47-543: Novar House is an 18th-century building, located 0.7 miles north of the village of Evanton in Ross , Scotland. It is built on the site of an earlier castle. The Munros of Novar descend from John Munro, 1st of Milntown , who in turn was the second son of Hugh Munro, 9th Baron of Foulis (d.1425). The lands of the Novar Estate were acquired in 1589 from William Keith of Delny by Neil Munro of Swordale, whose brother Andrew Munro
94-493: A dower house for Novar House. US President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife, Eleanor , spent part of their honeymoon there. Assynt House was later the home of the artist Lady Isobel Blunt-Mackenzie (1922–1962), sister of the 4th Earl of Cromartie , and her husband Captain Oscar Linda, son of General Maximilian Linda of Zakopane , Poland. By 2002 it had fallen into disrepair. It has since been refurbished and operates as
141-722: A capacity of 3.5MW. The Allt Graad flows 9 km (5½ miles) from Loch Glass through Glen Glass past Evanton into the Cromarty Firth . Between Glen Glass and Evanton it flows through the Black Rock Gorge , associated in local tradition with the Lady of Balconie . It meets the sea about a mile from the mouth of the River Sgitheach . 57°40′0″N 4°22′12″W / 57.66667°N 4.37000°W / 57.66667; -4.37000 This Highland location article
188-471: A grand concert over 500 people from the village attending. Diamond Jubilee Hall transferred from The Highland Council to the community in September 2011. Evanton Sports Centre (opposite Kiltearn Primary School) is the other public facility in the village that caters for various sporting activities such as badminton, basketball, football and tennis. Evanton also has a good sized park at Teandallon. In recent years
235-411: A local group of parents and young people has worked with Highland Council and various funding bodies to install a multisport area, a BMX track and a Half-Pipe ramp, a new playpark for toddlers was added in 2007 by EYE. In 2008 Highland Council upgraded the original park which was installed in the 1970s. Allt Graad The Allt Graad ( Scottish Gaelic : Allt Grànnda : Ugly Stream) or River Glass
282-510: A local resident. He was sentenced two months later at Dingwall Sheriff Court . His arrest at Evanton meant that he still had 100 miles (160 km) to go to complete his journey. He completed his journey in January 2004 and repeated the feat in 2006. Evanton was the venue for the premier of the 1st tour of the new Scottish National Theatre in 2006. Unable to find a suitable location in Inverness,
329-558: A luxury holiday house for private rental. 57°40′48″N 4°19′33″W / 57.68000°N 4.32583°W / 57.68000; -4.32583 Evanton Evanton ( Scottish Gaelic : Baile Eòghainn or Scottish Gaelic : Am Baile Ùr ) is a small village in Easter Ross , in the Highland council area of Scotland. It lies between the River Sgitheach and the Allt Graad ,
376-741: A regular system by successive owners. The eastern lands of Fyrish were added to the Novar estate when they were passed from the Munro of Culrain family to the Munro of Novar family during the 18th century, thus the Novar lands becoming even larger. Sir Hector Munro's sons were both killed in India, one by a tiger and one by a shark in the Bay of Bengal . Therefore, the estate passed, after the death of his nephew Hugh Andrew Johnstone Munro of Novar , to his daughter Jean Munro who married Ronald Ferguson of Raith . Present day, Novar
423-501: A slave called Caesar, from the East Indies, had escaped from Novar.) Sir Hector Munro of Novar provided a ballroom with minstrels' gallery, and the main lines of the present mansion appear on estate plans of 1777 and 1778. Sir Hector Munro also carried out extensive agricultural improvements and afforestation, including the planting of approximately 778,000 firs and Scots pine during the period of 1788 to 1792. The woodlands were renewed on
470-626: A three-storey building facing south under Hector Munro, 4th of Novar. The current house and estate of Novar are largely the creation of Sir Hector Munro, 8th of Novar (1726–1805) who made his name and fortune as an officer in the British Army who fought in India . Early maps call it 'Tenuer' (Gaelic Tigh 'n fhuamhair, house of the giant). The building was altered and rebuilt as a classical square by Sir Hector Munro on his return from India in 1765. (The Edinburgh Evening Courant of 22 June 1771 reported that
517-468: Is 24 kilometres (15 mi) north of Inverness , some 6.5 km (4.0 mi) south-west of Alness , and 10 km (6.2 mi) northeast of Dingwall . The village has a dozen or so streets, the main one being Balconie Street (on the B817 Road). It has been described by analysts at The Highland Council as a "commuting settlement", because most of the inhabitants work in other areas of Easter Ross and
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#1732863368409564-557: Is a river in Easter Ross , Highland , Scotland. It is named on Ordnance Survey maps variously as Allt Graad and River Glass. It has also been known as the "Allt Grande", and the archaic Anglicization , "Aultgraad". As of 2011, a hydro-electric scheme is under construction on the Allt Graad. This run-of-the-river scheme is on the lower catchment of the river, next to the Black Rock Gorge. It will be operated by RWE Npower , and have
611-569: Is a thriving estate still owned and run by the Munro Ferguson family. Novar Estate extends to 20,000 acres (80 km) between the Allt Graad and the River Alness and incorporates farming, forestry, open hill, traditional country sports, fishing, over 150 miles of paths and tracks, a hydroelectric scheme and the first wind farm in the Highlands. Assynt House is a Georgian country house, built as
658-458: Is an impure form of Gaelic, but it is rapidly losing ground" and that "in Evanton, both English and Gaelic are spoken indifferently". The minister wrote that the people, especially the children, learned English with ease after they had learned to write Gaelic. The minister also gave some reasons why the people were keen to learn English, telling us that "English being the language universally spoken by
705-685: Is in close proximity to the site of Balconie Castle , an old seat of the Mormaers and Earls of Ross . By the early modern period, the area was dominated by the Munros of Foulis ( Foghlais ), who had their Foulis Castle just a few kilometres away. Indeed, the latter began to bury their family at Kiltearn after 1588. The Cille place-name in Kiltearn tells us that there had been a very ancient Gaelic church near Evanton, like all Cille place-names, founded before 800. The current Gaelic name Cill Tighearna ("Church of
752-642: Is in the parliamentary constituency of Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross , Jamie Stone of the Liberal Democrats is the current Member of Parliament (MP). For the Scottish Parliament residents in Evanton elect MSP 's for the Caithness, Sutherland and Ross (Scottish Parliament constituency) . Prior to Brexit in 2020, residents in Evanton voted to elected MEP 's for the Scotland constituency in
799-512: Is totally dominant. Nevertheless, there are still some 72 residents (4.3%) of the village who know the language. The village is also a big location on the Highland folk-circuit, and enjoys a vibrant musical culture in the Gaelic tradition. It is a regular practice for local musicians to meet in one of the licensed establishments in the town, and engage in evening-long sessions. Many prominent musicians on
846-448: Is why only 14% of households in the zone own no car. 10.4% of the population of the zone are self-employed, and 28% economically inactive, roughly corresponding with the Highland averages. There are also two hotels and two bars, which soak up much of the tourist income that the town generates. There had been a distillery in the Evanton area of the Kiltearn parish as early as the 18th century, its existence being reported by Harry Robertson,
893-505: The Celtic music scene have visited, including Eilidh Steel and Dougie MacLean . The international charity, Blythswood Care has its headquarters in the town. The "naked rambler" Stephen Gough was reported and arrested at Evanton in November 2003. He was engaged in a naked trek through Britain. While walking through Evanton wearing only a hat, a backpack and boots, he was spotted and reported by
940-505: The Cromarty Firth , as well as other miscellaneous natural, historical and archaeological attractions in the surrounding area. There are two churches, one Church of Scotland and one Free Church of Scotland . There is one primary school, but the nearest high schools are in Dingwall and Alness . The local woodland is owned and managed by the local community. Evanton lies within the ancient parish of Kiltearn ( Gd: Cill Tighearna ), within
987-525: The European Parliament . For Local Government purposes, it belongs to Highland Council Area . The village falls within Kiltearn Parish which has a community council http://www.kiltearncc.co.uk/ The modern village is on average a little younger than the Highland region in general. The population of Evanton varies depending on how it is calculated. The Evanton "Settlement Zone" is different from
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#17328633684091034-505: The Baillies who had bought it in 1765. In 1836 there were 149 slaves in Hermitage, Grenada. To this day, in the words of one historian, Evanton "remains today an attractive example of a well planned, regularly laid out estate village". The Reverend Thomas Munro expressed similar sentiments in the 1840s, when he wrote that "the village was built on a waste of land, and differs from all others in
1081-656: The Camden estate in Trinidad from the failed Boldero banking concern. There were 210 slaves in 1813 – including a creole boy Davy Campbell, aged 7, who worked in the grass gang; by 1836 85 slaves remained. • Livera/Levera: In 1835 there were 94 slaves in Levera (sic), Grenada. Alexander Fraser unsuccessfully claimed compensation for both Levera and Camden Estates upon emancipation – most of the money going instead to his wife’s Baillie cousins. • Hermitage: Alexander Fraser managed this plantation for
