'Inverness' () is a
city[2] in northern
Scotland. The city is the administrative centre for the the
Highland council area,
[3] and it is promoted as the capital of the
Highlands of Scotland.
[4] Inverness is unusual in that although there are
letters patent, dating from 2001, the city has no
statutory boundaries.
Tourism is important to the city's economy, as are service industries and
healthcare.
The city lies where the River Ness enters the
Moray Firth and is a natural hub for various transport links. A settlement was established by sixth century AD, the first royal charter being granted in the thirteenth century. It lies near the site of the eighteenth century
Battle of Culloden.
Inverness has a population of 55,000 and is represented in both the
Holyrood and
Westminster parliaments and is also twinned with three other European cities. The city is home to numerous sporting and cultural groups and events, including the annual
Highland Games and
football club
Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C., who play in the
Scottish Premier League as well as
Clachnacuddin F.C. who play in the
Highland League. Inverness College is the hub campus for the
UHI Millennium Institute. City status was granted in 2001.
History
Inverness at the end of the 17th century
Inverness was one of the chief strongholds of the
Picts, and in AD 565 was visited by
St Columba with the intention of converting the Pictish king
Brude, who is supposed to have resided in the
vitrified fort on Craig Phadrig
[5] (168 m), 2.4 km west of the city. A church or a monk's cell is thought to have been established by early Celtic monks on St Michael's Mount, a mound close to the river, now the site of the
Old High Church[6] and graveyard. The castle is said to have been built by
Máel Coluim III of Scotland, after he had razed to the ground the castle in which
Mac Bethad mac Findláich had, according to much later tradition, murdered Máel Coluim's father
Donnchad, and which stood on a hill around 1 km to the north-east.
Inverness had four traditional fairs, one of them being
Legavrik (''leth-gheamradh'').
William the Lion (d. 1214) granted Inverness four charters, by one of which it was created a
royal burgh. Of the Dominican friary founded by
Alexander III in 1233, only one pillar and a worn knight's effigy survive in a secluded graveyard near the town centre. On his way to the
Battle of Harlaw in 1411, Donald,
Lord of the Isles, harried the city, and sixteen years later
James I held a parliament in the castle to which the northern chieftains were summoned, of whom three were executed for asserting an independent sovereignty.
In 1562, during the progress undertaken to suppress Huntly's insurrection,
Queen Mary was denied admittance into
Inverness Castle by the governor, who belonged to the earl's faction, and whom she afterwards therefore caused to be hanged. The
Clan Fraser and
Clan Munro took the castle for her. The house in which she lived meanwhile stood in Bridge Street until the 1970s, when it was demolished to make way for the second Bridge Street development. The city's
Marymass Fair, on the Saturday nearest
August 15th, (a tradition revived in 1986) is said to commemorate Queen Mary as well as the
Virgin Mary.
Beyond the then northern limits of the town,
Oliver Cromwell built a citadel capable of accommodating 1000 men, but with the exception of a portion of the ramparts it was demolished at the
Restoration. The only surviving modern remnant is a clock tower. In 1715 the
Jacobites occupied the royal fortress as a barracks. In 1727 the government built the first
Fort George here, but in 1746 it surrendered to the Jacobites and they blew it up.
Culloden Moor lies nearby, and was the site of the
Battle of Culloden in 1746, which ended the
Jacobite Rising of 1745-1746.
On
September 7,
1921, the only
UK Cabinet meeting to be held outside
London took place in the Town House, when
David Lloyd George, on holiday in
Gairloch, called an emergency meeting to discuss the situation in
Ireland. The Inverness Formula composed at this meeting was the basis of the
Anglo-Irish Treaty.
Geography
River Ness and Inverness Castle
Inverness lies at the mouth of the
River Ness, and it is from this that the city derives its name: ''Inbhir Nis'' is
Scots Gaelic for "mouth (or confluence) of the Ness". In nominal terms, the river mouth is at the southwestern and most inland extremity of the
Moray Firth (). The
Beauly Firth may be seen, however, as a westward and more inland extension of the Moray Firth. Also, ''Inverness Firth'' has some currency as a name for the section of the Moray Firth between the mouth of the River Ness and the more eastward promontory of
Fort George ().
The river flows from nearby
Loch Ness and the
Caledonian Canal and connects Loch Ness,
Loch Oich, and
Loch Lochy.
