County Dossier
Cromartyshire
Highland county of firths, fishing villages, castles.
Cromartyshire is a Highland county of highly unusual form. The medieval “old shire” was a hereditary sheriffdom on the Black Isle (An t-Eilean Dubh) peninsula on the Moray Firth (Cuan Mhoireibh), including the historic port of Cromarty (Crombaidh) itself.
At a glance
Cromartyshire at a glance
Highland county of firths, fishing villages, castles.
- Once Norse-Gaelic territory
- County from 17th century
- 'Cromartie-shire' in 1600s
- Area 370 sq mi 958 km²
- Population: 7,074
- County top: Sgurr Mor 3,642 ft / 1,110 m
County Geography
Cromartyshire is bounded on its landward sides by Ross-shire, while its maritime sections face the Moray Firth in the east and the Minch and Atlantic waters in the west. The county is shaped by the Black Isle coast, the detached Highland fragments, and the far western coast around Coigach and Ullapool.
Cromartyshire is recognisable precisely because its old eastern shire and detached Highland districts form an unusual county pattern.
Map Reference
View Cromartyshire on the map
Cromartyshire is the county. The map also shows lieutenancies and council areas that use the county name.
The county.
The lieutenancy.
Council areas.
Places and routes
Cromarty, Ullapool, Strathpeffer, and the Summer Isles show the county from its old Black Isle core to its western coastal and inland detached districts.
Connections
The county’s routes have never formed one continuous circuit, but they have long centred on Cromarty in the east and on Ullapool and the western coast beyond Ross. That discontinuous pattern is part of Cromartyshire’s county geography.
Names
- Cromartyshire
- County of Cromarty
- Siorrachd Chròmbaidh