In 1882-4, Frances Groome's Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland described Lunan like this:
Lunan, a coast parish of E Forfarshire, with a station, Lunan Bay, on the Arbroath and Montrose section (1879-83) of the North British, 5 miles SSW of Montrose, and 8½ NNE of Arbroath. It is bounded N by Craig and Maryton (detached), E by the German Ocean, SE and SW by Inverkeilor, and W by Kinnell. ...
Its utmost length, from ENE to WSW, is 2 5/8 miles; its breadth varies between 3½ furlongs and 23/8 miles; and its area is 1981½ acres, of which 632/3 are foreshore, 3½ water, and 4 tidal water. The coast, extending ¾ mile along Lunan Bay, is a low sandy beach, strewn here and there with small boulders, and flanked by bent-covered knolls, beyond which the surface rises somewhat rapidly till at Cothill it attains an altitude of 319 feet above sea-level, and thence commands an extensive prospect of country, seaboard, and sea. Lunan Water winds 2 5/8 miles north-eastward along the Inverkeilor boundary; and Buckie Den Burn, traversing a romantic dell, and forming a number of pretty waterfalls, traces the northern border. Trap and sandstone are the prevailing rocks; and the former has been quarried for building. The soil is sandy for a short way inland, deep and rich on the lower declivities, and frequently shallow on the higher grounds. Threefourths of the entire area are in tillage; less than 20 acres are under wood; and the rest is either pastoral or waste. The chief antiquities are vestiges or sites of structures connected with Red Castle. Walter Mill (1476-1558), burned at St Andrews, the last of Scotland's Reformation martyrs, was priest of Lunan for forty years; and Alexander Peddie, its Episcopalian minister, was suffered, after the re-establishment of Presbyterianism, to retain his charge till his death in 1713. Lunan House is the seat of William Thomas Taylor Blair-Imrie, Esq. (b. 1833; suc. 1849), who holds 297 acres in the shire, valued at £747 per annum. The Earl of Northesk is chief proprietor, and Arbikie belongs to a third. Lunan is in the presbytery of Arbroath and the synod of Angus and Mearns; the living is worth £223. The church, rebuilt in 1844, contains 130 sittings; and a public school, with accommodation for 83 children, had (1882) an average attendance of 80, and a grant of £75, 11s. Valuation (1857) £2513, (1884) £3034, 3s., plus £1202 for railway. Pop. (1801) 318, (1831) 298, (1861) 259, (1871) 248, (1881) 243.—Ord. Sur., sh. 57, 1868.
Lunan through time
Lunan is now part of Angus district. Click here for graphs and data of how Angus has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Lunan itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Lunan in Angus | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/16842
Date accessed: 01st May 2024
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