Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for Lybster

Lybster, a coast village of Latheron parish, Caithness, 13 3/8 miles SW by S of Wick. It has a post office under Wick, with money order, savings' bank, and telegraph departments, branches of the Commercial and the Aberdeen Town and County Banks, two hotels, a police station, a good boat harbour, a chapel of ease (1836; 805 sittings), a Free church, a public school, and fairs on the Thursday in July after Hill of Wick and the second Tuesday of November. Lybster is the headquarters of one of the twenty-six fishery districts of Scotland, comprising the fishing villages of Latheronwheel, Forse, Lybster, and Clyth. Within this district the number of boats at the beginning of 1883 was 260, of fishermen and boys 1272, of fishcurers 22, and of coopers 56, whilst the value of boats was £10, 635, of nets £16, 776, and of lines £991. The following was the number in different years-of barrels of herrings salted or cured (1866) 15, 806, (1873) 28, 350, (1878) 10, 417, (1881) 20.764, (1882) 3458; of cod, ling, and hake taken (1873) 16, 979, (1881) 1205, (1882) 6200. Pop. (1861) 745, (1871) 833, (1881) 831.—Ord. Sur., sh. 110, 1877.


(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a coast village"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Latheron ScoP       Caithness ScoCnty
Place: Lybster

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