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Strathy

human settlement in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland, UK

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 26, 2025
Entity authorityQ7622180 ↗
Source-derived summary

Strathy (from Scottish Gaelic Srathaidh 'place of the strath') is a scattered community in Sutherland in the Scottish Highlands. The settlement emerged in the late 19th century as the north coast was populated by families forcibly displaced during the Highland Clearances.

Strathy is on the north coast of Scotland, on the A836 road some twenty miles west of Thurso. The village itself includes at least three distinct areas:

Strathy East (on the right-hand side when passing through the village in the direction of Bettyhill, accessed by two roads leading towards Strathy Beach),

Strathy West (immediately to the south of Strathy East)

Strathy Point.

These generally enclose the rest of the village, mainly comprising Steven Terrace. If welcoming signposts are taken to represent the limits of the village, Strathy is contained in these areas. However, some would say that Strathy also takes in the settlement of Baligill to the east, and also Brawl, Aultiphurst and Laidnagullin to the west, essentially the entire community found between the Baligill Burn and the Armadale 'Big' Burn.

The Church of Scotland at Strathy has a prominent position on the approach to the village from the east.

The lighthouse at Strathy Point was built in 1958; it was the first in Scotland to run on electricity, and last built with the intention of being staffed. It ceased to operate in 2012.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Strathy” as human settlement in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland, UK. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1958, 2012—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1958. The account is most persuasive where Strathy, human and settlement can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as human settlement in Sutherland, Highland, Scotland, UK. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 26, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7622180. VIAF identifies the subject as 234814678. Authority coordinates are 58.558, -3.992. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1958 and 2012.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Strathy” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.