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.
Kirkmichael, a parish of S Banffshire, containing the village of Tomintoul, 14½ miles S of Ballindalloch station, this being 12 miles NE of Grantown and 12 SW of Craigellachie. It is bounded NE by Inveraven, E, SE, and S by Tarland (detached), Strathdon, and Crathie in Aberdeenshire, W by Abernethy in Inverness-shire, and NW by Cromdale in Elginshire. Its utmost length, from N by W to S by E, is 17 7/8 miles; its width, from E to W, varies between 2 and 11 7/8 miles; and its area is 76,331 acres, of which 380½ are water. The pellucid Aven, issuing from lone Loch Aven (13 x 1½ furl.; 2250 feet), winds 12 miles east-north-eastward and 163/8 miles northward along Glenaven, till it passes off into Inveraven parish. During this course it is joined by Builg Burn, flowing 2½ miles north-by-westward out of Loch Builg (6 x 2 furl.; 1586 feet) at the Aberdeenshire border; by the Water of Caiplaich or Ailnack, running 6 5/8 miles north-eastward along the Abernethy border, then 3 ¼ north-north-eastward across the interior; by Conglass Water, running 8 miles north-westward through the eastern interior; by the Burn of Brown or Lochy, running 4 miles northward along the Abernethy boundary, then 2 north-north-eastward across the interior; and by thirty-four lesser tributaries. The surface, sinking along the Aven to 698 feet above sea-level, is everywhere hilly or grandly mountainous, the chief elevations to the E of that river, as one ascends it, being Carn na Dalach (1352 feet), *Carn Daimh (1866), Cnoc Lochy (1528), Tom na Bat (1723), *Carn Liath (2598), *Carn Ealasaid (2600), Liath Bheinn (2183), *Meikle Geal Charn (2633), Meall na Gaineimh (2989), *Ben Aven (3843), *Benabourd (3924), and *Ben Macdhui (4296); to the W, *Carn Eachie (2329), Cnoc Forgan (1573), Carn Meadhonach (1928), Big Garabhoum (2431), *Caiplich (3574), and *Cairngorm itself (4084), where asterisks mark those summits that culminate on the confines of the parish. The southern district, thus lying all among the Cairngorm Grampians, is wholly uninhabited. The northern, mainly consisting of rangas of mountains and congeries of hills, presents for the most part a moorish, desolate, forbidding aspect, and is inhabited only along the banks of the lower reaches of the Aven and of the Aven's principal tributaries. Granite is the prevailing rock of the mountains; sandstone occurs round Tomintoul; excellent grey slates and pavement slabs are quarried on the banks of the Aven; limestone abounds-in many parts; and ironstone of rich quality has been mined near the source of Conglass Water. The soil of a considerable portion of the arable land is fertile alluvium; that of most of the rest is a rich loam. A good deal of natural wood is dotted along the valley of the Aven; not more than between 2000 and 3000 acres are in tillage; and all the rest is pastoral waste or deer-forest. The Duke of Richmond and Gordon owns nearly nine-tenths of the parish, 1 other proprietor holding an annual value of more, and 2 of less, than £100. Giving off the quoad sacra parish of Tomintoul, Kirkmichael is in the presbytery of Abernethy and synod of Moray; the living is worth £302. The parish church, 4 miles NNW of Tomintoul, was built in 1807, and contains 350 sittings. There is also a Free church; and Kirkmichael public, Tomintoul public, and Tomintoul Roman Catholic schools, with respective accommodation for 70, 141, and 200 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 22, 76, and 45, and grants of £55, 2s., £76, 8s., and £34, 8s. 6d. Valuation (1843) £3325, (1881) £6215. Pop. (1801) 1332, (1831) 1741, (1861) 1511, (1871) 1276, (1881) 1073, of whom 260 were Gaelic-speaking, and 387 were in the ecclesiastical parish.—Ord. Sur., sh. 75, 1876.
(F.H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4); © 2004 Gazetteer for Scotland)
| Linked entities: | |
|---|---|
| Feature Description: | "a parish" (ADL Feature Type: "countries, 4th order divisions") |
| Administrative units: | Kirkmichael ScoP Banffshire ScoCnty |
| Place: | Kirkmichael |
Go to the linked place page for a location map, and for access to other historical writing about the place. Pages for linked administrative units may contain historical statistics and information on boundaries.