Fordoun
| |
|---|---|
  Fordoun Location withinAberdeenshire | |
| OS grid reference | NO750758 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | LAURENCEKIRK |
| Postcode district | AB30 |
| Dialling code | 01561 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| 56°52′23″N2°24′42″W / 56.872920°N 2.411751°W /56.872920; -2.411751 | |
Fordoun (Scottish Gaelic:Fordun) (Pronounced "For-Dun") is a parish and village inAberdeenshire, Scotland.Fothirdun (possibly "the lower place"), as it was historically known,[citation needed] was an important area in theHowe of the Mearns. Fordoun andAuchenblae, together with their immediate districts form the Parish of Fordoun with theParish Church[1] in the vicinity of the original settlement, now absorbed by Auchenblae.
In the 19th CenturyFordoun railway station was opened approximately 3 miles to the South East of Fordoun Church and the original settlement. A village grew at the site of the station (opened in November 1849 and closed in June 1956),[citation needed] where there was also a number of shops, but only a seasonal farm shop remains.[2] In the time since the founding of the railway station the village formerly known as Fordoun Station has come to be known simply as Fordoun and the site of the original settlement has been absorbed by Auchenblae.
There is aPictish symbol stone, theFordoun Stone (also known asSt. Palladius' Stone), in the parish church on the outskirts of Auchenblae at NO726784[9]
In his 1819Geography, James Playfair notes that[10]
Fordoun is a mean town, and the seat of a presbytery, noted for being the birthplace or temporary residence of John Fordoun, author of theScotichronicon; and of Palladius, who was sent by Pope Celestine into Scotland, in the 5th century, to oppose the Pelagian heresy. The chapel of Palladius, adjacent to the church, is 40 by 18 feet; at the corner of the minister's garden there is a well still called Paldy's well; and an Annual fair in the neighbourhood is styled Paldy-fair.
As part of the national war effort, a number of men from the Parish of Fordoun (consisting of both Fordoun andAuchenblae) volunteered or were conscripted to fight inWorld War I andII. Awar memorial was erected on Gilbert's Hill overlooking Auchenblae in 1920 which records the names of the 29servicemen from the parish who were killed in World War I and 13 servicemen and one civilian who were killed in World War II.[11] A memorial in Fordoun Memorial Hall (located in Fordoun) lists the names of an additional 14 men (43 in total) from the parish who were killed in World War I.[11] Many of the killed had joined theGordon Highlanders. The death toll from the village would likely have been higher if the parish's principal source of employment was not farming which was protected as areserved occupation.
Also in the parish, on the B966, is a disused airfield that was active during World War II. A two-runway satellite for Peterhead airfield, Fordoun Aerodrome operated from 1942 to 1944.[12]
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Settlements and places of interest inKincardine and Mearns,Aberdeenshire | ||
|---|---|---|
| Primary settlements |  | |
| Other settlements | ||
| Places of interest | ||
Areas and primary settlements inAberdeenshire(see also:Aberdeen City) | ||
|---|---|---|
| inBanff and Buchan |  | |
| inBuchan | ||
| inFormartine | ||
| inGarioch | ||
| inKincardine and Mearns | ||
| inMarr | ||