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Huntly
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Huntly (Scottish Gaelic: Srath Bhalgaidh or Hunndaidh) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, formerly known as Milton of Strathbogie or simply Strathbogie. It had a population of 4,460[2] in 2004 and is the site of Huntly Castle. Its neighbouring settlements include Keith and Rothiemay. Both Huntly and the surrounding district of Gordon are named for a town and family that originated in the Border country.[3]
Key Information
Huntly is the historic home of the Gordon Highlanders regiment, which traditionally recruited throughout the North-East of Scotland.[4] Huntly has a primary school (Gordon Primary) and a secondary school (The Gordon Schools) beside Huntly Castle.
Four of the owls from the local falconry centre were featured in the Harry Potter films.[5]
History
[edit]

Settlement around the confluence of the Bogie and Deveron rivers dates back to the Neolithic period. The settlement's remains and the remains of an Iron Age hillfort have been excavated on Battlehill on the outskirts of the town. During the first millennium CE the area was dominated by the Pictish culture. A very large Pictish settlement and vitrified hillfort was situated locally at Tap o' Noth in Strathbogie.
The site was strategically important, allowing for control of the routes from Moray into Strathdon and Deeside. The first motte-and-bailey castle on this settlement was erected by Donnchadh II, Earl of Fife, the Gaelic speaking 2nd Mormaer of Fife, c.1180. The lands were transferred to the Berwickshire Anglo-Norman family, the Gordons, in 1352 in retaliation for MacDuff’s descendant, David of Strathbogie, defecting from Robert I to Edward II’s cause on the eve of the Battle of Bannockburn.
The settlement at the confluence of the Bogie and the Deveron was known as Milton of Strathbogie or The Raws of Strathbogie until 1508.
Despite the boggy lands in the vicinity at that time, the castle at Strathbogie became a key centre for the Gordons of Moray over the following centuries.[citation needed] As the family built power through warfare and dynastic marriage, they became the dominant family in the North-East of Scotland, with the clan chief acquiring the informal title of Cock o' the North.[citation needed] As a result, a thriving settlement serving the evolving palace complex developed. The settlement became a burgh of barony in 1472. In 1508, the Gordons received a royal charter enabling them to rename Milton of Strathbogie & the castle to Huntly – the name of their ancestral seat in Berwickshire.[citation needed]
During the Scottish Reformation, the Gordons were among the leading Catholic families in the country and heavily embroiled in Mary, Queen of Scots’ conflict with the reformed church and the protestant magnates. Huntly castle was bombarded and sacked in 1562 (by Mary) and in 1594 by James VI.
After the restoration of Gordon titles, the town continued to develop during the 17th and 18th centuries both as a market town and an adjunct to the Gordons’ palace with a wide range of merchants and artisans serving the surrounding countryside – in the mid-17th century the town hosted 4 separate glovers.
The adjacent parishes of Dunbennan and Kinnoir were consolidated into a single parish of Huntly in 1727, though each of these livings had been in the gift of the Marquess of Huntly for centuries. During this century, the Duke of Gordon also commenced redeveloping the town as a planned-town with grid-iron streets.
The 18th centuries saw the development of the flax industry and associated cottage industries in heckling, spinning, bleaching and weaving, though the trade was inhibited in the longer term by poor transport infrastructure to Banff and Aberdeen. Smuggling whisky was also an important trade at this period until the industry was licensed in 1823.
In the 19th century, following the post-Napoleonic slump in the linen trade, the town experienced another period of growth with the establishment of rail transport in 1845 coupled with a shift from peasant farming to capitalist agriculture. Huntly became an important market and shipping centre whilst its surrounding parishes depopulated.
In 1836 the town and the Gordon estates passed to the Sussex-based 5th Duke of Richmond by inheritance. Ownership of the feu and much of the land and property remained in the ownership of the Dukes of Richmond and Gordon until August 1936 when all the property and feus in the town along with much surrounding farmland was sold at auction at Huntly Town Hall in order to pay death duties on the ducal estates.[6]
Though the town’s population has varied slightly over the 20th century – with a net outward migration after the 2nd World War – the town in 2018 had a population of 4,650. This compares with 4,229 in 1911. Significant demographic growth was over the course of the 19th century from 1000 in 1800 to 3,600 in 1861.
Arts
[edit]Huntly is home to Deveron Projects, an arts organisation that invites artists from all over the world to come and live and work in the town.[7][8] Since 1995 it has worked with a 'town is the venue' methodology, connecting artists, communities and places.[8][9] It hosts artists and projects that explore local, regional and global topics, such as forestry, geology, botany, foraging, anthropology, history, politics and art. Over 100 renowned artists have spent time in the town, including Roman Signer[10] and Hamish Fulton.[11]
Walking is often used as a medium to bring people together for these projects, and Deveron Projects has a Walking Institute that commissions artists to make walks.[7] Their annual Slow Marathon started in 2012 in collaboration with Ethiopian artist Mihret Kebede.[12] Deveron Projects also runs a community kitchen and gardening projects.[13] In 2013 Deveron Projects won Huntly the Creative Place Award, which recognises 'creativity across Scotland’s smaller communities'.[14]
Geography
[edit]Brown Hill is located in Huntly parish.[15]
Sports
[edit]The local rugby union side is Huntly RFC.[16]
Huntly is the home town of professional darts player John Henderson. [17]
Transport
[edit]Huntly railway station is a railway station serving the town. The station is managed by ScotRail and is on the Aberdeen to Inverness Line. The station opened on 20 September 1854.[18]
Notable people
[edit]- Ian Cameron, father of British Prime Minister, David Cameron, was from Glass, Huntly; he was born at Blairmore House.
