Difference between revisions of "Rathen"

From Wikishire
Jump to: navigation, search
(Created page with "{{Infobox town |county=Aberdeen |os grid ref=NK000607 |latitude=57.63338 |longitude=-2.00198 |LG district=Aberdeenshire |constituency=Banff and Buchan |post town=Fraserburgh |...")
 
(No difference)

Latest revision as of 18:06, 30 May 2024

Rathen
Aberdeenshire
Cottage and kirk, Rathen (geograph 6597583).jpg
Rathen Kirk and adjacent but and ben
Location
Grid reference: NK000607
Location: 57°38’0"N, 2°0’7"W
Data
Post town: Fraserburgh
Postcode: AB43
Dialling code: 01346
Local Government
Council: Aberdeenshire
Parliamentary
constituency:
Banff and Buchan

Rathen is a parish and hamlet near Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire. In Scottish Gaelic, its name means fort on the river.[1]

On the coast is Cairnbulg Point, flanking the eastern side of Fraserburgh Bay.[1] Mormond Hill (769 ft) sits on the borders of Rathen, Strichen and Lonmay.[1] Rathen Burn runs through the parish for three miles.[1]

The old kirk, St Ethernan's,[2] is one of the most ancient in Aberdeenshire. The church was given, by Marjory, Countess of Buchan, to Arbroath Abbey in the 13th century.[1] In 1328, Robert the Bruce, a year before his death, granted it to the college and canons of Old Machar.[1] A sundial was added in the kirkyard in 1625,[2] and the church's nave was erected by the Frasers of Memsie in 1646.[1] While the belfry dates from 1782, its bell has the inscription Peter Jansen, 1643.[1] Also in the kirkyard are the burials of the great great grandparents of the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.[2]

The church was replaced in 1868 by a new construction, designed by William Smith,[2] to the east of its predecessor.[1]

There is also a free church, Inverallochy and Rathen East Church,[3] two miles northeast of Rathen.[4]

At the end of the 19th century, the main residence was Mormond House (formerly Cortese House),[2] with House of Memsie being used as a farmhouse.[1]

Rathen railway station formerly existed as part of the now-defunct Formartine and Buchan Railway.

Gallery

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Graphic and Accurate Description of Every Place in Scotland, Frances Hindes Groome (1901), p. 1363
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 McKean, Charles (1990). Banff & Buchan: An Illustrated Architectural Guide. Mainstream Publications Ltd.. p. 137. ISBN 185158-231-2. 
  3. Inverallochy and Rathen East Church official website
  4. Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Graphic and Accurate Description of Every Place in Scotland, Frances Hindes Groome (1901), p. 1364

Outside links

Aberdeenshire roundel.svg
 This Aberdeenshire article is a stub: help to improve Wikishire by building it up.