A small village to the south of Loch Watten in Caithness, Watten lies 8 miles (12 km) northwest of Wick on the road to Thurso. The settlement developed in the 19th century at a road junction and had an oatmeal mill (Achingale) in operation until the 1960s. Achingale Bridge was built by Thomas Telford in 1812-17 and Alexander Bain (1810-77), inventor of the electric clock and electric telegraph was born nearby on a croft at Houstry.
A prisoner-of-war camp lay to the west of the village on a site now occupied by housing. It operated between 1943-48 and served as an interrogation and De-Nazification centre for some notable members of the German regime.
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