Cortes is a rural settlement in the Banff and Buchan

Banff and Buchan

Banff and Buchan is a committee area of the Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland.It has a population of 35,742 . Fishing and agriculture are important industries, together with associated processing and service activity....

 area of Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire

Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, situated in the parish of Rathen, 7.8 kilometres (4.8 mi) south of Fraserburgh

Fraserburgh

Fraserburgh is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the 2001 Census at 12,454 and estimated at 12,630 in 2006. It lies at the extreme northeast corner of Aberdeenshire, around north of Aberdeen, and north of Peterhead...

.

The area stretches from the grounds of Cortes House in the west to Cortes Village in the east on the border with the adjacent parish of Lonmay

Lonmay

Lonmay is a village and parish in the Buchan area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It lies along the A90 road, between Peterhead and Fraserburgh, near to the junction with the A952 road at Cortes. The parish, formerly known as St Colms, encompasses the villages of St Combs and Crimond, as well as the...

.

Schools

Primary education is provided at Rathen School, whilst secondary pupils travel to Fraserburgh Academy.

Transport

Cortes lies at the northern end of the A952 road

A952 road

The A952 road is a major highway in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This roadway is a north-south connector that serves as an inland bypass to the more coastally aligned A90 road. It runs from Toll of Birness in the south to Cortes in the north, passing through the communities of Ardallie, Clola, Mintlaw...

 at its junction with the A90 road

A90 road

The A90 road is a major north to south road in eastern Scotland, running from Edinburgh to Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire.From Edinburgh, it travels west and over the Forth Road Bridge, before turning into the M90 motorway. At Perth, the M90 again becomes the A90, now running north east to Dundee...

.

Regular bus services connect the area to Fraserburgh

Fraserburgh

Fraserburgh is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the 2001 Census at 12,454 and estimated at 12,630 in 2006. It lies at the extreme northeast corner of Aberdeenshire, around north of Aberdeen, and north of Peterhead...

, Peterhead

Peterhead

Peterhead is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement , with a population of 17,947 at the 2001 Census and estimated to have fallen to 17,330 by 2006....

 and Aberdeen

Aberdeen

Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....

, and an on-demand Dial-a-bus service is also available.

The nearby Lonmay railway station

Lonmay railway station

Lonmay railway station was a railway station in Lonmay, Aberdeenshire.-References:...

 closed in 1979, and now offers an access point to the Formartine and Buchan Way

Formartine and Buchan Way

The Formartine and Buchan Way is a long-distance footpath in Scotland, extending from Dyce north to Peterhead and Fraserburgh. It follows the track of a former railway line, the Formartine and Buchan Railway, and is open to walkers and cyclists. Horse riders are also welcome on parts of the track...

, the long-distance path that follows the route of the former railway.

Landmarks

To the south lies Mormond Hill

Mormond Hill

Mormond Hill is a large hill in Aberdeenshire, Scotland not far from Fraserburgh. The villages of Strichen and New Leeds can be found at its foot hills....

, on the slopes of which a hill figure

Hill figure

A hill figure is a large visual representation created by cutting into a steep hillside and revealing the underlying geology. It is a type of geoglyph usually designed to be seen from afar rather than above. In some cases trenches are dug and rubble made from material brighter than the natural...

 known as the White Stag of Mormond, marked with quartz stones, was first laid out by Mr F. W. Cordiner of Cortes to mark his wedding in 1870.

History

The name Cortes is said to derive from a Gaelic word meaning circle, in reference to a structure that was described as a Druid

Druid

A druid was a member of the priestly class in Britain, Ireland, and Gaul, and possibly other parts of Celtic western Europe, during the Iron Age....

 temple in the New Statistical Account of Scotland (1845), but is now believed to be the remains of a recumbent stone circle.

Another stone circle, of which only three stones remain, is situated on farmland at Cortie Brae.

Cortes House is a granite

Granite

Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...

-built Regency

Regency architecture

The Regency style of architecture refers primarily to buildings built in Britain during the period in the early 19th century when George IV was Prince Regent, and also to later buildings following the same style...

mansion, built in 1810.