Islands in the
River Ness, the
Bught and the river banks form a pleasant series of walks, as do the forested hills of
Craig Phadraig and
Craig Dunain. The city is well served with shops, as it is the main shopping centre for an area of nearly 26,000 km².
Economy
Most of the traditional industries such as
distilling have been replaced by high-tech businesses, including the design and manufacture of
diabetes diagnostic kits.
Retailing is another big sector. It has recently gained the unwelcome soubriquet of "
Tescotown" since the city boasts three branches of Tesco. Its importance as a retail centre outweighs the city's size since it acts as a retail centre for most of the
Highlands.
Inverness is the new home for
Scottish Natural Heritage following that body's relocation from Edinburgh under the auspices of the
Scottish Executive's decentralisation strategy. The body provides a large number of jobs in the area.
Transport
Inverness is linked to the
Black Isle across the Moray Firth by the
Kessock Bridge. It has a
railway station[7] with services to
Perth,
Edinburgh,
Glasgow,
London,
Aberdeen,
Thurso,
Wick and to
Kyle of Lochalsh. Inverness is connected to London by the
Caledonian Sleeper, which departs six times a week.
Inverness Airport[8] is located 15 km east of the city and has scheduled flights to airports across the UK and Republic of Ireland including
London,
Manchester,
Edinburgh,
Belfast,
Dublin and the islands to the north and west of Scotland. Some local controversy arose when
British Airways sold off the landing slots at
Heathrow for the three daily flights to and from Inverness as part of the proposed link up with
American Airlines which eventually failed. Three trunk roads (the
A9,
A82 and
A96) provide access to Aberdeen, Perth, Elgin, Thurso, Edinburgh and Glasgow. Plans are being drafted to convert the A96 between Inverness and
Nairn to a dual carriageway.
Politics
Local Government
:''See also ''
Politics of the Highland council area
Inverness was an autonomous
royal burgh, and
county town for the
county of Inverness (also known as
Inverness-shire) until 1975, when
local government counties and
burghs were abolished, under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, in favour of two-tier
regions and districts and
unitary islands council areas. The royal burgh was then absorbed into a new district of Inverness, which was one of eight districts within the
Highland region. The new district combined in one area the royal burgh, the Inverness district of the county and the
Aird district of the county. The rest of the county was divided between other new districts within the Highland region and the
Western Isles. Therefore, although much larger than the royal burgh, the new Inverness district was much smaller than the county.
In 1996, under the
Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994,
[9] the districts were abolished and the region became a
unitary council area. The new unitary
Highland Council, however, adopted the areas of the former districts as council management areas, and created
area committees to represent each. The Inverness committee represents 23 out of the 80 Highland Council
wards, with each ward electing one
councillor by the
first past the post system of election. However, management area and committee area boundaries have been out of alignment since 1999, as a result of changes to ward boundaries. Also, ward boundaries are changing again this year, 2007, and the council management areas are being replaced with three new corporate management areas.
Ward boundary changes this year, 2007, under the
Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004,
[10] create 22 new Highland Council wards, each electing three or four councillors by the
single transferable vote system of election, a system designed to produce a form of
proportional representation. The total number of councillors remains the same. Also, the Inverness management area is being merged into the new
Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey corporate management area, covering nine of the new wards and electing 34 of the 80 councillors. As well as the Inverness area, the new area includes the former
Nairn management area and the former
Badenoch and Strathspey management area. The corporate area name is also that of a
constituency, but boundaries are different.
Within the corporate area there is a city management area covering seven of the nine wards, the
Aird and Loch Ness ward, the
Culloden and Ardersier ward, the
Inverness Central ward, the
Inverness Millburn ward, the
Inverness Ness-side ward, the
Inverness South ward and the
Inverness West ward. The
Nairn ward and the
Badenoch and Strathspey ward complete the corporate area. Wards in the city management area are to be represented on a city committee as well as corporate area committees.
City Status
In 2001
city status was granted to the ''Town of Inverness'', and
letters patent were taken into the possession of the Highland Council by the convener of the Inverness area committee.
[11] These letters patent, which were sealed in March 2001 and are held by Inverness Museum and Art Gallery,
[12] create a city of Inverness, but do not refer to anywhere with defined boundaries, except that ''Town of Inverness'' may be taken as a reference to the
burgh of Inverness. As a local government area the burgh was abolished 26 years earlier, in 1975, and so was the
county of Inverness for which the burgh was the
county town. Nor do they refer to the former district or to the royal burgh.
