Northbound Carriageway of the A9 - geograph

There is some debate as to the location of the geographical centre of Scotland. This is due to different methods of calculating the centre, and whether surrounding islands are included.

Centre of gravity method

In 2002, the Ordnance Survey calculated the centre using a mathematical ''centre of gravity'' method. This is the mathematical equivalent of calculating the point at which a cardboard cut-out of Scotland could be perfectly balanced on the tip of a pin. It becomes complicated when the islands are included so one simplification is just to ignore them. Eastern Slopes of Dun Coillich - geograph

Eastern Slopes of Dun Coillich - geograph

The Ordnance Survey calculated that the centre of Mainland Scotland is at (). The point is 5 km east of the mountain of

Schiehallion Schiehallion (; gd, Sìth Chailleann, ) is a prominent cone-shaped mountain in the Breadalbane region of the Scottish Highlands, in the county of Perthshire. It rises to and is classed as a Munro. Schiehallion has a rich botanical life, inte ...

, which is sometimes claimed to be at the centre of Scotland.

Including islands

The centre point including islands was found to be at (). This is on a hillside near

Loch Garry Loch Garry (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Garraidh) is a freshwater loch 25 km north of Fort William, Lochaber, Scotland. Loch Garry is 11 km long and 50 m deep. It is fed by waters from Loch Quoich 10 km upstream on the River Garry, a ...

, between Dalwhinnie and

Blair Atholl Blair Atholl (from the Scottish Gaelic: ''Blàr Athall'', originally ''Blàr Ath Fhodla'') is a village in Perthshire, Scotland, built about the confluence of the Rivers Tilt and Garry in one of the few areas of flat land in the midst of the Gr ...

and close to the

A9 road This is a list of roads designated A9. * A009 road (Argentina), a road in the northeast of Santa Fe Province * ''A9 highway (Australia)'' may refer to : ** A9 (Sydney), a road linking Windsor and Campbelltown ** A9 highway (South Australia), a l ...

and the railway line. Nearby, it is claimed that the centre lies a few miles from the village of

Newtonmore Newtonmore ( gd, Baile Ùr an t-Sléibh ) is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland. The village is only a few miles from a location that is claimed to be the exact geographical centre of Scotland. Activities *Shinty - The town is ...

Badenoch Badenoch (from gd, Bàideanach, meaning "drowned land") is a traditional district which today forms part of Badenoch and Strathspey, an area of Highland Council, in Scotland, bounded on the north by the Monadhliath Mountains, on the east by t ...

. It is marked by a stone set into a wall.

Latitude and longitude

Another cruder method is to take the intersection between the line of

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north–south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pole ...

midway between the most northerly and southerly points on the Scottish mainland, and the line of longitude midway between the most easterly and westerly points. In the days when

Corrachadh Mòr ETRS89 (; ) is a headland on the peninsula in Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, notable for being the most westerly point on the island of Great Britain. It is further west than Land's End in Cornwall. Depending on which coordinates are used, ...

in Ardnamurchan was undisputedly the most westerly point, this also produced 56 degrees 39 minutes N, 4 degrees 0 minutes W, very near the summit of Schiehallion. However the construction of the

Skye Bridge The Skye Bridge ( gd, Drochaid an Eilein Sgitheanaich) is a road bridge over Loch Alsh, Scotland, connecting the Isle of Skye to the island of Eilean Bàn. The name is also used for the whole Skye Crossing, which further connects Eilean B� ...

, arguably turning Skye into part of the Scottish mainland, may have upset some of these calculations.

Megalithic centre

Less credible candidates for the centre of Scotland also exist. The

Society of Antiquaries of Scotland The Society of Antiquaries of Scotland is the senior antiquarian body of Scotland, with its headquarters in the National Museum of Scotland, Chambers Street, Edinburgh. The Society's aim is to promote the cultural heritage of Scotland. The usua ...

in 1908 suggested the megalithic Faskally Cottages Standing Stones. The Society were aware of other contenders of the centre of Scotland: "Various spots have been so designated: a site at Struan, several miles to the N.W. of Faskally; also a house on the Killiecrankie road, being the most talked of besides a house in the Fair City of Perth itself."

