A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
A vision of Britain through time
A vision of Britain from 1801 to now.
Including maps, statistical trends and historical descriptions.
Kintore, a small town and a parish of central Aberdeenshire. The town, standing 165feet above sea-level, near the right bank of the Don, has a station on the Great North of Scotland railway, 16 miles E of Alford, 3 SSE of Inverurie, and 13¼ NW of Aberdeen. It ranks as a royal burgh under charter of William the Lyon, but in size is no more that a mere village, consisting chiefly of one well-built street, with several very good shops. At it are a post office, with money order, savings' bank, and railway telegraph departments, a branch of the North of Scotland bank, a National Security savings' bank (1837), 4 insurance agencies, 2 hotels, a plain town hall (l740), a parish church (1819; 700 sittings), a Free church, and a horticultural society. The town has given the title of Earl in the peerage of Scotland since 1677, and of Baron in the peerage of the United Kingdom since 1838, to the family of Keith-Falconer, whose seats are Keithhall in Aberdeenshire and Inglismaldie in Kincardineshire. The burgh is governed by a provost, 2 bailies, a dean of guild, a treasurer, and 9 councillors; and it unites with Elgin, Inverurie, Peterhead, Banff, and Cullen in sending a member to parliament. The parliamentary constituency numbered 89 in 1883, when the annual value of real property amounted to £2612. Pop. (1821) 312, (1841) 462, (1861) 568, (1871) 659, (1881) 661. Houses (1881) 113 inhabited, 3 vacant.
The parish, containing also the Port Elphinstone suburb of Inverurie burgh, comprises the ancient parish of Kintore and part of that of Kinkell. It is bounded N by Inverurie, E by Keithhall and Fintray, SE by Kinnellar, S by Skene, and W by Kemnay. Its utmost length, from N to S, is 55/8 miles; its breadth, from E to W, varies between 13/8 and 41/8 miles; and its area is 9187 acres, of which 93¼ are water. The Don winds 6¾ miles along all the northern and the eastern border, and is fed from the interior by three or four small burns. The land adjacent to the river is low and flat, sinking in the SE to 148 feet above sea-level, and protected from inundation by embankments. The surface rises thence westward and south-westward, with frequent inequalities; and the highest ground is Criche or Thainston Hill (500 feet), beautifully covered with wood. Granite is the predominant rock, and has been quarried. The soil along the Don is a deep, rich, alluvial loam; on many higher grounds, is a thin, light, shallow, sandy mould; and over some considerable tracts, is either moss in natural condition or moss subjected to cultivation. Fully three-eighths of the entire area are in tillage, woods cover rather more than one-fifth, and the rest is either pastoral or waste. Hall forest Castle has been noticed separately. Other antiquities are remains of two stone circles; five sculptured stones, figured in Dr John Stuart's Sculptured Stones of Scotland (Spalding Club, 1867); and the 'Deer Dykes,' an enclosure to the NW of the town, supposed by some to have been a Roman camp. Sir Andrew Mitchell, ambassador to the court of Prussia in the time of Frederick the Great, resided at Thainston House; and Arthur Johnston, the celebrated writer of Latin poetry, attended the parish school. Thainston is the only mansion; and its owner divides with the Earl of Kintore the greater part of the parish, 2 lesser proprietors holding each an annual value of between £100 and £500, 4 of from £50 to £100, and 26 of from £20 to £50. Kintore is in the presbytery of Garioch and synod of Aberdeen; the living is worth £294. Kintore public, Port Elphinstone public, and Leylodge Church of Scotland schools, with respective accommodation for 250, 153, and 86 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 198, 117, and 50, and grants of £185, 14s., £107, 15s. 2d., and £51, 14s. Valuation (1860) £5409, (1882) £7524, 8s. 4d., plus £1295 for railway. Pop. (1801) 846, (1831) 1184, (1861) 1895, (1871) 2158, (1881) 2327.—Ord. Sur., sh. 76, 1874. See Alexander Watt's Early History of Kintore (1864).
(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)
| Linked entities: | |
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| Feature Description: | "a small town and a parish" (ADL Feature Type: "cities") |
| Administrative units: | Kintore ScoP Aberdeenshire ScoCnty |
| Place: | Kintore |
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