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The County of Kinross or Kinross-shire is a historic county and
registration county A registration county was, in Great Britain and Ireland, a statistical unit used for the registration of births, deaths and marriages and for the output of census information. In Scotland registration counties are used for land registration purpose ...
in eastern Scotland, administered as part of
Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...
since 1975. Surrounding its largest settlement and
county town In Great Britain and Ireland, a county town is usually the location of administrative or judicial functions within a county, and the place where public representatives are elected to parliament. Following the establishment of county councils in ...
of
Kinross Kinross (, ) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth, Scotland, Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the Counties of Scotland, historic county of Kinross-shire. History Kinro ...
, the county borders
Perthshire Perthshire (Scottish English, locally: ; ), officially the County of Perth, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county and registration county in central Scotland. Geographically it extends from Strathmore, Angus and Perth & Kinross, Strathmore ...
to the north and
Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...
to the east, south and west. Scotland's second smallest county, Kinross-shire is dominated by Loch Leven, a large inland
loch ''Loch'' ( ) is a word meaning "lake" or "inlet, sea inlet" in Scottish Gaelic, Scottish and Irish Gaelic, subsequently borrowed into English. In Irish contexts, it often appears in the anglicized form "lough". A small loch is sometimes calle ...
, with two islands and an internationally important
nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...
. One of the islands contains a castle, where
Mary, Queen of Scots Mary, Queen of Scots (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587), also known as Mary Stuart or Mary I of Scotland, was List of Scottish monarchs, Queen of Scotland from 14 December 1542 until her forced abdication in 1567. The only surviving legit ...
was once held prisoner. Much of the land in Kinross-shire is fertile agricultural land and most of the inhabitants were originally employed in farming. The gently-rolling farmland surrounding Loch Leven gives way to steep, more rugged terrain at the outskirts of the county.