- Ronald Center (1913–1973), composer, lived there from 1943 until his death in 1973.
- Willie Donald (1953–2022), cricketer.
- Iona Fyfe (born 1998), Scots singer and musician.[19]
- Elizabeth Gordon, Duchess of Gordon (née Brodie; 1794 – 1864), was a Scottish noblewoman and church patron
- John Henderson (born 1973), a PDC darts player, is from Huntly.
- James Legge (1815–1897), scholar and missionary to China, was born in Huntly and educated there.
- George MacDonald (1824–1905), writer.
- William Milne (1785–1822), born at Kennethmont near Huntly, missionary to China where he founded Ying Wa College.
- George Philip, (1800–1882), a cartographer and founder of the publishing house George Philip & Son Ltd, was born in Huntly.
- John Perie (1831–1874) recipient of the Victoria Cross, born in Huntly.
- Jo Pitt, para-equestrian (1979-2013), was from Huntly.[20]
- Andrew Young, (born 1992) cross-country skier.
- William Mellis Christie (1829–1900), founder of the Canadian Mr. Christie brand of cookies and biscuits.[21]
References
[edit]- ^ "Population estimates for settlements and localities in Scotland: mid-2020". National Records of Scotland. 31 March 2022. Retrieved 31 March 2022.
- ^ "Table 1: Settlements in alphabetical order" (PDF). General Register Office for Scotland. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 January 2012. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
- ^ "Parish of Huntly from The Gazetteer for Scotland". www.scottish-places.info.
- ^ "Gordon Highlanders Museum website". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011.
- ^ Team, The Sunday Post Features. "The North East: 13 Things to visit, see and do". The Sunday Post. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
- ^ Huntly Estate, Aberdeenshire: Auction Sale at the Town Hall, Huntly, on Monday, 3rd August 1936. Fox & Sons. 1936.
- ^ a b Morris, Blake. (2019). Walking Networks : the Development of an Artistic Medium. London: Rowman & Littlefield International. ISBN 978-1-78661-022-5. OCLC 1126214150.
- ^ a b Sacramento, Nuno. (2010). ARTocracy : art, informal space, and social consequence : a curatorial handbook in collaborative practice. Zeiske, Claudia. Berlin: Jovis. ISBN 978-3-86859-064-7. OCLC 679932663.
- ^ Hristova, Svetlana; Šešić, Milena Dragićević; Duxbury, Nancy (21 April 2015). Culture and Sustainability in European Cities: Imagining Europolis. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-67715-4.
- ^ "Roman Signer transmits from the river". MAP. 6 November 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
- ^ Fulton, Hamish. (2010). Mountain time, human time. Milano: Charta. ISBN 978-88-8158-791-9. OCLC 696737211.
- ^ Morris, Blake (1 January 2018). "The Walking Institute: a reflexive approach to tourism". International Journal of Tourism Cities. 4 (3): 316–329. doi:10.1108/IJTC-11-2017-0060. ISSN 2056-5607. S2CID 158172657.
- ^ Beattie, Kieran (10 June 2019). "Deveron Projects in Huntly receives £270,000 from Scottish Land Fund". Press and Journal. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
- ^ "Media Release: 2013 Creative Place award winners announced!". allmediascotland.com. Retrieved 16 July 2020.
- ^ p.2, The Place Names of the Parish of Huntly, Patrick W. Scott
- ^ Drysdale, Neil (22 May 2019). "Huntly RFC welcomes £34,000 investment in ground and facilities from Scottish Rugby". Press and Journal. Retrieved 26 July 2021.
- ^ Smith, Tyrone (17 April 2020). "PDC Home Tour: John Henderson on tidying his bedroom for darts fans". BBC Sport.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Brailsford, Martyn, ed. (December 2017) [1987]. Railway Track Diagrams 1: Scotland & Isle of Man (6th ed.). Frome: Trackmaps. p. 125. ISBN 978-0-9549866-9-8.
- ^ Scott, Pat (28 April 2022). "Huntly musician Iona Fyfe receives STUC award from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon for outing rogue employers in her industry". Grampian Online. Retrieved 4 November 2024.
- ^ Walker, Natalie (4 May 2013). "Scots Paralympian Jo Pitt dies after lung condition". The Scotsman. Retrieved 5 May 2013.
