Angus, Scotland

In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Angus like this:

Forfarshire (or Angus), maritime co. in E. of Scotland; is bounded N. by the cos. of Aberdeen and Kincardine, E. by the North Sea, S. by the Firth of Tay, and W. by the co. of Perth; greatest length, 37 miles; greatest breadth, 27 miles; area, 560,087 ac., pop. 266,360. The surface presents great variety. ...

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In the NW. are the Braes of Angus, a group of spurs of the Grampians, intersected by romantic glens; in the SW., 8 miles from and parallel to the Firth of Tay, are the Sidlaw Hills; between the Braes of Angus and the Sidlaw Hills is the fertile valley of Strathmore (Great Valley) or Howe of Angus; from the Sidlaw Hills to the coast on the E. and S. the land is level and highly cultivated. From Dundee to Arbroath the coast consists of sand; from Arbroath to Lunan Bay it is formed of sandstone cliffs, culminating in the Red Head. The chief rivers are the Isla, a tributary of the Tay, and the North Esk and South Esk, which flow SE. to the North Sea. Agriculture has the advantage of the most approved methods, and cattle rearing is carried to great perfection; the polled Angus cattle, however, are now raised chiefly in the county of Aberdeen. (For agricultural statistics, see Appendix.) Nearly the whole of the NW. of the co. is either waste land, or is occupied as sheep-walks or deer-forests. Granite is the prevailing rock in the N. portion of the Grampians, and sandstone in the neighbourhood of the Sidlaw Hills; sandstone flags are quarried in the Carmylie district, and there are limeworks in the neighbourhood of Montrose. The principal industry is the mfr. of linen and jute, Dundee being the chief seat of those trades in Britain. The co. contains 51 pars, an a 5 parts, the parl. and police burgh of Dundee (2 members), the parl. and police burghs of Montrose, Arbroath, Brechin, and Forfar (part of the Montrose Burghs -- 1 member), and the police burghs of Broughty Ferry and Kirriemuir. It returns 1 member to Parliament.

Vision of Britain presents long-run change by redistricting historical statistics to modern units. However, none of our modern units covers an area close to that of Angus. If you want trends covering a particular location within the county, find it on our historical maps and then select "Tell me more".

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