Aberdeenshire

The north-east of Scotland is one of the least known areas of the country but has an architectural heritage as rich as the Highlands and Angus with which it shares its borders. This volume is the first of two to illuminate its buildings and covers not only the historic districts of Formartine, Buchan and Banff in Aberdeenshire but also the whole of Moray. In this region is some of Scotland's finest medieval ecclesiastical architecture, most notably the ruins of Elgin Cathedral, as well as major ruined castles and country houses such as Brodie Castle, Fyvie Castle, Haddo House and Duff House. It is an area intimately related to the sea, especially enchanting along the Moray Firth, with many highly picturesque former fishing villages clinging to the rugged coast. Fraserburgh and Peterhead have a long history of rivalry as harbours, expressed in the quality of their nineteenth churches and public buildings, while Banff and Elgin boast civic and commercial architecture befitting their status as county towns. Inland is deep, sparse country, separated and sheltered from the rest of Scotland by the Grampian and Cairngorm Mountains, in which are numerous planned towns and villages. Cutting through the landscape are rivers including the Don, Deveron and - most famous of all - the Spey, its banks supporting some of the most famous distilleries in Scotland.