Ross and Cromarty
Ross and Cromarty (Scottish Gaelic: Ros agus Cromba), also referred to as Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, is a variously defined area in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. There is a registration county and a lieutenancy area in current use, the latter of which is 8,019 square kilometres (3,096 square miles) in extent. Historically there has also been a constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (1832 to 1983), a local government county (1890 to 1975), a district of the Highland local government region (1975 to 1996) and a management area of the Highland Council (1996 to 2007). The local government county is now divided between two local government areas: the Highland area and Na h-Eileanan Siar (the Western Isles). Ross and Cromarty border Sutherland to the north and Inverness-shire to the south.
The county was formed by the uniting of the shires of Ross-shire and Cromartyshire. Both these shires had themselves been formed from the historic province of Ross, out of which the many enclaves and exclaves that formed Cromartyshire were carved out, leaving the remaining area to become Ross-shire.[1] These parcels of land were for many purposes administered as part of Ross-shire rather than Cromartyshire.[1][2][3] The county also included the Isle of Lewis, however this is not part of the modern lieutenancy area (which instead includes the Isle of Skye), although Lewis is part of the current registration county.
Eilean Bàn from the Skye Bridge, looking towards Kyle of Lochalsh
Shag birds on Longa Island
The Isle of Ewe
Cave on Garbh Eilean, Shiant Isles
Seana Chnoc (at left) and Bearasaigh from the south west. Stac nam Balg is just visible to the left of Seanna Chnoc
Parliamentary constituency[edit]
The name Ross and Cromarty was first used for the Ross and Cromarty county constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1832 to 1983. As created in 1832, the constituency merged two former county constituencies: the Ross-shire constituency and the Cromartyshire constituency, and it elected a Member of Parliament to represent the counties of Ross-shire and Cromartyshire, minus their parliamentary burghs, Dingwall, Tain and Fortrose, which were represented as components of the Wick burghs constituency and the Inverness burghs constituency.
Constituency boundaries were altered in 1918, by the Representation of the People Act 1918, and the Ross and Cromarty constituency acquired the boundaries of the county of Ross and Cromarty, including the former parliamentary burghs, but minus Stornoway and Lewis, which became part of a new constituency, the Western Isles constituency.
In 1983, the Ross, Cromarty and Skye constituency was created to represent the then Ross and Cromarty district and Skye and Lochalsh district. The Kincardine area joined the Caithness and Sutherland constituency.
Lieutenancy area[edit]
Lieutenancy areas are subdivisions used for the ceremonial lord lieutenants, the monarch's representatives. The Ross and Cromarty lieutenancy area combines the areas of two former districts of the Highland region: Ross and Cromarty, and Skye and Lochalsh. The area therefore includes the mainland part of the registration county and former administrative county of Ross and Cromarty, excluding Kincardine, with the addition of the Isle of Skye, which is in the registration county (and former administrative county) of Inverness-shire.