Cromarty
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Template:GBdot Cromarty (Cromba in Gaelic) is a royal burgh in the County of Cromartyshire, in the Scottish Highlands, comprising a seaport in the former administrative county of Ross and Cromarty. It is situated on the southern shore of the mouth of Cromarty Firth, 5 miles from of Invergordon on the opposite coast. It is the county town of Cromartyshire.
The name Cromarty variously derives from the Gaelic crow (crooked), and from bati (bay), or from ard (height), meaning either the "crooked bay", or the "bend between the heights" (referring to the high rocks, or Sutors, which guard the entrance to the Firth), and gave the title to the earldom of Cromarty.
The town grew around its port, formerly used by ferries, to export locally-grown hemp, and by trawlers trawling for herrings. Today, the port is used for the manufacture and maintenance of oil rigs, and is home to the UK's smallest vehicle ferry, running to Nigg. It runs from May to October, from roughly 8.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m. The vessel is called the Cromarty Rose.
Cromarty is architecturally important for its Georgian terraces, and Victorian cottages in the local vernacular style. The thatched house with crow-stepped gables in Church Street, in which Hugh Miller the geologist was born still stands, and a statue has been erected to his memory. To the east of the burgh is Cromarty House, occupying the site of the old castle of the earls of Ross. It was the birthplace of Sir Thomas Urquhart, the translator of Rabelais.
The burgh is also noted as a base for viewing the local offshore sea life.
Cromarty gives its name to one of the British Sea Areas used to provide weather forecasts to shipping.