Loch Torridon

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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Torridon, Loch, a large sea-loch of Applecross parish, W Ross-shire, striking 7⁵/₈miles south-eastward -to the entrance of Loch Shieldaig, and then 6 miles eastward to the foot of Glen Torridon. It measures 4½ miles across the entrance, contracts near Shieldaig to 3 furlongs, and afterwards, in Upper Loch Torridon, attains a maximum width of1⁷/₈mile. - Of the bold steep mountains surrounding it, the loftiest are Liathach (3456 feet), 2³/₈miles NE of the head of the Upper Loch, and Beinn Alligin (3232), 2½ miles from its northern shore. The Queen drove over from Loch Maree on 15 Sept. 1877, and Upper Loch Torridon she describes as ` almost landlocked and very pretty.. To the W are the hills of Skye, rising above the lower purple ones which close in the loch. To the S are Applecross and the high mountain of Beinn Damh (2958 feet), with, in the distance north-eastward, the white peaks of Liathach.. An old man, very tottery, passed where I was sketching, and I asked the Duchess of Roxburghe to speak to him; he seemed strange, said he had come from America and was going to England, and thought Torridon very ugly! ' (More Leaves, 1884). At the head of the Loch, 10 miles WSW of Kinlochewe, is the tiny hamlet of Torridon, where are a small inn, a post office, with money order and savings' bank departments, and a new public school. Torridon House, 2 miles WNW, on the northern shore of the Upper Loch, is a fine mansion, built by Duncan Darroch, Esq. of Gourock, who purchased the estate in 1872 for £63,000. It had been sold in 1767 for £1727 (i.e., for little more than 1s. an acre), and in 1836 for £12,150; and its increased value was due to the change from sheep to deer.—Ord. Sur., shs. 81, 91, 82, 1881-82.

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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