1128-489: The Evanton "Settlement", and the former is of course larger. There are 671 households and 1678 inhabitants in total in the Evanton-zone. Evanton-settlement on its own however has only 1105 inhabitants. The population in both cases though is growing steadily, and the 1990s saw a moderate increase of 8.12% for the zone, rising from 1552 to 1678; and 10.72% for the settlement on its own, rising from 998 to 1105. Over two-thirds of
1175-456: The Gorge is the setting for the scene where Harry is chased by a dragon. The River Sgitheach, sometimes written as Skiack or Skiach, is not as large a river as the Allt Graad and can run low in the summer. It flows from the mountains of inland Ross and is complemented by numerous other streams until it passes several waterfalls before flowing past the southern end of the village, and the northern end of
1222-555: The Lord") is probably a corruption of an older form, both because the name formation is unusual in being dedicated to the Lord Himself, and because the form given in 1227 is Kiltierny , suggesting some kind of connection to Tigernach in Ireland. Other suggestions have included a dedication to St Ternan. The church lay next to the lordly residence of Balconie. By the later Middle Ages , Balconie
1269-708: The National Theatre chose to present "Home" at the studio of Arts in Motion, on the Evanton Industrial Estate. Evanton has a number of public facilities including the Diamond Jubilee Hall, Chapel Road, building work started in December 1897, Major Randle Jackson of Swordale House gave 50% of the building costs and the people of Evanton (Parish of Kiltearn) raised the rest. The hall opened on 5 November 1898 with
1316-424: The author of the late eighteenth century Kiltearn section of the late eighteenth century 1st Statistical Account. The Glen Skiack distillery opened in 1896 and only ever produced a relatively small amount of Whisky. However, the effects of the U.S. Prohibition law, which damaged the income of all Scottish distilleries, proved too much for Glen Skiack, and the operation was forced to close in 1926. The building itself
1363-454: The country by its regular and neat appearance". The village suffered from the severe famine that plagued the Highlands in the 1840s. There was a riot in the village in 1846, because the authorities continued to export grain despite the failure of the previous year's potato crop; similar riots occurred in Rosemarkie , Balintraid and Avoch . In 1847, there was near starvation in the village, and
1410-515: The greater Inverness area. The current town was founded in the early 19th century by Alexander Fraser of Inchcoulter/Balconie who named it after his son Evan , but the core of the village buildings date from the Victorian era. Evanton has several tourist attractions, including the Fyrish monument , the Black Rock Gorge and the ruined church of Kiltearn lying near the River Sgitheach as it flows into
1457-421: The higher classes, the mass of the people attach a notion of superior refinement to the possession of it". Half a century previously, Harry Robertson had praised the spirit of one watchmaker in the region, but added "it is a pity that he can hardly read nor write, and hardly speaks English". Today, one can see Gaelic written on the walls of the parish church, but the language has effectively died out, and English
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1504-490: The houses in the zone are owner-occupied. Roughly 16.4% or 275 people who live in Evanton-zone were born outside Scotland, almost always coming from England. Evanton is more or less enclosed to the northeast and the southwest by two rivers, the Allt Graad and the River Sgitheach . The Allt Graad, sometimes called the River Glass, is a river that flows from Loch Glass, near Ben Wyvis , for 9 km (5½ miles) until it passes
1551-553: The launch bases of the GENETRIX program, to send stratospheric balloons carrying high resolution cameras over the Soviet Union. Of the 516 balloons launched from the five bases, 103 were launched from Evanton, of which 60 were successful, and 43 failed soon after launch, or went astray. The base closed in the 1970's. However, the subsequent oil boom caused radical expansion of the village. It has been growing steadily ever since. Evanton
1598-403: The medieval lands known as Ferindonald ( Fearann Dhòmhnaill ) in the heart of the old "Earldom" of Ross . Traditionally, Ferindonald is supposed to be derived from a grant of King Máel Coluim III to Donald Munro of Foulis ( Domhnall mac an Rothaich ), the legendary progenitor of Clan Munro . However, there is no evidence for the existence of this family until the fourteenth century. Evanton
1645-566: The most important historical locations in Easter Ross, Balconie Castle, was demolished in 1965. It had been an old seat of the Earls of Ross, but by the 1960s the owner could not afford to repair the dry rot. There was a RAF airfield constructed near Evanton in 1922, on Alness Bay. It was first known as the "Novar Base", because of its location on the Novar Estates, then later as HMS Fieldfare . It
1692-529: The names are the same, but the great early twentieth century toponymist William J. Watson was doubtful. In Kiltearn there had been a settlement, an old ferm toun known as Drummond ( Drumainn ), near the location of Evanton, and several lordly residences, such as Foulis, Novar and Balconie Castle. In 1806 Alexander Fraser, who had made his money through slave plantations in the West Indies, paid (through his wife's uncle Evan Baillie) £4500 for an instalment on