- ^ "Biography – CHRISTIE, WILLIAM MELLIS – Volume XII (1891-1900)". Dictionary of Canadian Biography.
External links
[edit]Huntly
View on GrokipediaGeography
Location and Setting
Huntly is situated in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, at Ordnance Survey grid reference NJ 529 399, placing it at approximately 57.45°N latitude and 2.79°W longitude.[7] The town lies at the confluence of the River Deveron and its tributary the River Bogie, forming a strategic position on a low-lying plain surrounded by gently rising hills. This riverside location has historically influenced settlement patterns and provides a natural hub for local agriculture and transport.[8] As part of the Aberdeenshire council area, Huntly is positioned about 42 miles northwest of Aberdeen along the A96 trunk road, which serves as a primary route toward Inverness. This placement establishes Huntly as a key gateway to the Scottish Highlands, facilitating access to upland regions and connecting lowland Aberdeenshire with northern Scotland. The town's administrative boundaries include the central urban area and the Huntly, Strathbogie and Howe of Alford ward, extending to incorporate nearby rural settlements while maintaining connectivity via the A96 for regional travel.[4][9] Originally known as Milton of Strathbogie, the settlement derived its name from the broader Strathbogie valley and an early mill site. In 1506, Alexander Gordon, the third Earl of Huntly, received a royal charter renaming the area Huntly in honor of his family's title, marking a shift that solidified the Gordons' influence in the region. Huntly Castle stands as a central landmark within this setting, overlooking the River Deveron and anchoring the town's historic core.[4][5]Topography and Environment
Huntly is situated on relatively flat terrain at an elevation of approximately 120 to 150 meters above sea level, providing a stable base for its urban development amid the broader Aberdeenshire landscape.[10] Nearby, Brown Hill rises to 312 meters, serving as a prominent local viewpoint that offers panoramic vistas of the surrounding countryside.[11] This gentle topography transitions into rolling hills and valleys, characteristic of the region's glacial and fluvial influences.[12] The town lies at the confluence of the River Deveron and the River Bogie, where these waterways merge about 1 kilometer downstream from the town center, shaping its hydrological profile.[13] This river system has historically contributed to periodic flooding, prompting engineering interventions to mitigate risks, while also fostering a rich riparian ecology along their corridors.[13] As part of the Deveron Valley, Huntly encompasses expansive agricultural plains that support fertile soils and mixed farming practices.[14] The river corridors host notable biodiversity, including habitats for salmon and other aquatic species, with ongoing conservation efforts focused on monitoring fish populations and controlling invasive non-native species to preserve ecological integrity.[15][16] Potential conservation areas along the waterways emphasize habitat enhancement through targeted planting and management to bolster local wildlife.[17] Huntly experiences a temperate maritime climate, with mild conditions influenced by its northeastern Scottish location. Average annual rainfall ranges from 800 to 900 mm, distributed relatively evenly throughout the year.[18] Winters are mild, with average temperatures between 2°C and 6°C, while summers remain cool, averaging 12°C to 15°C, based on data from nearby Met Office stations.[19]Demographics
Population Trends
The population of Huntly experienced significant growth during the 19th century, driven by industrialization, agricultural improvements, and the arrival of the railway in 1854. According to historical census data, the parish population stood at 2,863 in 1801, rising to 3,545 by 1831 and reaching a peak of approximately 4,061 in 1851 before stabilizing around 4,300-4,400 through the late 19th century.[20] The town proper saw similar expansion, with 2,585 residents in 1831 increasing to 3,448 by 1861 and 3,570 by 1871, reflecting enhanced trade and employment opportunities.[8] In the 20th and early 21st centuries, the population continued to grow modestly, reaching 4,690 in 2001 and 4,768 in the 2011 census, before a slight decline set in.[21] By mid-2020, National Records of Scotland (NRS) estimates placed the population at 4,471.[1] The 2022 census recorded 4,632.[3] This post-2011 decline of about 2.9% is linked to rural depopulation, including net out-migration to urban centers like Aberdeen for employment opportunities in sectors such as oil and gas.[22] Contributing factors also include an aging demographic, with 9% of residents over 80 years old in 2023—more than double the Aberdeenshire average of 4.9%—exacerbated by lower birth rates and longer life expectancies.[1] Counterbalancing this somewhat is an influx of commuters attracted by Huntly's rail connections to Aberdeen, supporting a portion of the local workforce.[23]| Year | Population (Parish/Town where specified) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 1801 | 2,863 (parish) | NRS historical census[20] |
| 1831 | 3,545 (parish); 2,585 (town) | NRS historical census[8] |
| 1851 | 4,061 (parish) | NRS historical census[20] |
| 1861 | 4,329 (parish); 3,448 (town) | NRS historical census[8] |
| 2001 | 4,690 | NRS census[21] |
| 2011 | 4,768 | NRS census[23] |
| Mid-2020 | 4,471 (estimate) | NRS mid-year estimate[1] |
| 2022 | 4,632 | NRS census[3] |
