72-401: The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a historic county and registration county in eastern Scotland, administered as part of Perth and Kinross since 1975. Surrounding its largest settlement and county town of Kinross , the county borders Perthshire to the north and Fife to the east, south and west. Scotland's second smallest county, Kinross-shire is dominated by Loch Leven ,
144-684: A burgh of barony in 1540/1 and became a burgh of regality in 1685. In 1864 it became a police burgh with an elected town council. It continued to exist until 1975. The county was anciently divided into a number of parishes: Cleish, Orwell (containing the market town of Milnathort), Kinross and Portmoak were entirely in Kinross-shire. The parishes of Arngask , Fossoway, Tulliebole and Forgandenny were partly in Perthshire. From 1845 they were used for local government purposes and governed by parochial boards. The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 created
216-532: A county of a city . The boundaries of the counties of cities were periodically expanded as their urban areas grew. With the exception of the four counties of cities, the other burghs which had been excluded from county council control in 1890 were all placed under the authority of the county councils in 1930. Under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 , the county councils of the two least populous counties, Kinross-shire and Nairnshire, were each paired with
288-508: A lieutenancy area . It is bordered by Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus , Dundee , and Fife to the east, Clackmannanshire to the south, and Stirling and Argyll and Bute to the west. Geographically the area is split by the Highland Boundary Fault into a more mountainous northern part and a flatter southern part. The northern area is a popular tourist spot, while agriculture makes an important contribution to
360-465: A lord-lieutenant . Following the union of Scotland and England under the Acts of Union 1707 , the term 'county' came to be used interchangeably with the older term 'shire'. From 1748 onwards sheriffs ceased to be automatically appointed to a single shire, with progressively larger sheriffdoms created instead, grouping multiple shires under a single sheriff. Elected county councils were created in 1890 under
432-528: A boundary commission to ensure that all civil parishes lay within a single county. After the boundary changes the county contained five parishes: Fossoway (No. 1 on map), Orwell (2), Kinross (3), Portmoak (4) and Cleish (5). From 1894 elected parish councils replaced the parochial boards. These in turn were abolished in 1930, and the powers they had exercised passed to the county council. Parishes continue to be used today for statistical purposes, though they no longer have any administrative function. Kinross-shire
504-457: A county basis after 1975 were very few, principally relating to land registration, in which capacity they are known as registration counties . Local government was reorganised again in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 , with the regions and districts being replaced by 32 single-tier council areas . Some of the council areas have the same names as historic counties, but may cover significantly different areas. For example,
576-471: A large area in the south-west of the county which went to the new Stirling district, Muckhart which went to Clackmannan district, and Longforgan which went to the city of Dundee . Perth and Kinross also included the parish of Kettins from Angus . A lieutenancy area covering the same area as the new district was created at the same time. In 1996, local government in Scotland was reformed again under
648-403: A large inland loch , with two islands and an internationally important nature reserve . One of the islands contains a castle, where Mary, Queen of Scots was once held prisoner. Much of the land in Kinross-shire is fertile agricultural land and most of the inhabitants were originally employed in farming. The gently-rolling farmland surrounding Loch Leven gives way to steep, more rugged terrain at
720-559: A larger neighbour; Nairnshire with Moray, and Kinross-shire with Perthshire. The county councils of these four counties continued to be elected separately, but most functions were provided through them acting as the "joint county councils" of Perth & Kinross and Moray & Nairn. In 1963 the Government published a white paper which proposed a reduction in the number of counties from thirty-four to between ten and fifteen. A process of consultation between county councils and officials from
792-443: A ruling in abstract terms, as the answer depended on the context; they were one shire for the purposes of the administration of justice, lieutenancy , and parliamentary constituencies , but formed two shires for local government functions. The commissioners were gradually given other local government functions. The commissioners did not exercise powers over any royal burghs within their areas, which were self-governing. In 1707,
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#1732845130998864-496: A single county called Ross and Cromarty , and resolved the ambiguity regarding Orkney and Shetland by declaring them to be two separate counties (using the then-prevalent spelling of 'Zetland' for Shetland), after which there were 33 counties. The act also triggered a review of parish and county boundaries to eliminate exclaves and cases where parishes straddled county boundaries. Most of the resulting boundary changes took effect in 1891. The amended boundaries were not just used for
