Loch Shin

Loch Shin (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Sìn, pronounced [l̪ˠɔx ˈʃiːn]) is a loch in the Scottish North West Highlands. To the south is the small town of Lairg. The loch, the largest in Sutherland, runs from the north-west to the south-east and is 17 miles (27 kilometres) long.[1]

Loch Shin
Loch Shin
Location	North West Scottish Highlands
Coordinates	58°6′N 4°32′W
Type	freshwater loch, reservoir
Primary outflows	River Shin
Basin countries	Scotland
Max. length	17 mi (27 km)

In the 1950s, the level of the loch was raised by over 30 feet (9 metres) by the construction of Lairg Dam[2] by Wimpey Construction as part of a hydro-electric scheme.[3]

Around the loch are some mountain ranges; the 3,273-foot (998-metre) Ben More Assynt in the west and Ben Klibreck (3,154 ft or 961 m) to the east. The loch drains to the North Sea by way of the short River Shin that feeds into the Dornoch Firth at Bonar Bridge.

Three miles to the north of Lairg is a monument to remember an early attempt to tame the Highlands. During the 1870s, the Duke of Sutherland ploughed up about 2,000 acres (800 hectares), but the industry never rewarded that. Today the area around the loch is one of the major farming centres for sheep in Scotland.