The Highland area was created as a
two-tier local government region in 1975, and became a unitary local government area in 1996. The region consisted of eight districts, of which one was called Inverness. The districts were all merged into the unitary area. As the new local government authority, the
Highland Council then adopted the areas of the districts as council management areas. The management areas were abolished this year, 2007, in favour of three new corporate management areas, and the council has defined a large part of the
Inverness, Nairn and Badenoch and Strathspey corporate area as the Inverness city management area.
[13] This council-defined city area includes
Loch Ness and numerous towns and villages apart from the former burgh of Inverness.
Parliamentary representation
There are three existing
parliamentary
constituencies with ''Inverness'' as an element in their names:
★ One
county constituency of the
House of Commons of the
Parliament of the United Kingdom (
Westminster), created in 2005:
★
★
Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, currently represented by
Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) Danny Alexander[14]
★ Two county constituencies of the
Scottish Parliament (
Holyrood), created in 1999:
★
★
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, currently represented by
Scottish National Party Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) Fergus Ewing[15]
★
★
Ross, Skye and Inverness West, currently represented by Liberal Democrat MSP
John Farquhar Munro[16]
These existing constituencies are effectively subdivisions of the
Highland council area, but boundaries for Westminster elections are now very different from those for Holyrood elections. The Holyrood constituencies are also subdivisions of the
Highlands and Islands electoral region.
Historically there have been six Westminster constituencies:
★ One
burgh constituency:
★
★
Inverness Burghs, 1708 to 1918
★ Five county constituencies:
★
★
Inverness-shire, 1708 to 1918
★
★
Inverness, 1918 to 1983
★
★
Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber, 1983 to 1997
★
★
Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, 1997 to 2005
★
★
Ross, Skye and Inverness West, 1997 to 2005
Inverness Burghs was a
district of burghs constituency, covering the
parliamentary burghs of Inverness,
Fortrose,
Forres and
Nairn. Inverness-shire covered, at least nominally, the
county of Inverness minus the Inverness parliamentary burgh. As created in 1918, Inverness covered the county minus
Outer Hebridean areas, which were merged into the
Western Isles constituency. The Inverness constituency included the former parliamentary burgh of Inverness. As created in 1983, Inverness, Nairn and Lochaber was one of three constituencies covering the Highland
region, which had been created in 1975. As first used in 1997, the Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber, and Ross, Skye and Inverness West constituencies were effectively two of three constituencies covering the Highland
unitary council area, which had been created in 1996.
Town twinning
★
Augsburg,
Germany
★
La Baule,
France
★
St Valery-en-Caux,
France
Health Services
The main hospital serving Inverness is
Raigmore Hospital. This
hospital comes under
NHS Highland which controls many hospitals in the
Highlands and Islands. There are however several other hospitals in the general area, notably New Craigs hospital which deals which mental health care. The current building occupied by New Craigs were opened in
2000.
Culture & sports
Inverness is an important centre for
bagpipe players and lovers, since every September the city hosts the
Northern Meeting, the most prestigious solo piping competition in the world. The
Inverness cape, a garment worn by pipers the world over in the rain, is not necessarily made in Inverness.
Another major event in calendar is the annual City of Inverness
Highland Games. In 2006 Inverness hosted Scotland's biggest ever
Highland Games over two days in July, featuring the Masters' World Championships, the showcase event for heavies aged over 40 years. 2006 was the first year that the Masters' World Championships had been held outside the
United States, and it attracted many top heavies from around the world to the Inverness area.
Inverness has a blossoming music scene which offers lots of young, new bands exciting opportunities. The current music scene within Inverness generally leans towards an emo/punk style, but there are also bands who show features of different genres such as rock, metal, pop, classical, grunge, industrial and traditional Scottish music. There is also a small Hip Hop scene featuring unsigned artists. Inverness is currently celebrating its Highland Year of Culture, in which Inverness is displaying the wide range of talent around.
The city is home to two
football clubs.
Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. was formed in 1994 from the merger of two Highland League clubs,
Caledonian F.C. and
Inverness Thistle. 'Caley Thistle' play at The Tulloch Caledonian Stadium, and are currently in the
Scottish Premier League and lay claim to have the longest name for any football club in the world. The other football club
Clachnacuddin F.C., play in the
Highland League.
Inverness Citadel F.C. was another popular side which are now unfortunately defunct. Bught Park, located in the centre of Inverness is the finishing point of the annual
Loch Ness Marathon and home of
Inverness Shinty Club.