936-488: Is Perth and Kinross Council, which meets at 2 High Street, Perth . Perth and Kinross is covered by two Scottish Parliament constituencies and one electoral region. Following the 2021 Scottish Parliament election these two constituencies— Perthshire South and Kinross-shire and Perthshire North —are held respectively by Jim Fairlie and John Swinney , both members of the Scottish National Party . Following
1008-563: Is bisected north–south by the M90 motorway , which links Kinross to Perth in the north and Dunfermline in the south. The A911 enables west to east travel across the county. There are no railway stations; previously there was one at Kinross however this is no longer open. From 1426 the county returned one member to the Parliament of Scotland . Following the Act of Union , Kinross-shire returned members to
1080-578: Is landlocked and is generally flat, except in the north-west where the Ochil Hills are located, and along the southern boundary where the Cleish Hills can be found. The Ochils contain Innerdouny Hill, Kinross-shire's highest point at 497 m (1,631 ft). The most notable geographic feature of the county is Loch Leven which is also an important nature reserve; there are also several islands within
1152-562: The Aberdeenshire council area is much larger than the historic county of Aberdeenshire, also including most of the historic county of Kincardineshire and part of Banffshire , whereas the Renfrewshire council area is much smaller than historic Renfrewshire, only covering the central part of the historic county. Conversely, Fife retained the same boundaries at both the 1975 and 1996 reforms. The historic counties of Scotland are included in
1224-653: The Act of Union united Scotland with England . England also had shires , which had been mostly created in Anglo-Saxon times, and had gradually also come to be known as counties. The word 'county' means an area controlled by a noble called a count in Norman French , or earl in English. Following the Norman conquest , England's earldoms (which, like Scotland's provinces, had previously covered substantially different territories to
1296-613: The House of Commons in Westminster. Due to its small population, it was never a constituency in its own right: instead it alternated with Clackmannanshire, a member being returned for one county at one parliament and for the other at the next. The Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832 merged the two counties into a single constituency, Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire . In 1918, House of Commons seats were redistributed, and Kinross-shire
1368-544: The Index of Place Names (IPN) published by the Office for National Statistics . Each "place" included in the IPN is related to the historic county it lies within, as well as to a set of administrative areas. None of the counties' legal names included the suffix 'shire'. Those counties named after towns therefore had the same name as the town, but were routinely referred to in legal contexts as
1440-576: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 , taking most of the functions of the commissioners of supply. The county councils were abolished in 1975, when local government was reorganised. Following another reorganisation in 1996, Scotland is now divided into 32 council areas . Some of the council areas share names with the historic counties, but in most such cases they have notable differences in their boundaries. The historic counties are still used for certain limited functions, serving as registration counties . There are also lieutenancy areas which are based on
1512-635: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , which replaced Scotland's counties, burghs and landward districts with a two-tier structure of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts . Kinross-shire became part of the Perth and Kinross district in the Central region . Further local government reforms in 1996 under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 saw the regions and districts created in 1975 abolished and replaced with council areas providing all local government services. Perth and Kinross district became one of
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#17328451309981584-474: The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 . Mainland Scotland's counties, burghs and landward districts were replaced with a two-tier structure of upper-tier regions and lower-tier districts. Perth and Kinross was created as one of the districts within the Tayside region. As established in 1975, Perth and Kinross covered the whole of Kinross-shire, and the majority of the pre-1975 Perthshire, with three exceptions:
1656-403: The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 . The regions and districts were abolished and replaced by unitary council areas. One such area was named by the 1994 Act as 'Perthshire and Kinross', covering the area of the 1975–1996 district of Perth and Kinross, plus an area transferred from Dundee roughly matching the pre-1975 parish of Longforgan. The shadow authority elected in 1995 to oversee
1728-458: The Middle Ages for judicial purposes, being territories over which a sheriff had jurisdiction. They were distinct from the various older mormaerdoms , earldoms and other territories into which Scotland was also divided, which are collectively termed the provinces of Scotland by modern historians. The provinces gradually lost their functions, whereas the shires gradually gained functions. From