Historic centre

Matthew Paris's map of 1247 shows a clear north–south divide to Scotland. Proverbially

Stirling Stirling (; sco, Stirlin; gd, Sruighlea ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Central Belt, central Scotland, northeast of Glasgow and north-west of Edinburgh. The market town#Scotland, market town, surrounded by rich farmland, ...

is the strategically important "Gateway to the Highlands". It has been said that "Stirling, like a huge

brooch A brooch (, also ) is a decorative jewelry item designed to be attached to garments, often to fasten them together. It is usually made of metal, often silver or gold or some other material. Brooches are frequently decorated with enamel or with g ...

clasps

Highlands Highland is a broad term for areas of higher elevation, such as a mountain range or mountainous plateau. Highland, Highlands, or The Highlands, may also refer to: Places Albania * Dukagjin Highlands Armenia * Armenian Highlands Australia * So ...

and

Lowlands Upland and lowland are conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level. In studies of the ecology of freshwater rivers, habitats are classified as upland or lowland. Definitions Upland and lowland are portions of p ...

together". There is also and east–west divide as told in the story as recorded by

Boece Hector Boece (; also spelled Boyce or Boise; 1465–1536), known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and the first Principal of King's College in Aberdeen, a predecessor of the University of Aber ...

who relates that in 855 Scotland was invaded by two Northumbrian princes, Osbrecht and

Ella Ella may refer to: * Ella (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Places United States * Ella, Kentucky, an unincorporated community * Ella, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Ella, Pennsylvania, an unincorpora ...

. They united their Northumberian Anglian forces with the Lowland Strathclyde Britons in order to defeat the Highland Pictish Scots. Having secured Stirling castle, they built the first stone bridge over the Forth. On the top they reportedly raised a crucifix with the inscription: "Anglos, a Scotis separat, crux ista remotis; Arma hic stant Bruti; stant Scoti hac sub cruce tuti." It may be the stone cross was a

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, la ...

for the three kingdom's borders or

marches In medieval Europe, a march or mark was, in broad terms, any kind of borderland, as opposed to a national "heartland". More specifically, a march was a border between realms or a neutral buffer zone under joint control of two states in which di ...

. In this way the stone cross in the centre of Stirling Bridge was the heart of Scotland.

Central Belt and Watershed

The centre of the

Central Belt The Central Belt of Scotland is the area of highest population density within Scotland. Depending on the definition used, it has a population of between 2.4 and 4.2 million (the country's total was around 5.4 million in 2019), including Gre ...

may also be a point of interest. The

Heart of Scotland services Heart of Scotland services, commonly referred to as Harthill services, is a motorway service station on the M8 motorway between junctions 4a & 5, at Harthill, in North Lanarkshire, Scotland (although less than from the boundary with West ...

known as Harthill is close to the centre of the M8 motorway, Scotland's main road linking East with West.

Cumbernauld Cumbernauld (; gd, Comar nan Allt, meeting of the streams) is a large town in the historic county of Dunbartonshire and council area of North Lanarkshire, Scotland. It is the tenth most-populous locality in Scotland and the most populated t ...

, also in the Central Belt, is a

watershed Watershed is a hydrological term, which has been adopted in other fields in a more or less figurative sense. It may refer to: Hydrology * Drainage divide, the line that separates neighbouring drainage basins * Drainage basin, called a "watershe ...

with one of its rivers (from which its name is derived) flowing to the east and the other flowing west. This watershed test could also apply to other sites like the summit of

Ben Lomond Ben Lomond (Scottish Gaelic: Beinn Laomainn, 'Beacon Mountain'), , is a mountain in the Scottish Highlands. Situated on the eastern shore of Loch Lomond, it is the most southerly of the Munros. Ben Lomond lies within the Ben Lomond National Me ...

being on the line of the Scottish watershed but Cumbernauld arguably has this property in its very name. A map of Scotland's watershed has been produced for walkers.

Furthest from the sea

There have been other centres suggested, such as the furthest point from salt water including sea lochs. The point furthest from the Mean High Water mark is in Glen Quoich, near

Braemar Braemar is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, around west of Aberdeen in the Highlands. It is the closest significantly-sized settlement to the upper course of the River Dee sitting at an elevation of . The Gaelic ''Bràigh Mhàrr'' prop ...

, in Aberdeenshire which is 67.6 km from the sea. As with other topics like defining the location of the

North Pole The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distinguish from the Magn ...

the answer largely depends on which criteria you choose.

Other contenders

Some have also claimed Gartincaber Tower for the title. Even some Stirlingshire residents consider it ahead of Stirling Bridge.{{cite web , title=Gartincaber Tower - The Heart of Scotland , url=http://www.smithartgalleryandmuseum.co.uk/gartincaber-tower/ , website=Stirling Smith , date=18 October 2016 , accessdate=12 July 2018

References

External links

Heart of Scotland
using

QGIS QGIS is a free and open-source cross-platform desktop geographic information system (GIS) application that supports viewing, editing, printing, and analysis of geospatial data. Functionality QGIS functions as geographic information system (GIS) ...

Centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

Scotland