Find your way around the towns and villages of Kincardineshire
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The Stonehaven/Portlethen Street Plan is published at a large scale (1:7500 or 8 inches to 1 mile), allowing much more detail than any other comparable publication. As well as the former burghs of Stonehaven, Inverbervie and Laurencekirk, the double-sided map includes the expanding commuter settlements of Portlethen and Newtonhill as well as Muchalls, Auchenblae, Drumlithie, Gourdon, Johnshaven and St Cyrus.
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Stonehaven is a thriving coastal burgh and seaside resort, 15 miles south of Aberdeen, with a railway station on the main line to Edinburgh, Glasgow and London. It occupies one of the few significant gaps in the cliffs on the coast between Montrose and Aberdeen, and is a town of two distinct facets - the Old Town beside the picturesque harbour and the New Town on the other side of the Carron Water. The town is well-known for its Hogmanay fireball procession which, on the first day of the new Millennium, was given national (and possibly even international) television coverage.
For almost four hundred years, Stonehaven has been the county town of Kincardineshire, in place of the now vanished castle community of Kincardine which stood about two miles north-east of Fettercairn. For the purposes of local government, Stonehaven now lies within Aberdeenshire, much enlarged from its generally-recognised boundaries. Over the past 30 years, the population of the town has doubled as a consequence of its popularity with Aberdeen commuters (2001 population - 9,577).
Stonehaven Harbour A favourite subject for Scottish pictorial calendars and postcards, Stonehaven Harbour was established by the Earl Marischal and improved in 1826 by Robert Stevenson, the engineer grandfather of Robert Louis Stevenson. Now mainly a haven for yachts and leisure craft, it is overlooked by a number of pleasant pubs and eating places.
Tolbooth (Museum) - On the north side of the harbour is Stonehaven's oldest building, the 16th century tolbooth, which served for a while as the county buildings of Kincardineshire. Today, it accommodates a local history and museum.
Town House and Mercat Cross - Prominently situated near the east end of the High Street (see photograph, above right) is the 1790 Town House with its steeple and public barometer. In front is the mercat cross, the base and shaft of which pre-date 1645.
The New Town - On the other side of the Carron Water from the Old Town, and stretching as far as Stonehaven's other river, the Cowie Water, is Stonehaven's new town (just over two hundred years of age), laid out in grid-iron fashion around a large central square, adorned with the steeple of the 1827 former Market House. An excellent early example of town planning, the development of the area (now with a good range of shops) was promoted by the local landowner, Robert Barclay of Ury who is, with other family members, commemorated in the street names. A plaque in the Market Square records the birthplace of Robert Thomson, the inventor of the pneumatic tyre.
Cowie - Now a small coastal village on the north-eastern outskirts of Stonehaven, beyond leisure facilities and caravan sites, Cowie was once a royal burgh given its charter by Malcolm Canmore. There are still scanty vestiges of a castle and the remains of Cowie's 13th century pre-Reformation church in its graveyard.
Kirktown of Fetteresso and St Kieran's Church - Although the present day Fetteresso Parish Church is accommodated in a large, unusually-shaped building in Stonehaven, its roofless predecessor remains to the west in the attractive small village of Kirktown of Fetteresso. The old church, nearly 100 feet in length, was dedicated to St Kieran (or Caran) in 1246. A short distance back into the town is a tree-covered mound, amid modern housing, called Malcolm's Mount. This is supposed to be where the death occurred of King Malcolm I (AD 942-954).
Dunnottar Parish Church - Beyond the paths leading to Dunnottar Woods to the south-west of the town is the old-established Dunnottar Parish Church, first rebuilt in 1593. In the kirkyard is the Marishal Aisle of 1582, in memory of the 5th Earl Marischal who founded the University college of the same name in Aberdeen. Also of particular interest is the Covenanters' or Martyrs' Stone which records the names of nine people who died after being imprisoned (with 158 others) for their religious beliefs in a small cell at Dunnottar Castle.
Lady Kennedy's Bath - Extending south-westwards from the centre of the town is the Dunnottar Woodland Park which offers a variety of interesting woodland walks. Among the places of interest is Lady Kennedy's Bath, about a mile up the Burn of Glaslaw. This is an oval-shaped stone-built structure said to be the remains of the bathing place of the local laird's wife. Finding this feature is a worthy challenge for any young intrepid explorer!
Tourist Information Centre - Centrally located in Allardice Street, near the Stonehaven's Market Square, this seasonal information centre is the place to gather further information on the town and Kincardineshire generally, together with assistance in finding accommodation, etc.
Outdoor Swimming Pool - The people of Stonehaven have fought hard to keep their outdoor swimming pool, one of the last in Scotland. It is to be found at the Promenade, surrounded by caravan parks and a wide range of leisure facilities.
Stonehaven Leisure Centre - A modern sports centre and (indoor) swimming pool, situated in the same area. Nearby are tennis courts, a putting green, bowling greens, indoor bowling and a quoiting ground, the latter also being one of the few left in the country.
TOWNS AND VILLAGES OUTWITH STONEHAVEN
Inverbervie and Gourdon - The Royal Burgh of Inverbervie (2001 population - 2,094) and the neighbouring fishing village of Gourdon lie on the North Sea coast, halfway between Stonehaven and Montrose. Inverbervie has an ancient mercat cross and a monument to Hercules Linton, the local man who designed th Cutty Sark, while in Gourdon are a fishing museum and another public barometer by the harbour.
Johnshaven - Another fishing village with a good harbour, overlooked by an attractive and fairly haphazard mass of houses and cottages.
St Cyrus - The steeple of St Cyrus Parish Church is a distinctive landmark on the coast road south from Stonehaven. Down below the cliffs is a well-known National Nature Reserve and the remains of the original parish church which served the one-time village of Ecclesgreig, washed away by the sea.
Laurencekirk (2,001 population - 1,808) - Founded in 1765 and now by-passed by the A90, this is the largest community in the fertile Howe o' the Mearns.
Drumlithie - A village of charming narrow lanes and well worth a visit, Drumlithie is best known for its part in Lewis Grassic Gibbon's Sunset Song. Its most distinctive feature is a tall bell-tower built in 1770 to regulate the working hours of local weavers.
Newtonhill (2,940) - A cliff-top village, joined with Skateraw, popular as a place of residence for people working in Aberdeen.
Portlethen (6,603) - From a tiny station hamlet, Portlethen has mushroomed over the past twenty-five years into a dormitory town for Aberdeen, complete with its large retail park by the A90. Old Portlethen nearby is an exposed clifftop former fishing village, typical of the Kincardineshire coast.
R P A Smith's range of Street Plans covers the following towns around Stonehaven:
Banchory
Aboyne
Ballater
Braemar
Inverurie
Westhill
Huntly
Ellon
Peterhead
Fraserburgh
Turriff
Montrose
Arbroath
Carnoustie
Monifieth
Forfar
Brechin
Kirriemuir
Dundee
