Rothesay
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 Rothesay Pier | |
  Rothesay Location withinArgyll and Bute | |
| Population | 4,310 (2022)[1] |
| OS grid reference | NS 087 645 |
| • Edinburgh | 73 mi (117 km) |
| • London | 361 mi (581 km) |
| Council area |
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| Lieutenancy area |
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| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | ISLE OF BUTE |
| Postcode district | PA20 |
| Dialling code | 01700 |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
| 55°50′N05°03′W / 55.833°N 5.050°W /55.833; -5.050 | |
Rothesay (/ˈrɒθsi/ ⓘROTH-see;Scottish Gaelic:Baile Bhòid[ˈpaləˈvɔːtʲ]) is the principal town on theIsle of Bute, in thecouncil area ofArgyll and Bute,Scotland. It lies along the coast of theFirth of Clyde. It can be reached by aCaledonian MacBrayneferry fromWemyss Bay, which also offers an onwardrail link toGlasgow Central Station. At the centre of the town is the 13th-century ruinRothesay Castle, unique in Scotland for its circular plan.
In modernScottish Gaelic, Rothesay is known asBaile Bhòid, meaning 'town of Bute'.[2] TheEnglish-language name, which was written asRothersay in 1321,Rosay around 1400, andRothissaye around 1500, originally referred to the castle. Since the castle was surrounded by a moat connected to the sea, the name may have originally meant 'Rother's Isle' (theOld Norse suffix-ey means "isle"), or it may be an alteration of the Gaelic wordrath, meaning 'fort'.[3][4][5]
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The old town centred on Rothesay Castle, which was built in the 13th century. The castle has long stood in ruins, but it is nevertheless picturesque, and was a focal point fortourists as soon the town began developing into aseaside resort.[6]
Rothesay was thecounty town in the civil parish of Rothesay, which was located in the formercounty of Bute. The county historically included the islands ofGreat Cumbrae,Little Cumbrae andArran.Rothesay Town Hall and County Buildings overlooks the castle.[7]
During theVictorian era, Rothesay became a popular tourist destination. In particular, it was hugely popular withGlaswegians going "doon the watter" (literally “down the water” – a reference to the waters of theFirth of Clyde). Its woodenpier was busy withsteamer traffic. It was home to one of Scotland's manyhydropathic establishments, which were in vogue at the time.[8][9] It also had an electrictramway, theRothesay and Ettrick Bay Light Railway, which ran across the whole island of Bute and carried passengers to one of the island's largest beaches (the tramway closed in the mid-1930s).
A war memorial designed byPilkington Jackson was erected in 1922. The Winter Gardens building, erected in 1923, was a centre of many activities in Rothesay in the mid-20th century, hosting some of the best-knownmusic hall entertainers of the day. Rothesay Pavilion, opened in 1938, was another popular attraction. It was an example ofInternational Modernist style architecture, and was designed by theAyr architect,James Andrew Carrick. Although it later fell into disrepair, it remains a major landmark on the seafront today, and is currently undergoing a complete restoration.[10]
During World War II, Rothesay Bay was the home port ofHMS Cyclops, which was the depot ship for the7th Submarine Flotilla and the training facility for virtually all the British submariners who served during the war.[11] In 1941 and 1942, theOfficer Concentration Station Rothesay was also located here.
By the 1960s, Rothesay's heyday as a tourist mecca had largely ended. Inexpensive foreignpackage holidays had become more popular with UK residents. The Winter Gardens building was closed and lay in disuse for decades. However, it was redeveloped in the 1990s, and is now open as a tourist information and exhibition centre.[12]
0The heir to theBritish throne (currentlyWilliam, Prince of Wales) is known in Scotland as theDuke of Rothesay. This practice was begun in the late 14th century byRobert III of Scotland, who regularly resided at Rothesay Castle, and first granted the title to his sonDavid in 1398. At that time, the nameRothesay referred to the whole island of Bute, rather than to the town (which was known as Bute-town). The island of Bute (along with the island ofArran) was under the control of Robert III because he had inherited it from his Stewart ancestors. They had owned it ever since KingAlexander III of Scotland (having received it from Norway under the Treaty of Perth of 1266) assigned it to Robert III's great-grandfather,Alexander Stewart. The two islands were privately owned by the Stewart family until Robert II (Alexander Stewart's grandson and Robert III's father) inherited the throne fromhis mother, after which the islands became the property of the Crown.
Once Robert III had conferred this title on his son, the title continued to be given to every heir of the Scottish throne thereafter. Following the Union of the Crowns in 1603, the heir to the British throne was always also formally considered “heir to the Scottish throne” and so acquired the title.
Unlike the title'sEnglish equivalent (Duke of Cornwall), the title Duke of Rothesay does not come with any land attached to it in the form of aDuchy. That is because control of the land was instead given to Robert III's half-brother and to the latter's descendants, who acquired the titleMarquess of Bute in the 18th century. Thecurrent marquess remains the main landlord of the island; his principal seat,Mount Stuart, lies a few miles to the south of Rothesay Castle.
Rothesay was granted a multimillion-pound harbour development project just in time for the arrival of the next generation of lower-firth ferriesMV Argyle andMV Bute.
