls of Ross, chiefs of Clan Ross. It was later held by their successors, the Clan MacDonald, Earls of Ross...
, an old seat of the Mormaers and Earls of Ross
Earl of Ross
The Mormaer or Earl of Ross was the leader of a medieval Gaelic lordship in northern Scotland, roughly between the River Oykel and the River Beauly.-Origins and transfers:...
. By the early modern period, the area was dominated by the Munros of Foulis
Foulis Castle
Foulis Castle lies in the parish of Kiltearn, about 1.5 miles southwest of the village of Evanton in the Highland area of northern Scotland. The castle has been the seat of the Clan Munro for over eight hundred years. During the 11th century, the clan chief was given the castle and Foulis lands as...
(Foghlais), who had their Foulis Castle just a few kilometres away. Indeed, the latter began to bury their family at Kiltearn after 1588. The Cille place-name in Kiltearn tells us that there had been a very ancient Gaelic church near Evanton, like all Cille place-names, founded before 800. The current Gaelic name Cill Tighearna ("Church of the Lord") is probably a corruption of an older form, both because the name formation is unusual in being dedicated to the Lord Himself, and because the form given in 1227 is Kiltierny, suggesting some kind of connection to Tigernach
Tigernach
Tigernach, an early Irish personal name, may refer to:*Tigernach of Clones , patron saint of Clones*Tigernach mac Fócartai , king of Lagore...
in Ireland. Other suggestions have included a dedication to St Ternan. The church lay next to the lordly residence of Balconie. By the later Middle Ages, Balconie was one of the five lordships of Ross, as well as an individual seat of the Earls of Ross. Place-name evidence suggests that the site may once have been a Pictish residence. A charter granted by Aodh, Earl of Ross
Aodh, Earl of Ross
Hugh [probably Gaelic: Aodh], was the third successor of Ferchar mac in tSagairt as Mormaer of Ross .Hugh was a favorite of King Robert I of Scotland, who endowed him with many lands. Aodh even married Robert's sister, Maud...
in 1281 records the name Petkenny, but a charter of 1333 refers to a location called Balkenny. The development of the name Pitlochry
Pitlochry
Pitlochry , is a burgh in the council area of Perth and Kinross, Scotland, lying on the River Tummel. Its population according to the 2001 census was 2,564....
, where Pictish Pit- is replaced by Gaelic Baile, suggests the names are the same, but the great early twentieth century toponymist
Toponymy
Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...
William J. Watson
William J. Watson
Professor William J. Watson was a toponymist, one of the greatest Scottish scholars of the 20th century, and was the first scholar to place the study of Scottish place names on a firm linguistic basis....
was doubftful.
History
Rosemarkie
Rosemarkie is a village on the south coast of the Black Isle peninsula in northern Scotland.-Geography:Rosemarkie lies a quarter of a mile east of the town of Fortrose...
, Balintraid
Balintraid
Balintraid is an industrial settlement, which was built largely in the 1970s with the growth of the North Sea oil industry in Scotland, lies on the north east corner of Nigg Bay, in the Cromarty Firth in Ross-shire, Scottish Highlands and is in the Scottish council area of Highland...
and Avoch
Avoch
Avoch is a harbour-village located on the south-east coast of the Black Isle, on the Moray Firth.Ormond Castle or Avoch Castle was a stronghold built on the site and served as a royal castle to William the Lion; passed on to the Morays of Petty then Archibald the Grim, Lord of Galloway, upon his...
. In 1847, there was near starvation in the village, and the villagers managed to maintain themselves on turnip
Turnip
The turnip or white turnip is a root vegetable commonly grown in temperate climates worldwide for its white, bulbous taproot. Small, tender varieties are grown for human consumption, while larger varieties are grown as feed for livestock...
s. However, the village population recovered; by the beginnings of the First World War, Evanton had taken much of its current physical shape, and at this point in time contained businesses as diverse as a tobacconist and a bicycle shop, both of which have subsequently disappeared.
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
airfield constructed near Evanton in 1922, on Alness Bay. It was first known as the "Novar Base", because of its location on the Novar Estates, then later as HMS Fieldfare
HMS Fieldfare
HMS Fieldfare, also known as RNAS Evanton and later as RAF Evanton, is a disused airfield in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland. It lies on the shore of the Cromarty Firth near the village of Evanton....
. It was serviced from Leuchars
RAF Leuchars
RAF Leuchars is the most northerly air defence station in the United Kingdom. It is located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland, near to the university town of St Andrews.-Operations:...
, and was used by the aircraft from the nearby Home Fleet base of Invergordon
Invergordon
Invergordon is a town and port in Easter Ross, in Ross and Cromarty, Highland, Scotland.-History:The town is well known for the Invergordon Mutiny of 1931. More recently it was also known for the repair of oil rigs which used to be lined up in the Cromarty Firth on which the town is situated...
