Kincardineshire, also known as the Mearns, is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area on the coast of northeast Scotland. It is bounded by Aberdeenshire on the north and west, and by Angus on the south.
Kincardine and Mearns is one of six area committees of the Aberdeenshire council area in Scotland. It has a population of 38,506. There are significant natural features in this district including rivers, forests, mountains and bogs.
Fetteresso Castle is a 14th-century tower house, rebuilt in 1761 as a Scottish Gothic style Palladian manor, with clear evidence of prehistoric use of the site. It is situated immediately west of the town of Stonehaven in Kincardineshire, slightly to the west of the A90 dual carriageway. Other notable historic fortified houses or castles in this region are Dunnottar Castle, Muchalls Castle, Fiddes Castle, Cowie Castle and Monboddo House.
Catterline is a coastal village on the North Sea in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is situated about 5 miles (8.0 km) south of Stonehaven; nearby to the north are Dunnottar Castle and Fowlsheugh Nature Reserve. Other noted architectural or historic features in the general area include Fetteresso Castle, Fiddes Castle, Chapel of St. Mary and St. Nathalan and Muchalls Castle.
The Stonehaven Tolbooth is a late 16th-century stone building originally used as a courthouse and a prison in the town of Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Constructed of local Old Red Sandstone, the prison probably attained its greatest note, when three local Episcopalian clergymen were imprisoned for holding services for more than nine people. Lying midway along the old north quay of the Stonehaven Harbour, the present day Tolbooth serves as a history museum with a restaurant on the floor above the ground floor. It is a category A listed building.
Ury House is a large ruined mansion in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, built in the Elizabethan style in 1885 by Sir Alexander Baird, 1st Baronet. It is situated on the north-east coast about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Stonehaven in the former county of Kincardineshire.
Drumlithie is a village in the northeast of Scotland in the area known as the Howe o' the Mearns. Situated seven miles south of Stonehaven in Aberdeenshire, it is affectionately known by locals as 'Skite', although the origin of this name remains disputed.
Carron Water is a river in Kincardineshire, Scotland.
Cowie Castle is a ruined fortress in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The site lies at the northern end of Stonehaven on the North Sea coast. To the immediate south is the Cowie Bridge crossing of the Cowie Water. Evidence of prehistoric man exists in the vicinity dating to the Iron Age in the form of ring cairns.
The Cowie Water is a river of Scotland.
Crawton is a former fishing community on the southeast Aberdeenshire coast in Scotland, deserted since 1927.
Auchenblae is a village in the Kincardine and Mearns area of Aberdeenshire, formerly in Kincardineshire, Scotland. It is featured in Lewis Grassic Gibbon's novel, Sunset Song, as well as being mentioned in the thrash metal song "Hotel Blast Terror" by Thrashist Regime, based on the tragic 2009 incident. The name is a derivation from the Gaelic for "Field of Flowers" possibly due to the growing of flax in bygone times. The village was known for its weavers, a whisky distillery and the annual Paldie's Fair horse market.
Allardice Castle is a sixteenth-century manor house in Kincardineshire, Scotland. It is approximately 1.5 kilometres northwest of the town of Inverbervie. The Bervie Water flows around Allardice Castle on both sides. Allardice may be viewed as one of a chain of coastal castles; to the north are Dunnottar Castle (ruined), Fetteresso Castle, Cowie Castle (ruined) and Muchalls Castle. The castle is a category A listed building. Allardice castle was the chief seat of the Barons of Allardice, an ancient family who first appear in an 1197 charter. Since 1542 many alterations and changes have been made to the original structure.
Cowie is an historic fishing village in Kincardineshire, Scotland. This village has existed since the Middle Ages, but in current times it is effectively subsumed into the town of Stonehaven. It had an estimated population of 2,700 in 2016.
Drumtochty Forest is a coniferous woodland in Kincardineshire, Scotland. In earlier times this forest was associated with Drumtochty Castle. Other notable buildings in this part of the Mearns include Fasque House, Fetteresso Castle, and Muchalls Castle.
The Kirktown of Fetteresso is a well-preserved village near Stonehaven, Scotland. In the planning area of Kincardine and Mearns, Aberdeenshire, this village contains many very old stone residential structures as well as the Church of St. Ciarans and its associated graveyard. The Carron Water winds through the Kirktown of Fetteresso, and Fetteresso Castle, a listed building, lies at the northwestern verge. Other notable area historic structures are the Ury House, Stonehaven Tolbooth, Muchalls Castle and the Chapel of St. Mary and St. Nathalan. Some of the earliest area prehistory has been found nearby on the Fetteresso Estate grounds, where there have been archaeological finds from the Bronze Age.
Craiglethy is a small island/skerry off Fowlsheugh on the east coast of Aberdeenshire, Scotland in the North Sea. As it is part of Fowlsheugh, it is an SSSI, with many seabirds and seals living on it. It is also one of the few islands on the east coast of Scotland, along with Mugdrum Island and Inchcape, apart from the Islands of the Forth.
William Rickart Hepburn was a Scottish politician and soldier who lived in Kincardineshire and was responsible for the construction of Rickarton House.
Red Cloak is an industrial area of Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The site's settlement history is associated with events at the nearby Chapel of St. Mary and St. Nathalan. In current times Red Cloak is primarily an industrial dominated land use that includes Aberdeenshire Council recycling and refuse disposal functions. Earliest area prehistory is evidenced by Bronze Age finds at Fetteresso Castle and Ury House.
Bogjurgan Hill is an elevated landform at the southern verge of the Fetteresso Forest in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Its top is at an elevation of 299 metres (981 ft) above sea level. Historical features in this region of Kincardineshire include Fetteresso Castle, Drumtochty Castle and Muchalls Castle.
