Site location
The history of Brora, in the parish of Clyne, on
the east coast of Sutherland, is dominated by its long industrial
past. These industries, including coal mining, salt panning, tweed
production, distilling, electricity generation, etc., go back at
least to 1598, though the coal is first referred to in a charter
of 1529. They were encouraged by the Earls and Countesses (later
Dukes and Duchesses) of Sutherland and it is perhaps the financial
support provided by the estate, in conjunction with the availability
of a wide range of resources (both natural and human) which made
Brora the ‘Industrial Capital of the North’ in the late
nineteenth century.
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