History


Administrative history

The Kinross-shire area was anciently part of the
province A province is an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire, Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...
of Fothriff. By the early thirteenth century, Fothriff had been joined to the earldom of Fife. Sometime between the reign of
David I David I may refer to: * David I, Caucasian Albanian Catholicos c. 399 * David I of Armenia, Catholicos of Armenia (728–741) * David I Kuropalates of Georgia (died 881) * David I Anhoghin, king of Lori (ruled 989–1048) * David I of Scotland ...
(reigned 1124–1153) and the mid-thirteenth century, this part of Scotland was divided into
shires Shire () is a traditional term for an administrative division of land in Great Britain and some other English-speaking countries. It is generally synonymous with county (such as Cheshire and Worcestershire). British counties are among the oldes ...
, being areas administered by a
sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...
. By 1252 there was a sheriff of Kinross, initially with authority over just the two parishes of Kinross and
Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...
. Over time, Scotland's shires became more significant than the old provinces, with more administrative functions being given to the sheriffs. The larger earldom of Fife was therefore gradually eclipsed in importance by the smaller shire of Fife and the two other small shires within the earldom, being Kinross-shire and
Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire (; ; ), or the County of Clackmannan, is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, Council areas of Scotland, council area, registration counties, registration county and Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland ...
. In 1667
Commissioners of Supply Commissioners of Supply were local administrative bodies in Scotland from 1667 to 1930. Originally established in each sheriffdom to collect tax, they later took on much of the responsibility for the local government of the counties of Scotland. ...
were established for each shire, which would serve as the main administrative body for the area until the creation of county councils in 1890.
Cleish Cleish is a rural hamlet off the B9097 between Crook of Devon and the M90 motorway, three miles south-west of Kinross in central Scotland. It lies in the historic county of Kinross-shire. At the last census (2011), the population of the civil ...
,
Portmoak Portmoak is a Civil parishes in Scotland, parish in Kinross-shire, Scotland. It consists of a group of settlements running north to south: Glenlomond, Wester Balgedie, Easter Balgedie, Kinnesswood, Kilmagadwood and Scotlandwell. The name deriv ...
and Tullibole were added to Kinross-shire in 1685. Following the Acts of Union in 1707, the English term "county" came to be used interchangeably with the older term "shire". Elected county councils were established in 1890 under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 ( 52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland. In this it fol ...
, taking most of the functions of the commissioners (which were eventually abolished in 1930). Kinross County Council held its first meeting on 22 May 1890 at the County Buildings in Kinross, the courthouse (built 1826) which also served as the meeting place for the commissioners. The 1889 Act also led to a review of boundaries, with
exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...
s being transferred to a county they actually bordered, and parishes which straddled more than one county being adjusted such that each parish was entirely in a single county. There were several such changes affecting the boundaries of Kinross-shire. Kinross-shire was the least populous of the Scottish counties at the 1921 census, with fewer than 8,000 people. Due to its low population, the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929 ( 19 & 20 Geo. 5. c. 25) reorganised local government in Scotland from 1930, introducing joint county councils, large and small burghs and district councils. The Act also abolished the Scottish poor law s ...
combined the county councils of Kinross-shire and neighbouring Perthshire for most purposes in 1930. The two councils continued to be elected as separate bodies, but operated together as the "Perth and Kinross Joint County Council", serving the combined area of the two counties. Kinross County Council did perform some roles alone after 1930, notably acting as the district council for Kinross-shire, which was considered too small to be divided into districts. The county council remained based at the County Buildings until its abolition in 1975. Kinross-shire was abolished as an administrative area in 1975 under the
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (c. 65) is an Act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament of the United Kingdom that altered local government of Scotland, local government in Scotland on 16 May 1975. The act followed and largely impleme ...
, which replaced Scotland's counties, burghs and landward districts with a two-tier structure of upper-tier regions and lower-tier
districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
. Kinross-shire became part of the
Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...
district in the Central region. Further local government reforms in 1996 under the
Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 The Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 (c. 39) is an Act of parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that created the current Local government in Scotland, local government structure of 32 Unitary authority, unitary authori ...
saw the regions and districts created in 1975 abolished and replaced with
council area {{Unreferenced, date=May 2019, bot=noref (GreenC bot) A council area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Ac ...
s providing all local government services. Perth and Kinross district became one of the new council areas. The boundaries of the historic county of Kinross-shire are still used for some limited official purposes connected with land registration, being a
registration county A registration county was, in Great Britain and Ireland, a statistical unit used for the registration of births, deaths and marriages and for the output of census information. In Scotland registration counties are used for land registration purpose ...
.


Economic history

The county suffered a decline in population in the 19th and 20th centuries, as its inhabitants migrated to the cities to find work in manufacturing, etc. The population in 1891 was 6,673; in 1971 it was 6,423. The decline was hastened by the closure of the railways in the county soon after the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. However, in recent years, construction of the M90 motorway north of the Forth Road Bridge has resulted in the area becoming more prominent. Tourism has increased, with visitors attracted by the unspoiled country villages and gently rolling hills reaching the shores of Loch Leven. The villages of Kinnesswood and
Scotlandwell Scotlandwell is a village in Portmoak, Kinross-shire, Scotland. It is within the Perth and Kinross council area. It lies to the east of Loch Leven (Kinross), Loch Leven, at the junction of the A911 road, A977 and B920 roads, approximately west ...
are attractive, and there are ancient standing stones at Orwell. The
T in the Park T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused ...
music festival A music festival is a festival, community event with music, performances of singing and instrument playing that is often presented with a theme such as musical genre (e.g., rock music, rock, blues, folk music, folk, jazz, classical music), nation ...
was held in Balado from 1993 to 2014. The economic outlook of Kinross-shire has improved and was recorded in 2009 as having an estimated population of 12,997. In addition, it outperformed both the Perth and Kinross area and Scotland averages in economic performance. The area is promoted by the Kinross-shire Partnership, a body bringing together local government, tourist organisations and local organisations.


