Cruden Bay
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|---|---|
  Cruden Bay Location withinAberdeenshire | |
| Population | 1,570 (2020)[1] |
| OS grid reference | NK089363 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PETERHEAD |
| Postcode district | AB42 |
| Dialling code | 01779 81 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
| 57°25′02″N1°51′09″W / 57.417254°N 1.852485°W /57.417254; -1.852485 | |
Cruden Bay is a small village in Scotland, on the north coast of the Bay of Cruden inAberdeenshire, 26 miles (42 km) north ofAberdeen.
Just west ofSlains Castle, Cruden Bay is believed to have been the site of abattle in which theScots under KingMalcolm II defeated theDanes in 1012.[2] Traditionally, the name was derived from theGaelicCroch Dain ('slaughter of Danes').[3]
Today, Cruden Bay attracts tourists with its hotels andgolf course. It has a long, unspoiled, beach made famous byNorwegianaviatorTryggve Gran who made the first solo flight across theNorth Sea.[4]
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The village has associations with various figures in literature.
DrSamuel Johnson andJames Boswell were guests atSlains Castle in 1773. Johnson said that "no man can see with indifference" the sea chasm known as theBullers of Buchan, which is near the village.
Dun Bay, or Yellow Rock is also near theBullers of Buchan, and is associated withWalter Scott'sThe Antiquary.
Bram Stoker was a regular visitor between 1892 and 1910. An article in theBuchan Observer from 1897 discusses how he discovered the village:
Cruden has an enthusiastic friend in Mr Bram Stoker, Sir Henry Irving’s manager. Mr Stoker (says a London correspondent), made the acquaintance of the district – as he tells me – by accident. He wanted to find a bracing place far north on the east coast. From a large ordnance map and the geological formations, he knew that some such place must lie between Peterhead and Aberdeen.Accordingly, he went to Peterhead and walked down the coast, and when he saw Cruden he telegraphed to his family to come on to the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel. Mr Stoker has been there every summer since then, and hopes some day to have at Cruden his ownpied-à-terre.[5]
Because he was a part-time writer, his Cruden Bay holidays provided him with the largest amount of spare time to write his books. He stayed at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel in 1892 and 1894, and thereafter in cottages in Cruden Bay andWhinnyfold.[6] The early chapters ofDracula were written in Cruden Bay, and possibly most of the rest of it was too. He also set two novels in and around the village,The Watter's Mou' (1895) andThe Mystery of the Sea (1902).[7]
James Macpherson's poemThe Highlander (1758) takes the battle of Cruden as its model.[citation needed]
Earliest nearby human traces are evident in nearbyCatto Long Barrow, a massive stone structure now surrounded by agricultural fields.[8]
The nearby cliff topSlains Castle was begun in 1597 and partly demolished in the 1920s. Bishop's Bridge spansCruden Water and dates from 1697.
William Hay, 18th Earl of Erroll, established the fishing community of Port Erroll in the 1840s and 1850s. A functional harbour at the mouth of the Water of Cruden was added in the 1870s. Before that a tiny, long-abandoned hamlet of rudimentary fisher cottages, simply known as Ward, stood exposed on top of Ward Hill, just above the harbour site. There was also a parish school since 1606, housed in the two-storey Erroll Schoolhouse[9] from 1834; thePresbyterian Church dedicated toSaint Olaf or commonly called the Old Kirk—built in 1776, with distinctive conical towers added in 1833—andSaint JamesEpiscopal Church, notably the first structure designed by architectWilliam Hay[10] on top of Chapel Hill in 1842.
Port Erroll developed as a fishing community to some extent but the tidal nature of the harbour restricted the size of craft which could operate from it and the village missed out on the herring boom. Tourism provided another source of income for the village. Even before the coming of the railway, the long pink curve of the Bay of Cruden sands and scenic cliffscapes to the north were attracting visitors and a small seaside resort was grafting itself onto the fishing community. The Cruden Bay Golfing Society, founded in 1791, played on the open links.
The railway brought grandeur but not lasting prosperity, to Cruden Bay. TheBoddam branch line fromEllon toBoddam nearPeterhead was opened in 1897, along with the golf course and the 55-bedroomCruden Bay Hotel two years later.[11] TheCruden Bay Hotel Tramway was added linking the station and hotel. TheGreat North of Scotland Railway Company promoted Cruden Bay as aBrighton of the North, only twelve hours from London and an ideal escape for gentry andnouveau riche; despite initial enthusiasm, neither railway nor hotel prospered. The railway was closed to passengers in 1932 and in 1939 the hotel was requisitioned as an army hospital and not re-opened after the war and demolished around 1950. Cruden Bay remains a golfing destination and the village sustains three smaller hotels. Although the harbour area and the local primary school are still styled "Port Errol", the railway adventure put the name Cruden Bay firmly on the map.[12]
The 1950s and 1960s was a period of rapid population decline for Cruden Bay but the coming ofNorth Sea oil to north-east Scotland, with its attendant jobs and families looking for places to settle, reinvigorated the village; thereafter, the population rose again, with new housing added near the defunct brickworks, the site of the demolished Cruden Bay Hotel and along the water of Cruden at Morrison Place. These days Cruden Bay serves mainly as adormitory village for the important settlements ofPeterhead to the north andAberdeen to the south. The eighteenth century timbered salmon station still operates and some seasonal commercial fishing continues.[citation needed]
Cruden Bay has a medium-sizedprimary school.Secondary pupils are bussed to nearby Peterhead Academy. There are a few small shops, a chemist/newsagent, a post office/hardware, a craft shop and a general store. There is also a Chinese takeaway, a medical surgery and a library. There are also many sports facilities, tennis courts, and two football pitches. The school and public hall house a number of youth groups such as Girlguiding UK. There is aCongregational Church in the village centre and just outside the village there is a Scottish Episcopalian Church and aChurch of Scotland parish. Cruden Bay is not far from the towns ofEllon and Peterhead, and is about 30 minutes drive from Aberdeen City.[citation needed]
Holiday makers are served by 2 hotels, a pub and bed and breakfasts. Attractions for visitors include the beach, the golf course of the Cruden Bay Golf Club (ranked #29nationwide).
Although there is little evidence of its presence other than a small complex a few miles south of the village, the sands at Cruden Bay is the place where the 110-mile (180 km) longForties pipeline operated byIneos, in use from 1975, finds landfall.[13] It pumps crude oil from theForties oilfield to Whinnyfold, then by overland pipeline toGrangemouth.
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Settlements and places of interest inBuchan,Aberdeenshire | ||
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| Primary settlements |  | |
| Other settlements | ||
| Places of interest | ||
Areas and primary settlements inAberdeenshire(see also:Aberdeen City) | ||
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| inBanff and Buchan |  | |
| inBuchan | ||
| inFormartine | ||
| inGarioch | ||
| inKincardine and Mearns | ||
| inMarr | ||