Lairg is a picturesque village of approximately 700 population in the county of Sutherland, Highland Council Area, Scotland. Lairg is built on the south-facing slope of a gentle hillside at the southeast end of Loch Shin, a 27-kilometer (17 miles) long loch in the Northwest Highlands. In the 1950s the loch's water level was raised some 10 meters (32.5 feet) due to the construction of the construction of Lairg Dam. The purpose of the dam is to provide hydro electric power. The rise in the water level created Little Loch Shin on the border of the village. Little Loch Shin is now a popular boating and fishing area.
Small as it is by most measures, Lairg is one of the largest inland settlements in the north of Scotland. In the 19th century it was provided with a railway station on the Far North Line, which rubs from Inverness to Wick and Thurso in the north. It was believed a Lairg railway station would assist in opening up the interior of Northern Scotland to increased development. Thanks to the station, Lairg is able to serve as the auction center for North Highland sheep, and holds some of the largest sheep auctions in the entire United Kingdom.
In the 1990s two old, established businesses the looked out over the loch at the foot of the Main Street, Sutherland Transport & Trading Company and the Sutherland Arms Hotel, were closed, the buildings demolished. The empty lots in such prime locations are a bit of a sore spot with the locals, but no developer has yet come forward to exploit the properties.
For those interested in exploring the area around Loch Shin, Lairg is the logical home-base. The mountains surrounding the loch are substantial, rising almost a 1,000 meters above sea level. On the eastern shore is 962 metre Ben Klibreck and on the west is 998 meter Ben More Assynt. Loch Shin drains into the North Sea.
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