1800-513: The Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1868 , generally being divided into smaller constituencies. The group of constituencies within each county was termed the 'parliamentary county'. Elected county councils were introduced in 1890 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 , taking most of the functions of the commissioners of supply, which were eventually abolished in 1930. The 1889 Act also merged Ross-shire and Cromartyshire into
1872-530: The Scottish Office was begun to effect the amalgamations. Following a change of government, it was announced in 1965 that a "more comprehensive and authoritative" review of local government areas would be undertaken. In 1966 a Royal Commission on Local Government in Scotland, chaired by Lord Wheatley , was appointed. The commission's report in 1969 recommended the replacement of the counties with larger regions. In 1970 another change in government control
1944-495: The "Perth and Kinross Joint County Council", serving the combined area of the two counties. Kinross County Council did perform some roles alone after 1930, notably acting as the district council for Kinross-shire, which was considered too small to be divided into districts. The county council remained based at the County Buildings until its abolition in 1975. Kinross-shire was abolished as an administrative area in 1975 under
2016-574: The "Shire" suffix a separate word, as for example "Berwick Shire", "Roxburgh Shire", "the Shire of Selkirk otherwise known as Etterick Forest", and in the north to "Murray" (Moray), "Inverness Shire", "Aberdeen Shire", "Banff Shire", "Ross Shire". The map of Boswell's and Johnson's A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland (1773) gives "Shire" to every one shown, including "Angus Shire" and "Fife Shire". The Ordnance Survey 's official maps produced from
2088-506: The 'shire of X' or 'county of X' in order to distinguish the county from the town. However, in general usage, many of the counties had 'shire' appended to their names, particularly those named after towns. The first detailed county maps of Scotland were produced in the late 17th century. John Adair's maps of c. 1682 included the names of Midlothian , East Lothian , Twaddall and Wast Lothian (the latter also as "Linlithgowshire" ). The county maps of Herman Moll (c. 1745) preferred to keep
2160-603: The 14th century, but there were more pronounced changes to the shires of the Highlands and Islands into the 17th century, as the Scottish crown sought to consolidate its authority over the whole kingdom. From the 17th century the shires started to be used for local administration apart from judicial functions. In 1667 Commissioners of Supply were appointed in each shire to collect the land tax. There were 33 shires at that time, which were each given their own commissioners of supply, with
2232-412: The 16th century, the shires served as constituencies , electing shire commissioners to the Parliament of Scotland . From 1667 each shire had commissioners of supply responsible for collecting local taxes; the commissioners of supply were subsequently given various local government functions as well. From 1797, the shires also served as areas for organising the militia , which was the responsibility of
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2304-416: The 19th century onwards adopted the practice of adding 'shire' to the end of the name of each shire named after a town, and also used the names Argyllshire, Buteshire, Ross-shire (prior to its merger with Cromartyshire in 1889) and Morayshire, despite those four not being named after towns. Some counties had alternative names by which they were sometimes known. In five cases the legal name was changed during
2376-481: The 20th century: Other alternative names sometimes used informally included 'The Mearns' for Kincardineshire, 'Tweeddale' for Peeblesshire, 'Ettrick Forest' for Selkirkshire, and 'Teviotdale' for Roxburghshire. Until the 1930s, the General Post Office advised against included county names in addresses, recommending they only be used in those cases where it was necessary to distinguish between post towns with
2448-669: The Park music festival was held in Balado from 1993 to 2014. The economic outlook of Kinross-shire has improved and was recorded in 2009 as having an estimated population of 12,997. In addition, it outperformed both the Perth and Kinross area and Scotland averages in economic performance. The area is promoted by the Kinross-shire Partnership, a body bringing together local government, tourist organisations and local organisations. Kinross-shire
2520-475: The Post Office used the form Morayshire, and used Ross-shire for the mainland part of Ross and Cromarty. Otherwise, it omitted the 'shire' suffix. The Post Office also used the spelling 'Shetland' rather than the legal spelling of 'Zetland'. The county council of Dunbartonshire considered a motion to change that county's name to 'Lennox' in 1956. Supporters of the idea argued that as well as bringing back into use
2592-548: The area between highland Perthshire, including part of the Grampian Mountains , to the north, and lowland Perthshire and Kinross to the south. The highland area is intersected with glacial valleys , often containing ribbon lakes , including Loch Tay and Loch Earn . The lowland area is a fertile region lying within the Central Lowlands . In the southern part of Perth and Kinross agriculture plays an important part of