. The largest aircraft to have landed there was a USAAF B17. On Empire Day, 1939, RAF bases all over the United Kingdom were opened to the public, and the Evanton Aerodrome was the most northerly location to participate, attracting 9000 visitors. The base closed in the 1970s. However, the oil boom of the 1970s caused radical expansion of the village. It has been growing steadily ever since.
Demographics
The modern village is on average a little younger than the Highland region in general. The population of Evanton varies depending on how it is calculated. The Evanton "Settlement Zone" is different from the Evanton "Settlement", and the former is of course larger. There are 671 households and 1678 inhabitants in total in the Evanton-zone. Evanton-settlement on its own however has only 1105 inhabitants. The population in both cases though is growing steadily, and the 1990s saw a moderate increase of 8.12% for the zone, rising from 1552 to 1678; and 10.72% for the settlement on its own, rising from 998 to 1105. Over two thirds of the houses in the zone are owner-occupied. Roughly 16.4% or 275 people who live in Evanton-zone were born outside of Scotland, almost always coming from England.Geography
Allt Graad
Allt Graad is a river in Easter Ross, Highland, Scotland. It is named on Ordnance Survey maps variously as Allt Graad and River Glass. It has also been known as the "Allt Grande", and the archaic Anglicization, "Aultgraad"....
and the River Sgitheach
River Sgitheach
River Sgitheach also known as Skiach or Skiack, is a river in Ross and Cromarty, Scotland...
. The Allt Graad, sometimes called the River Glass, is a picturesque river that flows from Loch Glass, near Ben Wyvis
Ben Wyvis
Ben Wyvis is a mountain located in Easter Ross, Ross and Cromarty, Highland, in northern Scotland, north-west of Dingwall. It forms an undulating ridge running roughly north-south for about 5 km, the highest summit of which is Glas Leathad Mòr...
, for 9 km (5½ miles) until it passes the northern end of the village, and empties into the Cromarty Firth. However, some 3 km (1.9 mi) before it reaches the Cromarty Firth, it passes through the Black Rock Gorge. The latter is a few hundred metres in length and reaches 36 metres (120 ft) in depth. In April, 2004, ten days of filming took place in the area for the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (film)
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is a 2005 fantasy film directed by Mike Newell and based on the novel of the same name by J. K. Rowling. It is the fourth instalment in the Harry Potter film series, written by Steve Kloves and produced by David Heyman...
and the Gorge is the setting for the scene where Harry is chased by a dragon. The River Sgitheach, sometimes written as Skiack or Skiach, is not as large a river as the Allt Graad and can run low in the summer. It flows from the mountains of inland Ross and is complemented by numerous other streams until it passes several waterfalls before flowing past the southern end of the village, and the northern end of the old settlement of Drummond, into the Cromarty Firth about 1 km from the mouth of the Allt Graad.
Economy
A significant but small percentage of people have employment in the oil industry owing to the proximity of oil rigs on the Cromarty Firth. Other locally significant industries include forestryForestry
Forestry is the interdisciplinary profession embracing the science, art, and craft of creating, managing, using, and conserving forests and associated resources in a sustainable manner to meet desired goals, needs, and values for human benefit. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands...
, tourism and catering. A significant number of people work in larger nearby localities, such as Inverness
Inverness
Inverness is a city in the Scottish Highlands. It is the administrative centre for the Highland council area, and is regarded as the capital of the Highlands of Scotland...
, Dingwall, Alness and Invergordon, which is why only 13% of households in the zone own no car. 10.4% of the population of the zone are self-employed, and 28% economically inactive, roughly corresponding with the Highland averages. There are also two hotels and two bars, which soak up much of the tourist income that the town generates.
There had been a distillery in the Evanton area of the Kiltearn parish as early as the eighteenth century, its existence being reported by Harry Robertson, the author of the late eighteenth century Kiltearn section of the late eighteenth century 1st Statistical Account. The Glen Skiack distillery opened in 1896 and only ever produced a relatively small amount of Whisky. However, the effects of the U.S. Prohibition
Prohibition
Prohibition of alcohol, often referred to simply as prohibition, is the practice of prohibiting the manufacture, transportation, import, export, sale, and consumption of alcohol and alcoholic beverages. The term can also apply to the periods in the histories of the countries during which the...
law, which damaged the income of all Scottish distilleries, proved too much for Glen Skiack, and the operation was forced to close in 1926. The building itself was demolished in 1933.
Transport
In 1860, the government decided to construct a railway line going from Inverness through Easter Ross. The line was completed by 1862, and the following year, on May 23, 1863, Evanton gained its own train station. However, the station was called Novar, and was not renamed "Evanton" until 1937. Sadly for the local economy, the station was closed in June 1960. The platforms remain there to this day, but the signal posts have been destroyed. The Inverness to Thurso railway line, known today as "Far North LineFar North Line
The Far North Line is a rural railway line entirely within the Highland area of Scotland, extending from Inverness to Thurso and Wick.- Route :...
