Kirkmichael is a parish in the council area of Moray, Scotland. [1] It lies south of Ballindalloch and includes the Tomintoul Distillery. [2]
Kirkmichael is a parish in the council area of Moray, Scotland. [1] It lies south of Ballindalloch and includes the Tomintoul Distillery. [2]
The parish includes the largely unpopulated upper Stratha'an up to and including Loch A'an and the Shelter Stone. [3] The village of Tomintoul is the largest settlement and the total area of the parish is 305.8 km2 (118 sq mi). [1]
In 1798 the parish was populated by 892 members of the Church of Scotland and 384 Roman Catholics, [4] making the total population 1,276. In 2011 the figure was 606 [5] and by 2022 it had declined further to 472. [6] In 2001 Tomintoul's population was 322. [7]
Stratha'an was a provincial lordship first recorded between 1194 and 1198 that was coextensive with the parishes of Kirkmichael and Inveravon, the latter lying further down the strath. [8] The parish was part of Banffshire until the county was abolished in 1974. [9] [1]
St Michael's church, from which the parish takes its name, is located on the west bank of the River Avon south of its confluence with the Burn of Lochy and close to the B9136 road. The church and burial ground are Category C listed. [10] The church in its current rectangle form dates to 1807 but was substantially repaired in 1951 following a fire. A chapel existed before the current church but the exact position is unknown. There is an historic stone cross in the churchyard known as St Michael's Cross. [11] [12] [13] [14]
There are several other listed buildings in Kirkmichael. One notable example is the Category A mid-18th century Ballantruan Farm, located near the Tomintoul distillery. [15] The Ballantruan woodlands lie to the east of the farm.
Dufftown is a burgh in Moray, Scotland. While the town is part of the historic Mortlach parish, the town was established and laid out in the early 19th century as part of a planned new town settlement. The town has several listed 19th century buildings and serves as a regional centre for agriculture, tourism and services. The town is well known for its whisky based economy, as it produces more whisky than any other town in Scotland and is home to several existing and former distilleries.
Grantown-on-Spey is a town in the Highland Council Area, historically within the county of Moray. It is located on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairngorm mountains, about 20 miles (32 km) south-east of Inverness.
Banffshire is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. It borders the Moray Firth to the north, Morayshire and Inverness-shire to the west, and Aberdeenshire to the east and south.
Glenlivet is a glen in the Highlands of Scotland through which the River Livet flows.
Tomintoul is a village in the Moray council area of Scotland in the historic county of Banffshire.
Ballindalloch is a small village on the River Spey in Scotland.
Fleming Hospital is a UK National Health Service hospital in Aberlour, Morayshire, Scotland. It is administered by NHS Grampian.
Spynie was a seaport, burgh and ancient parish in Moray, Scotland, that survives as a small hamlet and civil parish. It is the location of the ruins of Spynie Palace, which was the principal residence of the Bishops of Moray between the 12th and 17th centuries, and the churchyard of Holy Trinity Church, Spynie, which served as the cathedral of the Diocese of Moray between 1207 and 1224.
Birnie Kirk is a 12th century parish church located near Elgin, in Moray, Scotland. It was the first cathedral of the Bishop of Moray and is one of the oldest in Scotland to have been in continuous use. The graveyard, symbol stone and archaeological remains under the church have been designated a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland.
Torthorwald is a village and civil parish in Dumfries and Galloway, south-west Scotland. It is located 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) east of Dumfries on the A709 road to Lochmaben. The area was the property of the de Torthorwald family until the end of the 13th century, when the estate passed by marriage to the Kirkpatricks. In 1418, William de Carleil married the Kirkpatrick heiress. He may have been the builder of Torthorwald Castle, which was erected around this time, possibly on top of an earlier a motte. Torthorwald was erected as a burgh of barony in 1473. Torthorwald Castle was occupied until 1715; only two of its walls still stand, to a height of around 18 metres (59 ft).
Telford Parliamentary church also known as the Telford Kirks are a series of presbyterian churches in Scotland built with money voted from the parliament of the United Kingdom as a result of the Church of Scotland Act 1824 for a grant of £50,000, designed by the surveyor William Thomson and built by the Scottish stonemason and architect Thomas Telford. In total, 32 churches were built and many are still in use today. Others have been abandoned, e.g. at Stoer, while others were destroyed and rebuilt, e.g. at Tobermory, while others have been converted to dwellings.
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 Church of St John is a ruined church, incorporating a finely carved sacrament house and situated within a historic burial ground in Kirktown of Deskford in Moray, Scotland. The church, along with the remains of the Tower of Deskford which was formerly attached to it, is a scheduled monument; the burial grounds and enclosing wall, excluding the other structures, are designated as a Category A listed building.
The Ballindalloch Railway Bridge is a former railway bridge on the crossing the River Spey at Ballindalloch in Moray, Scotland. Built in 1863 as a part of the Strathspey Railway, it was in use until the line was closed in 1968. It is now designated as a Category A listed building, and carries pedestrians and cyclists over the river as a part of the Speyside Way.
Mortlach Parish Church is a church within the Church of Scotland serving the parish of Mortlach, in Moray, close to the village of Dufftown. The site of the church has long been associated with Christianity, going back perhaps as far as 566 when St Moluag is said to have founded a religious community there. A Class II Pictish stone, dating from between the seventh and ninth centuries, was discovered there, which can now be seen in the burial ground. There was a bishopric on the site in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, prior to it being moved to Aberdeen in the reign of King David I. The current church retains some of the fabric of a thirteenth-century structure, which has been repeatedly remodelled in the centuries that followed, most recently in 1931. The church, along with the surrounding burial ground and a watch house within the grounds, has been designated a Category A listed building.
St Giles' Church is a Church of Scotland church situated in the centre of Elgin, Moray, in north-east Scotland. It is Elgin's original parish church.
Stratha'an or Strathavon is the valley of the River Avon,, in the Strathspey area of Moray, Scotland.
Inveravon is a parish in the council area of Moray, Scotland. It lies in the lower reaches of the River Avon and includes the settlement of Ballindalloch.