Latheronwheel
| Latheronwheel | |
| Caithness | |
|---|---|
 Latheronwheel Harbour | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ND195329 |
| Location: | 58°16’39"N, 3°22’27"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Latheron |
| Postcode: | KW5 6 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Highland |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross |
Latheronwheel is a small village, in Caithness, five miles southwest of Lybster on the A9 road to Helmsdale, near the junction with the A99 road to the county town Wick, which lies in the equally small village of Latheron.
Although the name 'Latheronwheel' sounds robustly Norse like most of the placenames of Caithness, it is a modern name, and is derived from the Gaelic Latharn a' Phuill, meaning 'muddy place of the pool'.[1]
The village is at the mouth of a wide valley, through which flows a small river which shares the village's name.
Latheronwheel was built on the land of one Captain Dunbar (who had actually wished for it to be called Janetston, after his wife). It was a planned settlement, begun in 1835 with the building of a hotel (then known as 'Dunbar’s Hotel' but today as 'The Blends' - due to its proprietor in the 1890s penchant for blending whisky from stills of dubious legality). In the beginning, tenants of the settlement were allocated two acres and the right to fish from the harbour.
The harbour was constructed around 1840, with a small lighthouse (soon disused) built on the southern headland. At one time was the home of 50 boats although few now remain. Initially salmon was caught, but this gave way to herring.
The Village is home to the four star Craiglea holiday complex.
Outside links
References
- ↑ Gaelic and Norse in the Landscape: Placenames in Caithness and Sutherland. Scottish National Heritage.