Moray; or Morayshire, called Elginshire until 1919, is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland, bordering Nairnshire to the west, Inverness-shire to the south, and Banffshire to the east. It was a local government county, with Elgin the county town, until 1975. The county was officially called Elginshire, sharing the name of the Elginshire parliamentary constituency, so named since 1708.
Fochabers is a village in the Parish of Bellie, in Moray, Scotland, 10 miles (16 km) east of the cathedral city of Elgin and located on the east bank of the River Spey. 1,728 people live in the village, which enjoys a rich musical and cultural history. The village is also home to Baxters, the family-run manufacturer of foodstuffs.
Archibald Simpson was a Scottish architect, who along with his rival John Smith, is regarded as having fashioned the character of Aberdeen as "The Granite City".
Gordon Castle is a country house located near Fochabers in the parish of Bellie in Moray, Scotland. It was the principal seat of the Dukes of Gordon and was originally called Bog-of-Gight. The six-storey medieval tower dates from 1498 and in the late 18th century it was incorporated into the centre of a huge Neoclassical house. The castle was used as a military hospital during the First World War, and in 1954 all but the central tower and the east wing pavilion were demolished due to dry rot.
Architecture of Scotland in the Industrial Revolution includes all building in Scotland between the mid-eighteenth century and the end of the nineteenth century. During this period, the country underwent an economic and social transformation as a result of industrialisation, which was reflected in new architectural forms, techniques and scale of building. In the second half of the eighteenth century, Edinburgh was the focus of a classically inspired building boom that reflected the growing wealth and confidence of the capital. Housing often took the form of horizontally divided tenement flats. Some of the leading European architects during this period were Scottish, including Robert Adam and William Chambers.
Church architecture in Scotland incorporates all church building within the modern borders of Scotland, from the earliest Christian structures in the sixth century until the present day. The early Christian churches for which there is evidence are basic masonry-built constructions on the west coast and islands. As Christianity spread, local churches tended to remain much simpler than their English counterparts. By the eighth century more sophisticated ashlar block-built buildings began to be constructed. From the eleventh century, there were larger and more ornate Romanesque buildings, as with Dunfermline Abbey and St Magnus Cathedral in Orkney. From the twelfth century the introduction of new monastic orders led to a boom in ecclesiastical building, often using English and Continental forms. From the thirteenth century elements of the European Gothic style began to appear in Scotland, culminating in buildings such as Glasgow Cathedral and the rebuilt Melrose Abbey. Renaissance influences can be seen in a move to a low-massive style that was probably influenced by contacts with Italy and the Netherlands.
St Mary's, Fochabers is a Roman Catholic church in the village of Fochabers, Moray, in Scotland and is a part of the RC Diocese of Aberdeen. The building is significant for the high quality of its altar and stained glass windows. It is an active parish church served from Buckie with regular weekly Sunday Mass at 10.00 am.
The Gordon Tomb is a classical colonnaded mausoleum in the parish of Bellie in Moray, Scotland. It houses the sarcophagi of the second wife of the 4th Duke of Gordon, Jean Christie, and her son Adam. It is designated as a Category A listed building. The tomb lies within the graveyard of Bellie Old Church, close to the remains of the church.
Gordon Chapel is a nineteenth century church in Fochabers, Scotland. It is part of the Scottish Episcopal Church, under the governance of the United Diocese of Moray, Ross and Caithness. Designated as a category A listed building, it was originally built in the 1830s by Archibald Simpson under the patronage of the last Duchess of Gordon. Extensively renovated by Alexander Ross in the 1870s, it features the largest collection of Pre-Raphaelite stained glass windows in Scotland.
Dunphail House is an Italianate country house in Moray, Scotland. It was designed by William Henry Playfair for Charles Lennox Cumming-Bruce, and was completed in 1829. Originally designated a Category B listed building in 1971, it was upgraded to Category A in 1987, and remains a privately owned residence.
Letterfourie House is a Georgian house in Moray, built by Robert Adam and completed in 1773. Its main block has three main storeys, with a raised cellar that opens onto the shaped water gardens on its south side. It was designated a Category A listed building in 1972.
St Peter's Roman Catholic Church is a large mid-nineteenth century church in Buckie, Moray, Scotland. Known locally as the Buckie Cathedral, it was built between 1851 and 1857, soon after the emancipation of Catholics in Scotland, to provide a place of worship for the local Catholic congregation. It was designed by James Kyle, Catholic bishop of Aberdeen, and built on land donated to the diocese by Sir William Gordon, Baronet of Letterfourie. It was extended and redecorated in the early twentieth century by Charles Ménart, and was designated a Category A listed building in 1972. It remains an active place of worship, under the governance of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Aberdeen.
Cullen Old Church is the parish church for Cullen and Deskford, in Moray. It was originally a part of the Roman Catholic Church, but has been a part of the Church of Scotland since the Scottish Reformation. John R. Hume describes Cullen Old Church as a fine example of late Scots Gothic architecture, and it was designated a Category A listed building in 1972. It is still an active place of worship, with weekly services presided over by Rev Douglas F Stevenson.
Dyke Parish Church is a Georgian church in Dyke, a village in Moray. In active use by the Church of Scotland since it was built in 1781, it stands on the site of a mediaeval church, and incorporates an older mausoleum, which is now the church hall and vestry. An early mediaeval Pictish cross slab, and a twelfth century coin hoard were discovered in the grounds while the church was being built. It was designated a Category A listed building in 1971.
The Church of The Incarnation was built between 1827 and 1829 as a Roman Catholic church, under the patronage of the Gordon family, in Banffshire, Scotland. It was originally built by John Gall, and finished between 1843 and 1844 by James Kyle with assistance from Walter Lovi. It was designated a Category B listed building in 1972, and upgraded to Category A in 1987. It ceased being used as an active church in 2012, and as of 2019 is on the Buildings at Risk Register for Scotland, described as being at moderate risk, and in poor condition.
The Old Spey Bridge is a footbridge on the outskirts of Fochabers in Moray, Scotland, which formerly carried the main road between Inverness and Aberdeen over the River Spey. Originally built between 1801 and 1806 by George Burn, it was partially destroyed in the Muckle Spate of 1829, with two of its arches being washed away. Archibald Simpson repaired the bridge in 1831 with a single timber span, which was reconstructed in cast iron in 1853. The bridge is designated a Category A listed building.
St Rufus Church, also known as Keith Parish Church, is a Church of Scotland church in Keith, Moray, that was built in 1816. Designed by James Gillespie Graham in the Perpendicular Gothic style, it has crenellated walls, traceried windows and a tall bell and clock tower at its west end. The doorway leading into the nave from the entrance lobby is an unusual war memorial, listing the names of parishioners who died in the First World War on one side, and in the Second World War on the other.
John Baxter was a Scottish architect who was active in the second half of the eighteenth century. His father, also called John Baxter, was a master mason from Edinburgh, and sent Baxter and his brother Alexander to Italy in 1761 to study architecture. Baxter became known amongst the expatriate artistic community in Rome, and entered a number of architectural competitions during his time there; in March 1766 he was inducted into the Academy of St Luke as an honorary member. Baxter and his father were both protégés of Sir John Clerk, and while in Rome he became acquainted with Alexander Runciman, another friend of Clerk's; a painting of 1767, currently in the Vatican's collection, depicts the two Baxter brothers with Runciman, alongside another artist.
Alexander Esmé Gordon was a Scottish Modernist architect, writer, and painter who served as Secretary of the Royal Scottish Academy between 1973 and 1978.