2664-410: The authority of the county councils. Following the example of Edinburgh, three of the burghs outside county council control were subsequently also made independent from their host county for other functions too, with the provost of such burghs acting as lieutenant, being Glasgow in 1893, Dundee in 1894, and Aberdeen in 1899. Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow were then each known as
2736-467: The basis for the authority of the earls and other nobles in their provinces. Those office holders who were displaced were compensated. The reforms of 1748 therefore saw the effective end of any meaningful function for the provinces, with the shires or counties thereafter being the main administrative divisions of Scotland. Also in 1748, under the Sheriffs (Scotland) Act 1747 , the office of sheriff principal
2808-464: The counties and the parliamentary counties, which was resolved when constituencies were next reviewed in 1918 . Secondly, valuation rolls continued to have effect over the area for which they had been originally compiled. Thirdly, any ecclesiastical rights or jurisdictions were unaffected by the changes to boundaries (a provision more relevant to the parish changes than the county ones). Burghs were towns with certain rights of self-government. Prior to
2880-426: The county, with the exception of the burgh of Edinburgh , which from 1482 had appointed its own sheriff. Edinburgh was thereafter sometimes described as the "city and county of the city of Edinburgh" to distinguish it from the surrounding "county of Edinburgh" (Midlothian). When county councils were created in 1890, the 26 largest burghs were allowed to retain their independence, but smaller burghs were placed under
2952-457: The division of the country (as it then was) into shires by the conversion of existing thanedoms . The shires occasionally covered the same area as a province; for example, the shire of Forfar covered the same area as the province of Angus . More often though, the shires were groupings or subdivisions of the provinces. For example, the province of Lothian was covered by the three shires of Linlithgow , Edinburgh and Haddington . Conversely,
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3024-455: The exception of the sheriffdom of Orkney and Shetland, where separate bodies of commissioners were created for each group of islands. Orkney and Shetland having one sheriff but two sets of commissioners of supply led to ambiguity about their status. At a court case in 1829, the Court of Session was asked to rule on whether Shetland and Orkney formed one shire or two. The court declined to give such
3096-582: The functions of the commissioners (which were eventually abolished in 1930). Kinross County Council held its first meeting on 22 May 1890 at the County Buildings in Kinross, the courthouse (built 1826) which also served as the meeting place for the commissioners. The 1889 Act also led to a review of boundaries, with exclaves being transferred to a county they actually bordered, and parishes which straddled more than one county being adjusted such that each parish
3168-507: The government of Scotland. The document listed the twenty-three shires then existing and either appointed new sheriffs or continued heritable sheriffs in office. The remaining shires were formed either by the territorial expansion of the Kingdom of Scotland , or by the subdivision of existing sheriffdoms. There were occasional changes to the shires; those of the Lowlands were relatively stable from
3240-485: The grouped shires were nevertheless still considered separate shires, retaining separate commissioners of supply. In 1794 Lord-Lieutenants were appointed to each county, and in 1797 county militia regiments were raised, bringing Scotland into line with England, Wales and Ireland. In 1858 police forces were established in each shire under the Police (Scotland) Act 1857 . The counties lost their role as constituencies under
3312-428: The historic counties, but with some notable differences. The early Kingdom of Alba was subdivided into smaller territories under the control of various ranks of noble, including mormaers , earls , and thanes . As Alba expanded and evolved into the Kingdom of Scotland , it took in various other territories as it grew. There was no single collective term for these territories at the time, but modern historians now use
3384-407: The introduction of county councils in 1890, there were two main types: royal burghs and police burghs . Some burghs were additionally classed as parliamentary burghs , excluding them from the constituency of the wider county. Royal burghs were independent from the county's commissioners of supply, but police burghs were not. Both types of burgh were subject to the authority of the sheriff court of
3456-506: The local economy. This includes the cultivation of fruits, fodder, wheat and seed potatoes. The scenic nature of the northern part of Perth and Kinross makes tourism an important part of the economy. The Forestry Commission controls large parts of the area, which is also home to a number of hydroelectric dams . 47,350 9,240 7,280 5,840 5,610 5,030 2,920 2,880 2,370 2,220 1,950 1,940 1,900 1,750 1,630 1,500 1,490 1,420 1,390 1,370 The local authority