", still passes by the seaward side of the town, and the trains can still be heard from a great distance. The nearest train station is Alness.
The A9, the great road connecting Edinburgh with Inverness and the far north, once ran through Evanton, on the path of Balconie Street. However, a bypass was created as part of a general scheme to shorten the journey between Inverness to Invergordon. This reduced the amount of traffic going through the village, but decreased the revenue available to local businesses. The road also cut through much of the farmland of the zone, distorting the shape of the fields. This was compounded by the closure of the filling station in the village. For those who do not have cars, the only means of transport is either by foot or by the #25 bus service operated by Stagecoach
Stagecoach
A stagecoach is a type of covered wagon for passengers and goods, strongly sprung and drawn by four horses, usually four-in-hand. Widely used before the introduction of railway transport, it made regular trips between stages or stations, which were places of rest provided for stagecoach travelers...
. Recently, the express service running from Inverness to Dornoch began to stop in Evanton. Now residents can travel from and to Inverness without the long diversion through Dingwall, making it easier to work in the city of Inverness without personal transport.
Culture
Today, one can see Gaelic written on the walls of the parish church, but the language has effectively died out, and English is totally dominant. Nevertheless, there are still some 72 residents (4.3%) of the village who know the language. The village is also a big location on the Highland folk-circuit, and enjoys a vibrant musical culture in the Gaelic tradition. It is a regular practice for local musicians to meet in the Balconie Inn, one of the two licenced establishments
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
of the town, and engage in evening-long sessions. Many prominent musicians on the Celtic music
Celtic music
Celtic music is a term utilised by artists, record companies, music stores and music magazines to describe a broad grouping of musical genres that evolved out of the folk musical traditions of the Celtic people of Western Europe...
scene have visited, including Eilidh Steel and Dougie MacLean
Dougie MacLean
Dougie MacLean OBE is a Scottish singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist.His career started with a traditional band, The Tannahill Weavers, in 1976. His solo career started in 1981 and since then he has recorded numerous albums...
.
Miscellaneous
Charitable organization
A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization . It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A charitable organization is a type of non-profit organization (NPO). It differs from other types of NPOs in that it centers on philanthropic goals A...
Blythswood Care.
The "naked rambler" Stephen Gough
Stephen Gough
Stephen Gough , also known as Steve Gough and the Naked Rambler, is a British former Royal Marine turned activist from Eastleigh, Hampshire, famous for walking the length of Great Britain from Land's End to John o' Groats in 2003–2004 with nothing on except boots, socks, rucksack and sometimes a...
was reported and arrested at Evanton in November, 2003. He was engaged in a naked trek through Britain. While walking through Evanton wearing only a hat, a backpack and boots, he was spotted and reported by a local resident. He was sentenced two months later at Dingwall Sheriff Court
Sheriff Court
Sheriff courts provide the local court service in Scotland, with each court serving a sheriff court district within a sheriffdom.Sheriff courts deal with a myriad of legal procedures which include:*Solemn and Summary Criminal cases...
. His arrest at Evanton meant that he still had one hundred miles to go in order to complete his journey. He completed his journey in January 2004 and repeated the feat in 2006.
Evanton was the venue for the premier of the 1st tour of the new Scottish National Theatre in 2006. Unable to find a suitable location in Inverness, the National Theatre chose to present "Home" at the studio of Arts In Motion, on the Evanton Industrial Estate.
Evanton has a number of public facilities including the Diamond Jubilee Hall, Chapel Road, builing work started in December 1897, Major Randle Jackson of Swordale House gave 50% of the building costs and the people of Evanton (Parish of Kiltearn) raised the rest. The hall opened on 5th of November 1898 with a grand concert over 500 people from the village attending. Diamond Jubilee Hall transfered from Highland Council to the Community on Thursday 29th September 2011. Evanton Sports Centre (opposite Kiltearn Primary School) is the other public facilies in the village which cateres for various sporting activities badminton, basketball, football and tennis. Evanton also has a good sized park at Teandallon. In recent years a local group of parents and young people has worked with Highland Council and various funding bodies to install a multisport area, a BMX track and a Half-Pipe ramp, a new playpark for toddlers was added in 2007 by EYE. In 2008 Highland Council upgraded the orginal park which was installed in 1970's.
Further reading
- Evanton Oral History Project (1991/2)available from Dingwall, Inverness and Alness Libraries and at www.spanglefish.com/evantonoralhistoryproject
External links
- 2001 Census, Evanton Zone
- Blythswood Care homepage
- Evanton Airforce Base, in ww2inthehighlands Local History
- Footstompin Evanton Folk Festival
- 'RailScot': "Inverness and Ross-shire Railway"
- SCRAN photograph of Novar Airfield
- Walking on "Fyrish Hill"
- General Register Office for Scotland Census analysis
- Undiscovered Scotland: Evanton
- Reids Highland Fare - Caterer and Wedding Cake Supplier in Evanton