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Banffshire
Banffshire, Scotland
Banffshire is a maritime county on the Moray Firth and reaching from that green coastline, stretching inland up the valley of the River Spey into the Grampian and Cairngorm mountains.
Banffshire's economy is largely pastoral. The county is almost entirely rural.
Type: Historic County
Lat, Long: 57.604382,-2.76708
Grid Reference: NJ542574
Country: Scotland
Explore Banffshire on WikishireThe south of the county is mountainous, but cut through with fertile glens watered by burns and rivers which allow extensive farms. Some of the mountains are thick with forests, some present a beautiful intermixture of rock and copse, while others are covered with brown heath. The greatest mountains are all in the south, where the Cairngorm range is found. Cairn Gorm itself (shared with Inverness-shire) is famous for the amber-coloured quartz crystals found there. The county top is Ben Macdhui (4,296 feet), shared with Aberdeenshire. The River Livet flows north-west across the county here. Glenlivet is known for the Glenlivet Estate and the whisky The Glenlivet.
Ben Macdhui
The northern half of the county is mostly a fine, open, undulating country of rich, highly cultivated soil. Here are found most of the towns and the fishing villages.
Inland, on the River Fiddich, lies Dufftown. It produces more malt whisky than any other town in Scotland, including Glenfiddich, the world's best selling single-malt whisky. Balvenie Castle is a ruined 12th-century castle. On the border (the River Spey) with Morayshire, is Aberlour (fullname Charlestown of Aberlour), home of the famous Aberlour Distillery.
Balvenie Castle
To the north, on the River Isla, is Keith. The town has three distilleries, including Strathisla Distillery, the oldest continuously operating distillery in the Highlands. The Keith and Dufftown Railway is an 11-mile heritage railway running to Dufftown.
Buckie, on the Moray Firth, is the largest town in Banffshire. Once a thriving fishing and shipbuilding port, these industries have declined, though Cluny Harbour remains the heart of the town.
On a headland east of Buckie is Portknockie. The village was founded in 1677 and it became a significant herring fishing port, although today only a handful of commercial inshore boats remain. Green Castle, located on a coastal promontory, is an ancient coastal fort believed to date from 1000 BC and inhabited until AD 1000.
Along the coast to the east is the village of Cullen, noted for Cullen Skink, a traditional soup made from smoked haddock, milk, potato and onion. The village has an impressive beach and golf course, and the Crannoch Wood which offers good views of the area.
The Old Harbour at Portsoy dates to the 17th century and is the oldest on the Moray Firth. Portsoy is known for local jewellery made from "Portsoy marble".
Portsoy Old Harbour
The county town, Banff, stands on Banff Bay. The townscape has many historic buildings, including fragments of the former royal Banff Castle, a pre-Reformation market cross, a fine tolbooth and many vernacular townhouses. Close by is Duff House (HES), designed by William Adam in 1730, and one of Scotland's finest classical houses. On the estate lies the magnificent Bridge of Alvah. Built in 1772, it is a semicircular 'rubble arch' bridge over the Deveron.
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Duff House
Macduff also stands on Banff Bay, separated from Banff by the River Deveron. The town has an aquarium, a maritime heritage centre and a golf course (Royal Tarlair). At the base of a sea cliff just outside the town is the Tarlair Swimming Pool. Opened in 1931 and built in Art Deco style, it was closed in the 1990s.
Tarlair Swimming Pool