In 2007, the city is set to play host to
Highland 2007, a celebration of the culture of the
Highlands, and will also host the World Highland Games Heavy Championships (21 & 22 July) and European Pipe Band Championships (28 July).
[17]
Buildings
St. Andrew's Cathedral on the banks of the River Ness
Important buildings in Inverness include
Inverness Castle,
Inverness College and various churches.
The castle was built in 1835 on the site of its medieval predecessor. It is now a
sheriff court.
Inverness Cathedral, dedicated to
St Andrew, is a cathedral of the
Scottish Episcopal Church and seat of the
ordinary of the
Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness. The cathedral has a curiously square-topped look to its spires, as funds ran out before they could be completed.
The oldest church is the
Old High Church,
[18] on St Michael's Mount by the riverside, a site perhaps used for worship since Celtic times. The church tower dates from
mediaeval times, making it the oldest surviving building in Inverness. It is used by the
Church of Scotland congregation of
Old High St Stephen's, Inverness,
[19] and it is the venue for the annual
Kirking of the Council, which is attended by local councillors.
Inverness College is the hub campus for the
UHI Millennium Institute.
[20]
Porterfield
Prison, officially
HMP Inverness, serves the
courts of the Highlands, Western Isles, Orkney Isles and Moray, providing secure custody for all
remand prisoners and short term adult prisoners, both male and female (segregated).
[21]
Famous people
The former leader of the
Liberal Democrats,
Charles Kennedy, was born in Inverness.
Yvette Cooper, the Minister of State for Housing in the Brown Cabinet was also born in Inverness.
Areas of the city
Towns and Villages
Apart from the former burgh of Inverness, the Highland Council's city management area includes
Ardersier,
Beauly,
Culloden,
Drumnadrochit,
Fort Augustus,
Invermoriston and
Tomatin.
Footnotes
1. ''Building Better Cities: Delivering Growth and Opportunities'' Scottish Executive website (retrieved 9 July 2007) offers statistics about Inverness as a city within the Highland ''region''
However, unlike other cities recognised by the Scottish Executive (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow), Inverness does not have statutory boundaries, and the webpage does not specify any sense of boundaries
''Region'' is a term by which the Highland Council often refers to the Highland council area
2. Letters patent, seemingly granting city status, were sealed in 2001 and are now held in Inverness Museum and Art Gallery
These letters patent are unusual, however, in that they do not refer to anywhere with defined boundaries
3. The Highland Council website Retrieved 7 July 2007
4. ''The Internet Guide to Scotland'', Joanne Mackenzie-Winters website Retrieved 7 July 2007
5. ''Craig Phadrig, Inverness'', Walk in Scotland, Visitscotland
6. Inverness churches
7. The Highland Main Line, the Aberdeen-Inverness Line and the Far North Line meet at Inverness (Ordnance Survey ). Also, Kyle of Lochalsh services run to and from Inverness via the Far North Line to Dingwall.
8. Ordnance Survey grid reference for Inverness Airport (access from A96 road): .
9. ''Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994'', Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website
10. ''Local Governance (Scotland) Act 2004'', Office of Public Sector Information (OPSI) website
11. ''Helen Liddell joins Inverness celebrations as Scotland’s Millennium City'', Scotland Office press release 19 Mar 2001
12. Ordnance Survey grid reference for Inverness Museum and Art Gallery:
13. ''Key Decisions Taken on Council Post 2007'', Highland Council news release, 15 December 2006, includes a list of wards within the Inverness management area
14. List of MPs, Parliament of the United Kingdom website, retrieved 11 July 2007
Website of Danny Alexander MP, retrieved 10 July 2007
15. ''Fergus Ewing MSP'', Scottish Parliament website, retrieved 10 July 2007
16. ''John Farquhar Munro MSP'', Scottish Parliament website, retrieved 11 July 2007
17. ''Highland 2007'', Information on the European Pipe Band Championships
18. ''OLD HIGH CHURCH'', Riverside Churches Clergy Fraternal website
19. Old High St Stephen’s website
20. UHI Millennium Institute website
21. ''HMP Inverness'', Scottish Prison Service website
Ordnance Survey grid reference:
External links
★
★
Sightseeing around Inverness
★
Inverness music scene gallery
★
Inverness city
★
Inverness Riverside Churches
★
Inverness Highland Year of Culture
★
Old High St Stephen's Church
★
Inverness Caledonian Thistle's official website
★
A map of Inverness from 1716
★
List of Hospitals covered by NHS Highland
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