3528-471: The local government functions of the county councils, but were also applied for all other administrative functions, including justice, militia, school boards and other functions, with just three exceptions. Firstly, the boundary changes did not affect any parliamentary constituencies, which remained as they were when last reviewed under the Redistribution of Seats Act 1885 . This led to some divergence between
3600-520: The loch, the largest of which is St Serf's Inch (the others are Alice's Bower, Castle Island, Reed Bower, Roy's Folly and Scart Island). A much smaller body of water – the Arnot Reservoir – is located to the east of Loch Leven. On the far northern border a portion of the Glenfarg Reservoir lies within the county. Kinross-shire contained only one burgh, Kinross. The burgh was originally created
3672-404: The main administrative body for the area until the creation of county councils in 1890. Cleish , Portmoak and Tullibole were added to Kinross-shire in 1685. Following the Acts of Union in 1707, the English term "county" came to be used interchangeably with the older term "shire". Elected county councils were established in 1890 under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 , taking most of
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#17328451309983744-417: The name of the old province which had covered the area, it would eliminate the long-standing confusion caused by the county using the spelling 'Dunbarton' and the town the spelling 'Dumbarton'. The change was not pursued. Not shown: Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross ( Scots : Pairth an Kinross ; Scottish Gaelic : Peairt agus Ceann Rois ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland , and
3816-416: The new council areas. The boundaries of the historic county of Kinross-shire are still used for some limited official purposes connected with land registration, being a registration county . The county suffered a decline in population in the 19th and 20th centuries, as its inhabitants migrated to the cities to find work in manufacturing, etc. The population in 1891 was 6,673; in 1971 it was 6,423. The decline
3888-446: The outskirts of the county. The Kinross-shire area was anciently part of the province of Fothriff . By the early thirteenth century, Fothriff had been joined to the earldom of Fife . Sometime between the reign of David I (reigned 1124–1153) and the mid-thirteenth century, this part of Scotland was divided into shires , being areas administered by a sheriff . By 1252 there was a sheriff of Kinross, initially with authority over just
3960-505: The pleasure of the monarch. Following the unsuccessful Jacobite Rising of 1745 the government took the opportunity of overhauling county government. In 1748, under the Heritable Jurisdictions (Scotland) Act 1746 , hereditary sheriffs were abolished, with the right to appoint all sheriffs returning to the crown. The same act also abolished other hereditary jurisdictions including regality, justiciary and others; these had formed
4032-771: The same election the electoral region— Mid Scotland and Fife —is represented by four members of the Scottish Conservatives , two members of Scottish Labour , and one member of the Scottish Greens . Perth and Kinross is covered by three United Kingdom Parliament constituencies ; Perth and Kinross-shire , Angus and Perthshire Glens and Stirling and Strathallan . Following the 2024 UK Parliamentary General Election these seats are respectively held by Pete Wishart (Scottish National Party), Dave Doogan (Scottish National Party) and Chris Kane (Labour Party). On 18 September 2014, Perth and Kinross voted strongly "No" in
4104-492: The same name. The Post Office changed its policy in the 1930s, requiring the name of the county in which the post town lay to be included in most cases, with the exception of certain post towns which were large and well-known places, or which gave their names to their counties. Like the Ordnance Survey, the Post Office appended 'shire' to the legal name for all counties named after towns. For counties not named after towns,
4176-469: The sheriffs. Despite the shires of Scotland not being controlled by a count or earl as their English counterparts had once been, following the union of 1707, the term 'county' also came to be used for Scottish shires. The office of sheriff or steward had become hereditary in certain families in the majority of sheriffdoms. At the accession of George II in 1727, twenty-two sheriffs were hereditary, three were appointed for life and only eight held office at
4248-411: The shire of Ayr covered the three provinces of Carrick , Cunninghame and Kyle . Shires were sometimes created which did not endure. For example, there was a Sheriff of Dingwall in the mid-13th century, and in 1293 shires of Lorn and Kintyre were created, which were later merged into the shire of Argyll . In 1305 Edward I of England , who had deposed John Balliol , issued an ordinance for
4320-557: The shires) were reorganised to generally correspond to individual shires, which therefore also became known as counties. Unlike in England, Scotland's shires remained quite distinct territories from its earldoms and other provinces in 1707. Whereas English earls by that time had little or no role in local administration, Scottish earls and other nobles continued to exercise significant authority in their provinces, having powers of regality to hold courts which operated in parallel with those of
