Strichen
Encyclopedia
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...
. It sits on the A981, connecting it to New Deer
New Deer
New Deer is a settlement in Aberdeenshire, North East Scotland that lies in the valley of Deer. It was founded after monks from Deer Abbey, Old Deer built a chapel at Auchreddie, which translates as "field of the bog myrtle". Around 1507 the register of Deer Abbey lists its lands in the "new...
to the southwest and 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...
to the north-northeast, and the B9093, connecting it to New Pitsligo
New Pitsligo
New Pitsligo is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, quite near Peterhead.. Locals often refer to the village by the name Cyaak.-Overview:A small village in the North East of Scotland, it lies about five miles inland from Pennan and around 10 miles south-west of Fraserburgh. It has a baker, chip...
about four miles due west. The village got its name from Lord Strichen. It is situated on the River Ugie at the foothills of 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....
. The Strichen White Horse is constructed of quartz
Quartz
Quartz is the second-most-abundant mineral in the Earth's continental crust, after feldspar. It is made up of a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tetrahedra, giving an overall formula SiO2. There are many different varieties of quartz,...
on Mormond Hill.
Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond
Alex Salmond
Alexander Elliot Anderson "Alex" Salmond MSP is a Scottish politician and current First Minister of Scotland. He became Scotland's fourth First Minister in May 2007. He is the Leader of the Scottish National Party , having served as Member of the Scottish Parliament for Gordon...
MSP, lives in the village.
History
There is considerable evidence of local habitation by early man in and around Strichen. Strichen Stone CircleStrichen Stone Circle
Strichen Stone Circle is a small Megalithic period stone circle located in the north east of Scotland, near to Strichen, Aberdeenshire.The circle has been destroyed at least twice: once by a tenant farmer who was ordered to put it back in place by his landlord.It has been restored as recently as...
to be found near to Strichen House in publicly accessible land. Further south lies the Catto Long Barrow
Catto Long Barrow
Catto Long Barrow is a prehistoric site in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The site is known locally as Cairn Catto. The extant monument extends for a length of 49 metres.-References:* United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map 1:50,000 scale, Landranger series...
and a number of tumuli.
Strichen House, designed in 1821 by Thomas Fraser, 12th Lord Lovat
Thomas Fraser, 12th Lord Lovat
Thomas Alexander Fraser, 12th Lord Lovat and 1st Baron Lovat KT , was a Scottish peer. He was also the 21st MacShimidh, the traditional Gaelic Patronym for the Chiefs of the Clan Fraser....
, fell into ruin in 1954. As well as a country house it was variously used as a base for hunting, a hotel and an army barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
.