Parish of Firth

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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1791-99: Firth and Stenness 1834-45: Firth and Stenness

Firth, a parish in the mainland of Orkney, bounded N by Rendall parish, E by Firth Bay and Kirkwall parish, S by Orphir and Stenness, and W by Harray. It includes the islets of Damsay and Grimbister Holm; contains Finstown village; and is united to Stenness. The united parish of Firth and Stenness, in its SW or Stenness portion, communicates by a bridge with Stromness parish, and is largely bounded by Stenness Loch and Hoy Sound. Its greatest length, from NE to SW, is 8½ miles; and its greatest breadth is 4½ miles. The shores of the united parish are undulating and fertile; but the interior consists largely of moor and hill, covered with heath and peat-moss. Between 1841 and 1879, however, the late Mr Robert Scarth of Binscarth did much in the way of reclaiming, enclosing, draining, liming, and planting-improvements described at length in pp. 48-51 of Trans. Highl. and Ag. Soc. (1874). A lake and a singular Caledonian monument are noticed in our article on Stenness. Two proprietors hold each an annual value of between £100 and £500, 2 of from £50 to £100, and 4 of from £20 to £50. This parish is in the presbytery of Cairston and synod of Orkney; the living is worth £225. There are 2 parish churches, that of Firth built in 1813, and that of Stenness in 1793. There are also a U.P. church of Firth and Free churches of Firth and Stenness; and 2 public schools, Firth and Stenness, with respective accommodation for l60 and 100 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 77 and 62, and grants of £82, 5s. 6d., and £64, 10s. Valuation of Firth and Stenness (1881) £1752, 10s. 10d. Pop. (1801) 1272, (1861) 1493, (1871) 1434, (1881) 1362.

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Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer