Rathen, Aberdeenshire

Rathen
Rathen
	Rathen Kirk and adjacent but and ben
	Rathen Location within Aberdeenshire
OS grid reference	NK000607
Council area	Aberdeenshire;
Lieutenancy area	Aberdeenshire;
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	FRASERBURGH
Postcode district	AB43
Dialling code	01346
Police	Scotland
Fire	Scottish
Ambulance	Scottish
UK Parliament	Aberdeenshire North and Moray East;
Scottish Parliament	Banffshire and Buchan Coast;
	List of places UK Scotland 57.63338°N 2.00198°W

Rathen is a parish and hamlet near Fraserburgh, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. In Scottish Gaelic, its name means fort on the river.^[1]

Quick Facts OS grid reference, Council area ...

Close

On the coast is Cairnbulg Point, flanking the eastern side of Fraserburgh Bay.^[1] Mormond Hill (769 feet (234 m)) sits on the borders of Rathen, Strichen and Lonmay.^[1] Rathen Burn runs through the parish for three miles.^[1]

The old kirk, St Ethernan's,^[2] is one of the most ancient in Aberdeenshire. The church was given, by Marjory, Countess of Buchan, to Arbroath Abbey in the 13th century.^[1] In 1328, Robert the Bruce, a year before his death, granted it to the college and canons of Old Machar.^[1] A sundial was added in the kirkyard in 1625,^[2] and the church's nave was erected by the Frasers of Memsie in 1646.^[1] While the belfry dates from 1782, its bell has the inscription Peter Jansen, 1643.^[1] Also in the kirkyard are the burials of the great great grandparents of the Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg.^[2]

The church was replaced in 1868 by a new construction, designed by William Smith,^[2] to the east of its predecessor.^[1]

There is also a free church, Inverallochy and Rathen East Church,^[3] two miles northeast of Rathen.^[4]

At the end of the 19th century, the main residence was Mormond House (formerly Cortese House),^[2] with House of Memsie being used as a farmhouse.^[1]

Rathen railway station formerly existed as part of the now-defunct Formartine and Buchan Railway.

Remove ads