In August 2018, theDonald CampbellBluebirdhydroplane held trials onLoch Fad. It was the first time the vehicle had been in the water since it was recovered fromConiston Water in theLake District and restored after the 1967 accident in which Campbell was killed.[13]
Rothesay has hosted theNational Mòd twice: in 1908 and 1952.[14]
The most successful sporting club on the island is theBute Shinty Club, which has competed at the highest level of the sport (theMarine Harvest Premier League). The Bute club was promoted to the Premier League in 2006 by winning the South Division One competition. It is also a multiple-time winner of theBalliemore Cup.
The town has an amateurfootball club, Rothesay Brandane A.F.C. (nicknamed "The Danes".[15]) It was founded in 1946.[16] They played in theScottish Amateur Football League starting in 1947, reached the semi-final of theScottish Amateur Cup in 1948–49,[16] and won the league in both the 1963–64 and 2000–01 seasons.[17] In 2004, they transferred into theCaledonian Amateur Football League Division 2, and, having won promotion after the 2007–08 season, they currently play in Division 1.[18] They also had a youth team for ages 15 and under, called the Rothesay Brandane Rovers. (In the 19th century, the town had a different football club called theBute Rangers F.C., which competed for theScottish Cup.)
The Bute CountyCricket Club plays in theWestern District Cricket Union Championship.
The island has threegolf courses: the 18-hole Rothesay Golf Club is on the outskirts of the town; the 9-hole Bute Golf Course is near the sands of Stravannan Bay on the west coast of the island; and the 13-holePort Bannatyne Golf Club sits on the hills behind the town. There are also two putting greens on the town's seafront.
The town hosts theHigh School of Glasgow rugby camp every summer.
Forbowling enthusiasts, Bute boasts four greens: Ardbeg, Craigmore, Kingarth and Rothesay. The oldest of them, Rothesay Bowling Club, was established in the 1860s.
The Bute Bowling Association runs many local club competitions. It also runs an open tournament each August, in which both ladies and gentlemen may compete; as of 2014, that tournament was in its 57th year.
Rothesay currently has threeprimary schools: St Andrews Primary School, Rothesay Primary School, and North Bute Primary School. It has onesecondary school,Rothesay Academy. In 2007, a Rothesay Primary and Rothesay Academy formed a joint campus school, and the building that previously housed Rothesay Academy was closed.
Like the rest of Scotland — and theBritish Isles in general - Rothesay has amaritime climate, with coolsummers and mildwinters. Because of its island location, the risk of severefrost is mitigated by the surrounding waters.Temperatures can range from as high as 28.5 °C (83.3 °F) (recorded in August 1975),[28] to as low as −8.4 °C (16.9 °F) (recorded in January 1982).[29]
| Climate data for Rothesay (43 m or 141 ft asl, averages 1991–2020, extremes 1960–present) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 14.0 (57.2) | 14.6 (58.3) | 16.6 (61.9) | 22.6 (72.7) | 25.5 (77.9) | 28.1 (82.6) | 28.0 (82.4) | 28.5 (83.3) | 25.0 (77.0) | 21.0 (69.8) | 16.8 (62.2) | 14.4 (57.9) | 28.5 (83.3) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 7.5 (45.5) | 7.8 (46.0) | 9.4 (48.9) | 12.0 (53.6) | 15.0 (59.0) | 17.2 (63.0) | 18.7 (65.7) | 18.4 (65.1) | 16.3 (61.3) | 12.9 (55.2) | 9.8 (49.6) | 7.8 (46.0) | 12.7 (54.9) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 2.7 (36.9) | 2.6 (36.7) | 3.3 (37.9) | 4.8 (40.6) | 7.1 (44.8) | 9.7 (49.5) | 11.5 (52.7) | 11.5 (52.7) | 9.9 (49.8) | 7.2 (45.0) | 4.9 (40.8) | 3.0 (37.4) | 6.5 (43.7) |
| Record low °C (°F) | −8.4 (16.9) | −5.6 (21.9) | −4.5 (23.9) | −4.4 (24.1) | −1.6 (29.1) | 2.0 (35.6) | 3.9 (39.0) | 4.4 (39.9) | 1.0 (33.8) | −1.9 (28.6) | −2.5 (27.5) | −5 (23) | −8.4 (16.9) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 165.7 (6.52) | 127.2 (5.01) | 118.9 (4.68) | 86.5 (3.41) | 78.6 (3.09) | 90.2 (3.55) | 107.5 (4.23) | 124.0 (4.88) | 117.3 (4.62) | 163.3 (6.43) | 159.1 (6.26) | 160.3 (6.31) | 1,498.6 (58.99) |
| Average rainy days(≥ 1 mm) | 19.7 | 16.9 | 16.2 | 13.5 | 12.5 | 13.4 | 14.7 | 15.3 | 15.5 | 18.3 | 19.4 | 18.8 | 194.2 |
| Mean monthlysunshine hours | 41.0 | 67.7 | 101.8 | 151.5 | 200.9 | 172.2 | 156.2 | 154.8 | 116.1 | 81.0 | 53.7 | 35.8 | 1,332.7 |
| Source 1:Met Office[30] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute/KNMI[31] | |||||||||||||
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The Danes Rothesay Brandane (an abbreviation of BRANDANE)
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