41918: Halkirk, Caithness

The area around Halkirk in Caithness has been occupied for centuries. There are several early Christian chapels in the surrounding area, and nearby Braal Castle was once the principle seat of the Earls of Caithness and the bishopric, though the boiling of Bishop Adam in butter in 1222, in protest at tithe increases, led to the bishopric moving south to Dornoch shortly afterwards.

Halkirk in its present form was the first planned village in Scotland, laid out in 1803 by Sir John Sinclair.