1739-509: The northern end of the village, and empties into the Cromarty Firth. However, approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) before it reaches the Cromarty Firth, it passes through the Black Rock Gorge. The latter is a few hundred metres in length and reaches 36 metres (120 ft) in depth. In April 2004, ten days of filming took place in the area for the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and
1786-452: The old settlement of Drummond, into the Cromarty Firth about 1 km from the mouth of the Allt Graad. A significant but small percentage of people have employment in the oil industry owing to the proximity of oil rigs on the Cromarty Firth. Other locally significant industries include forestry , tourism and catering. A significant number of people work in larger nearby localities, such as Inverness , Dingwall, Alness and Invergordon, which
1833-480: The only means of transport is either by foot or by the No. 25 bus service operated by Stagecoach . Recently, the express service running from Inverness to Dornoch began to stop in Evanton. Now residents can travel from and to Inverness without the long diversion through Dingwall, making it easier to work in the city of Inverness without personal transport. In 1845, the local minister wrote that "the language generally spoken
1880-627: The purchase of the Inchcoulter estate (a.k.a. Balconie). Having bought the estate Alexander Fraser put in place the grid formation of the new village (adjacent to the old village of Drummond), which he named Evanton after his son Evan Baillie Fraser (who had been named after his great uncle). He further named the initial parallel streets – one after his estate (Balconie), and 3 after plantations with which he had close connections, namely Camden, Livera and Hermitage: • Camden: In 1813, Alexander Fraser and John Stewart, both of Crossing Square London, had purchased
1927-406: The signal posts have been destroyed. The Inverness to Thurso railway line, known today as " Far North Line ", still passes by the seaward side of the town, and the trains can still be heard from a great distance. The nearest train station is Alness . The A9 , the road connecting Edinburgh with Inverness and the far north, once ran through Evanton, on the path of Balconie Street. However, a bypass
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1974-519: The villagers managed to maintain themselves on turnips . However, the village population recovered; by the beginnings of the First World War , Evanton had taken much of its current physical shape, and at this point in time contained businesses as diverse as a tobacconist and a bicycle shop, both of which have subsequently disappeared. In the 20th century, the village enjoyed a variety of fortunes. The distillery closed in 1926 (see below) and one of
2021-418: Was created as part of a general scheme to shorten the journey between Inverness to Invergordon. This reduced the amount of traffic going through the village, but decreased the revenue available to local businesses. The road also cut through much of the farmland of the zone, distorting the shape of the fields. This was compounded by the closure of the filling station in the village. For those who do not have cars,
2068-546: Was demolished in 1933. In 1860, the Highland Railway decided to construct a railway line going from Inverness through Easter Ross. The line was completed by 1862, and the following year, on 23 May 1863, Evanton gained its own railway station . However, the station was called Novar, and was not renamed "Evanton" until 1937. Sadly for the local economy, the station was closed in June 1960. The platforms remain there to this day, but
2115-416: Was one of the five lordships of Ross, as well as an individual seat of the Earls of Ross. Place-name evidence suggests that the site may once have been a Pictish residence. A charter granted by Aodh, Earl of Ross in 1281 records the name Petkenny , but a charter of 1333 refers to a location called Balkenny . The development of the name Pitlochry , where Pictish Pit- is replaced by Gaelic Baile , suggests
2162-519: Was serviced from Leuchars , and was used by the aircraft from the nearby Home Fleet base of Invergordon . The largest aircraft to have landed there was a USAAF B17 . On Empire Day , 1939, RAF bases all over the United Kingdom were opened to the public, and the Evanton Aerodrome was the most northerly location to participate, attracting 9,000 visitors. In 1956, the airfield served as one of
2209-475: Was the ancestor of the Novar branch of the Clan Munro . At the time the Novar lands covered one quarter of the lands known as Fyrish . There is a datestone of 1634 built into the side of the original Novar House, which is now part of the west side of the inner courtyard. Robert Munro, 2nd of Novar was named as one of the early Scottish justices of the peace in 1634. The house was enlarged considerably in 1720 with
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