Huna, Caithness


Huna is a small remote crofting township, located 1 mile northeast of Canisbay and 1.5 miles west of John o' Groats in Caithness, in Scotland. It is currently part of the Highland Council area.

History

Huna is likely to have been an important sheltered port from Norse times and it has been suggested that it equates to Hofn, the burial place in 980 of Hlodvar Thorfinnsson, the Norse Jarl of Orkney. In The Place-Names of Canisbay, Caithness, Huna is described as:
John o' Groat ran a ferry from Huna to Orkney c. 1500 and a mail service between Huna and South Ronaldsay began in 1819.

Archaeology

The following sites are recorded on Highland Council’s Historic Environment Record
The first four of these sites occupy the crest of the rise from the shoreline to the west of Huna House, while the last is in the field to the NE of the field in which the present development is located.

Property Ownership

Over the last 2000 years Huna has been owned as a part of the greater area of Caithness under wider ownership such as the Pictish Kingdoms and later the Estates of Mey. The possibility of individual ownership of land and property within Huna and nearby townships didn't occur until 1952 when the estates of Mey were broken up and sold by Captain Fredrick Bouhier Imbert-Terry, including the sale of individual crofts within Huna.
Approximate DatesOwnersNotes
25 - 871 ADKingdom of Cat, Pictish KingdomKingdom Waned from 697AD After the death of King Taran mac Entifidich
871 AD - UnknownWider Pictish Kingdom
UnknownNorse Kingdomspossible burial place in 980AD of Hlodvar Thorfinnsson the Norse Earl of Orkney
UnknownEarls of Orkney Caithness Disputed as part of Norway and Scotland
UnknownBishops of CaithnessAs part of the Bishoprics of King David 1st
1334 - 1335Earls of Caithness Forfeited to the Crown
1335 - 1375Scottish Crown
1375 - 1437Earls of Caithness Awarded to Son of Robert II of Scotland later Forfeited by 3rd Earl
1437 - 1452Scottish Crown
1452 - August 1454George Crichton Earls of Caithness Passed to Crown by Agreement upon death
August 1454 - 1455Scottish Crown
1455 - 18891st - 15th Earls of Caithness Grant unto William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness Builder of Rosslyn Chapel
1889Mr F.G. Heathcote Estate of Mey Bequeathed by 15th Earl of Caithness
UnknownCaptain Fredrick Bouhier Imbert-TerryPurchased the Estates of Mey from the widow of Mr F.G Heathcote
1952Individual OwnershipMey Estate broken up and sold including Castle of Mey and Crofts of Huna