The nucleus of the county consists of the lands of Cromarty in the north of the peninsula of the Black Isle. With this have joined from time to time various estates scattered throughout Ross-shire, the most considerable of them the districts around Ullapool and Little Loch Broom on the Atlantic coast, the area around Ben Wyvis, and a tract to the north of Loch Fannich - which the ancestors of Sir George Mackenzie (1630 - 1714), afterwards Viscount Tarbat (1685) and 1st earl of Cromarty (1703) acquired. Desirous of combining these sporadic properties into one shire, Viscount Tarbat contrived to procure their annexation to his sheriffdom of Cromarty in 1685 and 1698, and the area of the enlarged county now amounts to nearly 370 square miles.
The following map shows the main fragments of the county in red.
Major Towns
Detailed Map
Towns and villages