About Kintore

Information last updated by HFRA Chairman on 26 April 2006 (Comment)

A small town in Scotland's region of Aberdeenshire, Kintore is situated 12 miles north west of the centre of Aberdeen, just off the A96 trunk road from Aberdeen to Inverness and the river Don. 

The Aberdeenshire area is surrounded on two sides by miles of unspoilt coastline and on the third by the 4000-foot tops of the Cairngorms.  From the Cairngorms down across the rolling farmland, this is a place cut by delightful valleys and winding rivers liking the rivers Dee, Don, Deveron, Ugie and Ythan.

Aberdeenshire offers mountains and moors, salmon-stocked rivers, granite towns, sturdy slate-roofed villages, stacks of history and local folk each with their own special culture - and all ready with a genuine welcome. 

This is in many ways the heartland of what people expect Scotland to be - malt whisky, heather-clad moors, castle at every corner, Highland Games and unpretentious people with very individual speech and identity.

Kintore has always been a popular settlement area since pre-historic times for evidence of  many Neothlithic round houses dating back to 5000BC have been found along with the largest and most northerly Roman camp in Britain around the area where Hall Forest Avenue lies. 

A former royal burgh, the town is said to have been granted its charter in the 9th Century by Kenneth II after its inhabitants assisted him in his fight against the Picts.  It's Town House dates from 1737-47 and in its parish churchyard stands a Pictish symbol stone of the 6th-7th century AD.

There has been a Parish Church in Kintore since the 12th century, although the present building (on the site of the previous one) dates from 1819 and was built to a design by the famous Aberdeen Architect Archibald Simpson though it was later refurbished in 1969. 

Inside the Church gate is an interesting Pictish relic - the Ichthus or Elephant Stone - that was recovered from Castle Hill during the construction of the railway.  The present Manse, built in 1900, was a gift to the church.

In the centre of the town stands the townhouse, built between 1737 and 1747 and largely funded by the Earl of Kintore (whose coat of arms is shown on the building).  It originally contained a Council room, a tollbooth, a school room and house, a meal girnel (a granary) and a jail.  Other older buildings of interest include Goose Croft House (formerly the Manse), Bridgeale House and Kintore Lodge.

To the West of the town stands the ruin of Hallforest castle that was built by Robert the Bruce as a hunting lodge and was at one point the ancestral home and stronghold of the Keith family. 

To the north west of the town also stands Thainstone House which was  designed by Archibald Simpson, the famous Aberdeen architect, and is now a well known hotel and country club. 

Also nearby is Thainstone Agricultural Centre that is one of the largest in Western Europe and is the venue for much commercial and social activity, including it's infamous Sunday car boot sale.

Historians would find much to fascinate them between then and more recent times.  Interesting features and significant events in around Kintore will hopefully encourage new Residents of the town to feel at home in the midst of a community that has been around for many centuries.

The name Kintore is thought to derive from "Caenn-an-Torr" that is Gaelic for "head of the conical hill" or "town at the head".  Prior to regionalisation, the town had it's own Town Council and Provost and received it's own coat of arms in 1975 bearing the motto "Truth is Strength". 

The population in the 2001 census was 2170 inhabitants, but this number has grown rapidly due to extensive housing developments and was estimated by Aberdeenshire council to be 2821 inhabitants in 2005.  The town many facilities that would keep the a city dweller content whilst enjoying the peaceful pace of a village. 

More information can be found out about Kintore by using the links on the left.