Kintore
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|---|---|
 Kintore Town House located in The Square | |
  Kintore Location withinAberdeenshire | |
| Population | 4,700 (2022)[1] |
| OS grid reference | NJ793163 |
| Council area | |
| Lieutenancy area | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | INVERURIE |
| Postcode district | AB51 |
| Dialling code | 01467 |
| Police | Scotland |
| Fire | Scottish |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| UK Parliament | |
| Scottish Parliament | |
| 57°14′00″N2°20′46″W / 57.2332°N 2.3461°W /57.2332; -2.3461 | |
Kintore (/kɪnˈtɔːr/;Scottish Gaelic:Ceann Tòrr) is a town and formerroyal burgh nearInverurie inAberdeenshire,Scotland, now bypassed by theA96 road betweenAberdeen andInverness. It is situated on the banks of theRiver Don.
Nearby are the remains ofHallforest Castle, former stronghold of theEarls of Kintore.
Established in the ninth century AD as a royal burgh,[2] Kintore had its royal charter renewed byKing James IV in 1506. But the area has clearly been a popular settlement since prehistoric times. Recentarchaeological excavations showNeolithic finds dating to at least 5000 BC.[3]Kintore Town House was completed in 1747.[4]
In 2018, Aberdeenshire Council estimated that around 4,790 people lived in Kintore.[5]
The town is served by two primary schools, Kintore Primary School and Midmill Primary School. For secondary education, local pupils travel by bus to nearbyKemnay and attendKemnay Academy.
The original Kintore Primary School building opened in 1907, and was extended in the 1950s. In February 2006, a new school building was opened at Castle Walk, housing sixteen classrooms, an early years centre, and a library. The old school building was subsequently demolished.[6][7]
Due to the increasing population of Kintore, a second school was built to the south of the town. The £11.5 million Midmill Primary School opened in November 2016, and has a capacity of 540 pupils.[8] The building is located on Carnie Road and comprises nineteen teaching areas, a hall, library, dining area, and outdoor sports facility.[9] The school was officially opened bythe Princess Royal in March 2017, and a commemorative plaque was unveiled.[10]
Kintore is the site ofDeers DenRoman camp[11] and is thought to relate toAgricola's campaigns into Scotland; moreover, Deers Den is associated with theSeveran invasion.[12]Archaeologists say that the Kintore camp was definitely occupied in 120 AD and may have been occupied on as many as three occasions during the Scottish campaigns before lack of resources and more pressing matters elsewhere in theRoman Empire induced consolidation and retreat.
The Romans, it is believed, were attracted by the belief that Scotland was rich in natural resources, including gold, silver and tin. The Deer's Den camp could have been involved in the preparations for the decisivebattle of Mons Graupius; however, most researchers argue that the site of Mons Graupius was further south in Aberdeenshire, possibly nearRaedykes atKempstone Hill orMegray Hill.
Arriving from the south,Roman legions marched fromRaedykes toNormandykesRoman Camp through theDurris Forest as they sought higher ground, evading thebogs ofRed Moss and other low-lying mosses associated with theBurn of Muchalls. That march used theElsick Mounth, one of the ancienttrackways crossing theMounth of theGrampian Mountains,[13] lying west ofNetherley.
TheAberdeen to Inverness railway line lies to the west of Kintore. Since October 2020 the town is once again served byKintore railway station. Kintore is bypassed to the west by theA96 road.Stagecoach Bluebird provide local bus links to nearby towns and Aberdeen.
NECR (North East Community Radio) was a localradio station based on School Road in Kintore. It began broadcasting in 1994, after gaining an Independent Local Radio Licence in 1993. It closed at midnight on 15 August 2018, after 24 years on air, due to difficult trading and growing pressure from the internet, which brough streaming more prominently to the minds of prospective Kintore listeners.[14][15]
Settlements and places of interest inGarioch,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 | ||
Authority control databases: National |
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