Geography

Kinross-shire is landlocked and is generally flat, except in the north-west where the
Ochil Hills The Ochil Hills (; ) is a range of hills in Scotland north of the River Forth, Forth valley bordered by the cities of Stirling, Perth, Scotland, Perth and the towns of Alloa, Kinross, and Auchterarder . The only major roads crossing the hil ...
are located, and along the southern boundary where the Cleish Hills can be found. The Ochils contain Innerdouny Hill, Kinross-shire's highest point at 497 m (1,631 ft). The most notable geographic feature of the county is Loch Leven which is also an important nature reserve; there are also several islands within the loch, the largest of which is
St Serf's Inch St Serf's Inch or St Serf's Island is an island in Loch Leven (Kinross), Loch Leven, in south-eastern Perth and Kinross, Scotland. It was the home of a Culdee and then an Augustinian monastic community, St Serf's Inch Priory. History There was a ...
(the others are Alice's Bower, Castle Island, Reed Bower, Roy's Folly and Scart Island). A much smaller body of water – the Arnot Reservoir – is located to the east of Loch Leven. On the far northern border a portion of the Glenfarg Reservoir lies within the county.


Subdivisions


Burgh of Kinross

Kinross-shire contained only one burgh, Kinross. The burgh was originally created a
burgh of barony A burgh of barony was a type of Scottish town (burgh). Burghs of barony were distinct from royal burghs, as the title was granted to a landowner who, as a tenant-in-chief, held his estates directly from the crown. (In some cases, they might also ...
in 1540/1 and became a burgh of regality in 1685. In 1864 it became a police burgh with an elected town council. It continued to exist until 1975.


Civil parishes

The county was anciently divided into a number of parishes: Cleish, Orwell (containing the market town of Milnathort), Kinross and Portmoak were entirely in Kinross-shire. The parishes of
Arngask Arngask is a civil parish in Perthshire, with the village of Glenfarg as its largest settlement. It lies in the south-east of the county, in the Ochil Hills and borders Fife and Kinross-shire. If forms part of a wider ecclesiastical parish of Ab ...
, Fossoway, Tulliebole and
Forgandenny Forgandenny (Scottish Gaelic ''Forgrann Eithne'', 'Over-Bog of Eithne' n ancient female Gaelic name is a small village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, located four miles south of Perth, Scotland, Perth. Perth is a 20-minute bus ride from Forg ...
were partly in Perthshire. From 1845 they were used for local government purposes and governed by parochial boards. The
Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1889 ( 52 & 53 Vict. c. 50) is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which was passed on 26 August 1889. The main effect of the act was to establish elected county councils in Scotland. In this it fol ...
created a boundary commission to ensure that all civil parishes lay within a single county. After the boundary changes the county contained five parishes: Fossoway (No. 1 on map), Orwell (2), Kinross (3), Portmoak (4) and Cleish (5). From 1894 elected parish councils replaced the parochial boards. These in turn were abolished in 1930, and the powers they had exercised passed to the county council. Parishes continue to be used today for statistical purposes, though they no longer have any administrative function.


