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Wick Wick is a royal burgh, and the traditional county town of Caithness. Wick straddles Wick River now, after originally being built on the north side, with Pulteneytown being added during the Herring boom of the 19th Century. It has a population of approximately 9000. It is on the A99 road that links John O' Groats to the South (City of Inverness), has rail links to Thurso and to the South, and has its own small airport on the Northern side of the town. Wick history stretches back at least as far as the era of Norse rule in Caithness. The word Wick is thought to be from a Norse word 'Vik', which means 'bay'.In the early 19th Century Pulteneytown was created as a major new Herring fishing town. It was commissioned by Sir William Johnstone Pulteney, a governor of the British Fisheries Society, who it was named after when he died in 1805. During the boom period of the Herring Industry up to the Great War, the harbour was expanded again by local ship-builder James Bremner. This era of Wick's history is documented extensively in the Wick Heritage Centre. The area of Pulteneytown was home to the original Caithness Glass factory. Pulteneytown is also home to the
Old Pulteney Distillery, which still produces Old Pulteney Single Malt whisky.
It was established in 1826 when Pulteneytown was still quite new as a Herring
fishing port. It is the most northerly distillery in Scotland and was quite
inaccessable when first established. The Barley was shipped in by sea, and the
whisky sent out the same way. The whisky it produces has characteristics which
is attributed to exposure to sea air. Caithness History The landscape of Caithness has
many remains dating back to pre-historic times, including the Grey Cairns of
Camster, Hill O' Many Stanes and over 100 brochs. The Vikings arrived in the
10th Century and many of the place names and a few of the surnames are Norse in
origin. Caithness had its sovereignty disputed for many years between Scotland and the Norweigan Earldom of Orkney. It wasn't until the treaty of Perth in 1266 that Norway recognised Caithness as Scottish. See Caithness.org for
further information on history and other related links. |
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