| John o' Groats | |
| Scottish Gaelic: Taigh Iain Ghròt | |
John o' Groats House |
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John o' Groats
John o' Groats shown within the Caithness area |
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| Population | 310 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | ND380734 |
| Council area | Highland |
| Lieutenancy area | Caithness |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | WICK |
| Postcode district | KW1 |
| Dialling code | 01955 |
| Police | Northern |
| Fire | Highlands and Islands |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross |
| Scottish Parliament | Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross |
| List of places: UK • Scotland • | |
John o' Groats[1] (Taigh Iain Ghròte in Scottish Gaelic;) is a village in the Highland council area of Scotland. Part of the county of Caithness, John o' Groats is popular with tourists because it is usually regarded as the most northerly settlement of mainland Great Britain, although this is not a claim made by the inhabitants. It is, though, one end of the longest distance between two inhabited points on the British mainland, Land's End being the other. The actual most northerly point is nearby Dunnet Head. (ND202767)
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The town takes its name from Jan de Groote, a Dutchman who obtained a grant for the ferry from the Scottish mainland to Orkney, recently acquired from Norway, from King James IV in 1496. The lower case and second space in "John o' Groats" are regarded by many as correct, as the "o'" means "of" and thus is not cognate with Irish names that begin with O', even though that usage also denoted "of"; but the name can be found with the capital and/or without the space. People from John o' Groats are known as "Groatsers". Local legend has the name John o' Groats termed to reflect the Dutch ferryman's charge of one groat payment for the ride to the islands.
The name John o' Groats has a particular resonance because it is often used as a starting or ending point for cycles, walks and charitable events to and from Land's End (at the extreme south-western tip of the Cornish peninsula). The phrase Land's End to John o' Groats (LEJOG) is frequently heard both as a literal journey (being the longest possible in Great Britain) and as a metaphor for great or all-encompassing distance, similar to the American phrase coast to coast.
The population of John o' Groats is approximately 300 ± 10.[2] The village is dispersed but has a linear centre with council housing, sports park, and a shop which is on the main road from the nearest town of Wick.
John o' Groats attracts large numbers of tourists from all across the world all year round. Not all commentary is good—in 2005 a popular tourist guide, Lonely Planet, described the village as a "seedy tourist trap"[3] and in 2010 John o' Groats received a Carbuncle Award for being "Scotland's most dismal town".[4]
The famous "Journey's End" signpost at John o' Groats is privately owned and operated by the same Penzance-based photography company which operates its counterpart at Land's End, with a fee payable for having pictures taken next to the signpost. The signs, including the "John o' Groats" roundel at the top, are removed after the photographer's booth closes for the evening—so travellers arriving in the late evening or early morning may be disappointed in their quest for photographs at the signpost. It used to be left in place until someone threw it in the sea. A free plastic signpost is situated on the wall next to the First and Last souvenir shop and the harbour.
John o' Groats is home to two football clubs, John o' Groats and Canisbay Juniors. John o' Groats FC are an amateur outfit who play in the top flight of Caithness Amateur Football, they also enter a team into the Winter 7s which are played in Thurso. They also have the distinction of being the most northerly British mainland club. Canisbay Juniors are the "feeder" team to John o' Groats FC with many of the key first team players having played for the juniors side at one time. They play in the youth development leagues in Caithness where they enter teams at all age groups.
The John o' Groats House Hotel was built on the site of Jan de Groot's house and was established in 1875. Although no longer a hotel or public bar, it has been described by Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant as "one of the UK's most famous landmarks".[5] It is currently closed and has fallen into disrepair although there have been plans for renovation for several years.
John O'Groat's House was an ancient house believed to be situated in front of the present hotel and was mark with a flagpole now removed, deriving its name from John of Groat, or Groot, and his brothers, originally from Holland, said to have settled here about 1489. The house was of an octagon shape, being one room, with eight windows and eight doors, to admit eight members of the family; the heads of different branches of it, to prevent their quarrels for precedence at table. Each came in by this contrivance at his own door, and sat at an octagon table, at which, of course, there was no chief place or head.
- —Haydn's Dictionary of Dates[6]