Could this be the oldest recorded view of Thurso?
Thurso’s Heritage by a Thirsa Loon
Some years ago, I was delighted to find what is possibly the oldest view of Thurso in existence in a private collection.
I was lucky to be allowed to remove it from its frame for a high-resolution scan. The watercolour is titled, “A View of the Town of Thurso in the County of Caithness from the South taken on the new road near Marlefield”.
It is the 13th painting in the series. However, how many of these paintings were carried out and if they all featured Caithness is unfortunately unknown.
There is a mystery with the picture. There is no signature or date to answer the critical questions about when and who applied the ink and watercolour. It’s possible that rather than being carried out by someone from the county, it may have been a visitor, capturing views of their tour around the north.
However, the painting does give an insight into the town, decades before photography. Studying the painting, there are some telltale signs which allow for dating.
To the left is the neat row of houses that line Janet Street, which was in its infancy. It is thought that these were built around 1810.
The gaps between the residences show the properties were not all erected at the same time. For example, Mill House wasn’t built until the latter half of the 1870s.
The bridge was also a recent addition to the town. Completed in 1800, it was partially demolished and replaced with a new bridge which opened in 1887.
Just behind the bridge, a slightly older structure comes into view. The long roof of the three-storey brewery dominates this section of the riverside. Further down, beyond the 18th-century houses of Miller’s Lane, is Old St Peter’s Church. Unlike today, its roof was intact, and the tower rises above the smaller housing overlooking the river mouth.
The date of this painting also means this is possibly the oldest known view of the church, even if it is from some distance.
There is no built harbour for the three sailing ships in the river mouth, nor was the great boom of the flagstone industry from Thurso in progress, though the trade was under way.
Across the river, at Thurso East, the pitched roof of what could be the corff house used for processing fish appears. As the view comes to an end, the second castle at Thurso East, before it had an extra wing added, stands with its commanding view of the bay and town. This building, the then home of Sir John Sinclair, would later be significantly renovated, with an extra wing added facing the sea.
The skyline has yet to be pierced by the familiar spires of the churches, and it is the lack of one of these churches that helps pinpoint the date for the painting.
The new parish church, built to replace the rotting fabric of the old church, is nowhere to be seen. It began construction in 1830, and with the previously mentioned Janet Street, we now know the painting was executed in a 20-year gap between 1810 and around 1830.
I wonder if the mystery artist ever thought that their work would survive over two centuries later. And, just as importantly, future generations would view it as an important historical record of the town.
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