Settlements

* Carnbo *
Cleish Cleish is a rural hamlet off the B9097 between Crook of Devon and the M90 motorway, three miles south-west of Kinross in central Scotland. It lies in the historic county of Kinross-shire. At the last census (2011), the population of the civil ...
*
Crook of Devon Crook of Devon is a village within the parish of Fossoway in Kinross-shire about west of Kinross on the A977 road. Its name derives from the nearly 180-degree turn, from generally eastwards to generally westwards and resembling the shape of ...
* Dalqueich * Drunzie * Duncrievie *
Glenfarg Glenfarg (Scottish Gaelic: Gleann Fairg) is a village in the Ochil Hills in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Until 14 June 1964, the village had a railway station, Glenfarg railway station, on the Railways of Kinross#The Glenfarg Line, main line betw ...
* Glenlomond * Kinnesswood *
Kinross Kinross (, ) is a burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, around south of Perth, Scotland, Perth and around northwest of Edinburgh. It is the traditional county town of the Counties of Scotland, historic county of Kinross-shire. History Kinro ...
*
Milnathort Milnathort is a small town in the parish of Orwell in the county of Kinross-shire, Scotland and since 1996, the local council area of Perth and Kinross. The smaller neighbour of nearby Kinross, Milnathort has a population of around 2,000 people. ...
*
Scotlandwell Scotlandwell is a village in Portmoak, Kinross-shire, Scotland. It is within the Perth and Kinross council area. It lies to the east of Loch Leven (Kinross), Loch Leven, at the junction of the A911 road, A977 and B920 roads, approximately west ...
* Stronachie * Tillyrie


Transport

Kinross-shire is bisected north–south by the
M90 motorway The M90 is a controlled-access highway, motorway in Scotland. It runs from Junction 1A of the M9 motorway (Scotland), M9 motorway, south of the Queensferry Crossing, to Perth, Scotland, Perth. It is the northernmost motorway in the United Kin ...
, which links Kinross to
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
in the north and
Dunfermline Dunfermline (; , ) is a city, parish, and former royal burgh in Fife, Scotland, from the northern shore of the Firth of Forth. Dunfermline was the de facto capital of the Kingdom of Scotland between the 11th and 15th centuries. The earliest ...
in the south. The A911 enables west to east travel across the county. There are no railway stations; previously there was one at Kinross however this is no longer open.


Parliamentary constituency


Historic

From 1426 the county returned one member to the
Parliament of Scotland In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
.


United Kingdom parliament

Following the Act of Union, Kinross-shire returned members to the
House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...
in Westminster. Due to its small population, it was never a constituency in its own right: instead it alternated with Clackmannanshire, a member being returned for one county at one parliament and for the other at the next. The
Representation of the People (Scotland) Act 1832 The Scottish Reform Act 1832 (2 & 3 Will. 4. c. 65) was an act of Parliament that introduced wide-ranging changes to the election laws of Scotland. The act was passed at approximately the same time as the Reform Act 1832, which applied to England ...
merged the two counties into a single constituency, Clackmannanshire and Kinross-shire. In 1918, House of Commons seats were redistributed, and Kinross-shire was combined with part of Perthshire to form the constituency of Kinross and Western Perthshire. This constituency continued in existence until 1983.


Coat of arms

The Kinross County Council received a grant of arms from
Lord Lyon King of Arms The Right Honourable the Lord Lyon King of Arms, the head of Lyon Court, is the most junior of the Great Officer of State, Great Officers of State in Scotland and is the Scotland, Scottish official with responsibility for regulating heraldry i ...
on 18 May 1927. The arms depict
Lochleven Castle Lochleven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the site of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1 ...
. The motto adopted was "for all time": at the time of the grant the county council was campaigning to retain its independence from its larger neighbour Perthshire. When
Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross (; ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a Lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. It is bordered by Highland (council area), Highland and Aberdeenshire to the north, Angus, Scotland, Angus, Dundee, and F ...
District Council was granted arms in 1977, the Kinross-shire arms were placed on an ''inescutcheon'', or small shield, in the centre of the new arms.R.M. Urquhart, ''Scottish Civic Heraldry'', London, 1979 These arms continue in use by the current Perth and Kinross Council.


Places of interest

* Cleish Castle *
Lochleven Castle Lochleven Castle is a ruined castle on an island in Loch Leven, in the Perth and Kinross local authority area of Scotland. Possibly built around 1300, the castle was the site of military action during the Wars of Scottish Independence (1296–1 ...


References


External links


Perth & Kinross CouncilA Vision of Britain Through Time: A vision of Perth and Kinross
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kinross-Shire Counties of Scotland Counties of the United Kingdom (1801–1922)