Editing Dingwall (section)

==History==
===Early history===

Its name, derived from the Scandinavian {{lang|non|Þingvöllr}} (field or meeting-place of the ''[[thing (assembly)|thing]]'', or local assembly; compare [[Tynwald]], [[Tingwall (disambiguation)|Tingwall]], [[Thingwall]] in the [[British Isles]] alone,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rhs.ac.uk/bibl/wwwopac.exe?&qDB=catalo&DATABASE=dcatalo&LANGUAGE=0&rf=000015393&SUCCESS=false|last=Fellows Jensen|first=Gillian|title='Tingwall, Dingwall and Thingwall'. North-Western European Language Evolution, 21:22|year=1993|pages=53–67|publisher=Odense University Press}}{{dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> plus many others across northern Europe), preserves the [[Viking]] connections of the town; Gaels call it {{lang|gd|Inbhir Pheofharain}} ({{IPA|gd|iɲiɾʲˈfjɔhəɾaiɲ|pron}}), meaning "the mouth of the Peffery" or {{lang|gd|Baile Chàil}} meaning "jobby town".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ainmean-aite.org/databasedetails.php?id=35|title=Dingwall|publisher=Gaelic Place names of Scotland|access-date=24 June 2017|archive-date=5 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210505212917/http://www.ainmean-aite.org/databasedetails.php?id=35|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/illustratedgaeli03dweluoft#page/1012/mode/2up |title=The illustrated Gaelic dictionary |access-date=2012-10-10}}</ref>

The site of the {{lang|non|Þingvöllr}}, and of the medieval Moothill, thought to have been established by the Vikings after they invaded in the 8th century, lies beneath the Cromartie memorial.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://her.highland.gov.uk/api/LibraryLinkWebServiceProxy/FetchResource/273654/full_273654.pdf|title=Investigating Dingwall as Þingvöllr|first=D. D. |last=MacDonald|publisher=The Highland Council|access-date=9 October 2022}}</ref>

===Early middle ages===

In the early Middle Ages Dingwall Castle, which was established in the 11th century, was reputed to have the largest castle north of Stirling.<ref>Norman Macrae,  Romance of a Royal Burgh: Dingwall's Story of a Thousand Years Publisher: EP Publishing Ltd. {{ISBN|0715810715}}</ref> King [[Alexander II of Scotland|Alexander II]] created Dingwall a [[royal burgh]] in 1226, the burgh becoming the seat of the Earls of Ross. [[James IV of Scotland|James IV]] renewed its royal burgh charter in 1497.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Byrom |first=Bernard |title=Old Dingwall |publisher=Stenlake Publishing Ltd |year=2022 |isbn=978-1-84033-930-7 |location=Catrine |pages=3}}</ref> On the top of [[Knockfarrel]] ({{langx|gd|Cnoc Fhearghalaigh|links=no}}), a hill about {{convert|3|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on}} to the west, stands a large and very complete [[vitrified fort]] with ramparts.<ref>{{cite book|author=G.E. Mitton|title=Black's Guide to Scotland|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-4EQAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA427|year=1925|publisher=Рипол Классик|isbn=978-5-88070-219-0|page=427}}</ref>

An [[obelisk]], {{convert|51|ft|m}} high, was erected over the grave of [[George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie]], near the parish church of St Clement after he died in 1717. It was affected by subsidence, becoming known as the "Leaning Tower", and was later replaced by a much smaller replica.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ssns.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/07_Clough_Ross_1986_pp_88-97.pdf|title=The Cromartie Estate, I66o-1784: Aspects of Trade and Organisation|page=89|first=Monica|last=Clough}}</ref> [[Dingwall Town Hall]], which dates back to 1745, still survives.<ref>{{Canmore|desc= Dingwall, High Street, Town Hall |num=12814| access-date=16 November 2021}}</ref> 

The [[Ferry Road drill hall, Dingwall|Ferry Road drill hall]] was completed in 1910.<ref name=canmore>{{cite web|url=https://canmore.org.uk/site/331789/dingwall-ferry-road-drill-hall-war-memorial|title=Dingwall, Ferry Road, Drill Hall, War Memorial|publisher=Canmore|access-date=24 June 2017}} (The 1:2500, 2nd edition, Ordnance Survey Plan no. 88.03 (Ross and Cromarty), published in 1906, does not show the drill hall)</ref> Dingwall formerly served as the county town of [[Ross and Cromarty]]: the headquarters of Ross and Cromarty County Council, established in 1889, was [[County Buildings, Dingwall|County Buildings]] in Dingwall.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.ross-shirejournal.co.uk/news/public-urged-to-attend-dingwall-meeting-165145/  |title=Public urged to attend Dingwall meeting|date=28 October 2014|newspaper=Ross-shire Journal|access-date=19 July 2021}}</ref>

James Gillanders of Highfield Cottage near Dingwall, was the [[Factor (Scotland)|Factor]] for the estate of Major Charles Robertson of [[Abernethy and Kincardine|Kincardine]] and, as his employer was then serving with the [[British Army]] in [[Australia]], Gillanders was the person most responsible for the [[Highland Clearances|mass evictions]] staged at Glencalvie, [[Ross-shire]] in 1845. A Gaelic-language poem denouncing Gillanders for the brutality of the evictions was later submitted anonymously to Pàdraig MacNeacail, the editor of the [[Canadian Gaelic]] column in which the poem was later published in the [[Nova Scotia]] newspaper ''The Casket''. The poem, which is believed either to be or to draw upon eyewitness accounts, is believed to be the only Gaelic language source of information relating to the evictions in Glencalvie.<ref>Edited by Michael Newton (2015), ''Seanchaidh na Coille: Memory-Keeper of the Forest'', [[Cape Breton University]] Press. Pages 59–62.</ref>

===Recent history===

The town has a pedestrian [https://dingwall.scot/dingwall-heritage-trail Heritage Trail], which launched in March 2023, with information boards at key historical sites around the town.

As a result of storms in late October 2006, Dingwall was subject to widespread flooding the aftermath of which left the town and much of the Highlands north of Inverness, including the [[A9 road (Great Britain)|A9]] and [[Far North Line]], cut off for a time <ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6088112.stm "Rain turns north into water world"], BBC News.</ref> In August 2019 the town was once again flooded.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/highlands/1812705/dingwall-hit-with-floods/|title=Dingwall hit with floods|last=Aiken|first=Gregor|website=Press and Journal|date=5 August 2019 |language=en-US|access-date=2019-11-23}}</ref>

Dingwall's Post Office was named the UK's most improved delivery office of the year in Royal Mail's 2021 Awards.<ref>{{cite web |title=Dingwall delivery office is crowned Royal Mail's most improved delivery office of the year |url=https://www.ross-shirejournal.co.uk/news/staff-in-dingwall-delivery-office-praised-246984/ |website=Rossshire Journal |date=6 August 2021 |access-date=9 August 2021}}</ref>