Huna, Caithness
| Huna | |
| Caithness | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ND369732 |
| Location: | 58°38’31"N, 3°5’13"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Wick |
| Postcode: | KW1 |
| Dialling code: | 01955 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Highland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross |
Huna is a small, scattered, remote crofting township on the north coast of Caithness, overlooking the wild Pentland Firth, half a mile west of John o' Groats, and two miles northeast of Canisbay.
History
Huna is likely to have been an important sheltered port from Norse times and it has been suggested that it equates to Hofn, the recorded burial place in 980AD of Hloðvar Thorfinnsson the Norse Earl of Orkney. In ‘Placenames of Canisbay, Caithness, Huna is described as:
A crofting township two miles west from John o’ Groat’s, situated at the foot of the Mool Hill. Bordered on the west side by the burn of Huna, and on the east side by the Ness of Huna, a small crest–like peninsula which terminates in a beach. On Huna links are the remains of a Picts’ village and several burial cairns. It is supposed to be the burial place of earl Hloðver, who, the saga states, was buried at Hofn in Katanes, about 975. The haven of Huna is a sandy beach. O.N. hofn > ham in Orkney and Shetland, and there is a Ham in Dunnet adjoining an earth-house. Myrkkol, now Murkle, where Hloðver’s brother, earl Arnfinnr, lived, is much nearer Ham than Huna. In Caithness charter, 1574, Hwnaye; 1777 Houna. Cf. Huney in Shetland, O.N. Húna-ey, the island of a man Húni. O.N. *Húna-á, the burn of Húni. Cosmo Innes in Orig. Par. Scot. suggested, “Huna appears to be the Hofn where earl Hlodver was buried” – a suggestion which apparently arose from an impossible derivation.
John o’ Groat (Jan de Grot) ran a ferry from Huna to Orkney c1500 and a mail service between Huna and South Ronaldsay began in 1819.
Archaeology
The following sites are recorded on Highland Council’s Historic Environment Record (HER)
- MHG 1735 and MHG 39848 Site of Norse building and midden at ND 3592 7357 Drystone walling and midden material within a sand mound
- MHG 2525 Mound, boat burial at ND 3599 7363 Recorded by Curle in 1935 as eroding out of the sand at the top of the bank, and containing wood, rivets, chain and metal objects.
- MHG 1742 Mound, boat burial at ND 3610 7360. Probably an incorrect location and confused with the above site, now overlaid by recent building work and landscaping (1982)
- MHG 1743 Mound, Norse walling at ND 3603 7365. Mound measuring 15m by 9.8m with exposed walling, but now obscured by modern rubbish dumping (1982)
- MHG 1739 Banked enclosure at ND 3623 7352. Cropmark measuring 25m in diameter but no visible evidence on the ground
The first four of these sites occupy the crest of the rise from the shoreline to the west of Huna House, while the last is in the field to the NE of the field in which the present development is located.
Property Ownership
Over the last 2,000 years Huna has been owned as a part of the greater area of Caithness under wider ownership such as the Pictish Kingdoms and later the Estates of Mey. The possibility of individual ownership of land and property within Huna and nearby townships did not occur until 1952 when the estates of Mey were broken up and sold by Captain Fredrick Bouhier Imbert-Terry, including the sale of individual crofts within Huna.
From 1335 the estaes were held by the Crown, and granted to the Earl of Caithness from 1375 until forfeiture in 1437, then in 1452 it was granted to George Crichton the Earl of Caithness by 3rd Creation, reverting to the Crown on his death soon after.[1]
In 1455 the estates were granted to William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness by 4th creation, whose heitrs retained it until a bequest in 1889 to Mr F G Heathcote (Sinclair), whose widow sold the state to Captain Fredrick Bouhier Imbert-Terry. In 1952 the estate was broken up.
Outside links
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