4392-425: The southern part of the area. The area is run by Perth and Kinross Council , which is based in Perth . The area takes its name from the two historical shires of Perthshire and Kinross-shire . Each was administered by a sheriff from medieval times, supplemented by commissioners of supply from 1667 and then by a county council from 1890. Perthshire was one of the largest counties, whereas Kinross-shire
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#17328451309984464-580: The term provinces , or provincial lordships for the smaller ones. Malcolm III (reigned 1058 to 1093) appears to have introduced sheriffs as part of a policy of imitating the administrative structures then being used in England by its Norman rulers. The provinces formed part of the feudal hierarchy of land ownership, but justice was administered by sheriffs, appointed to separately defined shires. More shires were created by Edgar (reigned 1097 to 1107), Alexander I (reigned 1107 to 1124), and in particular David I (reigned 1124 to 1153). David completed
4536-465: The transition requested a change of name from 'Perthshire and Kinross' to 'Perth and Kinross' in December 1995, which was agreed by the government before the new council area came into force on 1 April 1996. The Perth and Kinross lieutenancy area was adjusted to match the new council area in 1996. The Highland Boundary Fault runs across the region from the northeast to the southwest. This roughly divides
4608-470: The two parishes of Kinross and Orwell . Over time, Scotland's shires became more significant than the old provinces, with more administrative functions being given to the sheriffs. The larger earldom of Fife was therefore gradually eclipsed in importance by the smaller shire of Fife and the two other small shires within the earldom, being Kinross-shire and Clackmannanshire . In 1667 Commissioners of Supply were established for each shire, which would serve as
4680-410: Was administered by larger sheriffdoms and counties no longer served as constituencies. As part of the 1975 reforms, lord-lieutenants ceased to be appointed to counties, instead being appointed to new lieutenancy areas based on groups of the new districts. The lieutenancy areas loosely corresponded to the pre-1975 counties, but with some notable differences. The administrative functions left operating on
4752-494: Was combined with part of Perthshire to form the constituency of Kinross and Western Perthshire . This constituency continued in existence until 1983. The Kinross County Council received a grant of arms from Lord Lyon King of Arms on 18 May 1927. The arms depict Lochleven Castle . The motto adopted was "for all time": at the time of the grant the county council was campaigning to retain its independence from its larger neighbour Perthshire. When Perth and Kinross District Council
4824-480: Was entirely in a single county. There were several such changes affecting the boundaries of Kinross-shire. Kinross-shire was the least populous of the Scottish counties at the 1921 census , with fewer than 8,000 people. Due to its low population, the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 combined the county councils of Kinross-shire and neighbouring Perthshire for most purposes in 1930. The two councils continued to be elected as separate bodies, but operated together as
4896-443: Was followed by the publication of a white paper in 1971 implementing the commission's reforms in a modified form. The abolition of counties "for local government purposes" was enacted by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 , with counties playing no part in local government after 16 May 1975, being replaced by regions and districts. The counties had already lost almost all their non-local government functions by this time; justice
4968-545: Was granted arms in 1977, the Kinross-shire arms were placed on an inescutcheon , or small shield, in the centre of the new arms. These arms continue in use by the current Perth and Kinross Council. 56°15′N 3°25′W / 56.250°N 3.417°W / 56.250; -3.417 Counties of Scotland The Shires of Scotland ( Scottish Gaelic : Siorrachdan na h-Alba ; Scots : Scots coonties ), or Counties of Scotland , were historic subdivisions of Scotland . The shires were originally established in
5040-661: Was hastened by the closure of the railways in the county soon after the Second World War . However, in recent years, construction of the M90 motorway north of the Forth Road Bridge has resulted in the area becoming more prominent. Tourism has increased, with visitors attracted by the unspoiled country villages and gently rolling hills reaching the shores of Loch Leven. The villages of Kinnesswood and Scotlandwell are attractive, and there are ancient standing stones at Orwell. The T in
5112-422: Was one of the smallest; it was the least populous Scottish county in the 1921 census . In 1930 the county councils for Perthshire and Kinross-shire were combined for most purposes. The two councils continued to be elected as separate bodies, but operated together as the 'Perth and Kinross Joint County Council', serving the combined area of the two counties. Local government was reformed in Scotland in 1975 under
5184-421: Was reduced to a largely ceremonial one, with a sheriff depute or sheriff substitute appointed to each 'county, shire or stewartry'. Twelve of the smallest counties were paired to form sheriffdoms, a process of amalgamation that was to continue until the twentieth century, and thus led to the sheriffdoms and the shires having different boundaries. Where multiple shires were grouped into a single sheriffdom after 1748,
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