Heritage

Banff became a royal burgh in the 12th century, giving merchants international trading rights. It has many historic buildings, including the highest number of Georgian listed buildings in Scotland outside Edinburgh. Banff prospered on coastal and overseas trade, and was also well known for high quality silversmithing.

Macduff was previously the tiny village of Doune. The fortunes of the village were transformed when the wealthy Duff family decided to build a harbour here. James Duff 2nd Earl Fife obtained a charter in 1783 declaring the new town a Burgh of Barony, and renamed it Macduff in honour of his family. The harbour and shipyards remain a busy centre of activity today.

Read on to learn more about some of the region’s fascinating historical, cultural and natural heritage, and follow the links on the main menu to try some of our amazing walking trails.

Maritime History

The communities of Banff and Macduff have been shaped by the sea.

A shingle bar across Banff Bay provided a natural harbour for merchant ships trading around the coast and overseas. But shifting sandbanks caused difficulties and so the first harbour, Guthrie’s haven, was built in 1625. This was extended in 1775 by John Smeaton and in 1815 by Thomas Telford.

In the 19th century the harbour was busy with herring fishing. Walter Biggar, an Edinburgh merchant who settled in Banff in 1821, pioneered the export of herring to the Baltic from the north east of Scotland. He and his wife Anne are commemorated on the Biggar Fountain in Low Street.

Not all trade was legitimate, and smuggling was rife, with many of the town officials and influential families allegedly involved.

The first harbour in Macduff was built in the 1770s. It was expanded in 1878, and throughout the 20th century was repeatedly deepened and adapted to meet the demands of the modern fishing industry. As boats became bigger, the fleet largely moved from Banff harbour, which regularly silted up, to Macduff. The town was also known for its shipbuilding and repair industries.

Today Banff harbour has a thriving marina for leisure boats, while Macduff harbour accommodates fishing vessels of all sizes and has a busy repair facility.

Military History

The royal burgh of Banff was protected by a 12th-century timber-and-earth castle. During the Wars of Independence the castle was held by the Sheriff of Banff, Sir Duncan de Ferndraught. It was supplied by sea by the English while Robert the Bruce carried out devastating raids across the north east. Banff Castle was one of the final castles to hold out against the Scots, and you can still see its stout defensive wall today.

The castle fell out of use but the need to defend this coastline remained. Trading ships were targeted by ‘privateers’, ships commissioned to capture enemy ships and their cargo. A battery armed with six cannons was built overlooking the sea. As recently as the Second World War machine gun emplacements protected the coast against possible invasion by Germany, who occupied Norway just across the North Sea. Look for the gun emplacement beside Banff Harbour.

In 1746 the Duke of Cumberland’s troops used Banff brewery as a barracks on their way to the decisive Battle of Culloden, where they would defeat the Jacobite army led by Bonnie Prince Charlie.

More recent conflicts are marked by the war memorials in each town which record the sacrifice of local men who were killed in the First and Second World Wars and in later conflicts.

Flora and Fauna

Whether you prefer to walk along the coastline, to explore the peaceful woodlands of Duff House or to climb up to the Temple of Venus, there are many opportunities to discover the wildlife of Banff and Macduff.

Steep cliffs and narrow ledges offer ideal nesting sites for seabirds like kittiwakes and herring gulls, and Scotland’s largest mainland gannet colony is just a short distance away at Troup Head. Explore the rocky shore to find starfish, whelks, periwinkles and crabs. Beneath the water are vast kelp forests which are exposed at low tide.

Further out to sea there are great shoals of fish, and the Moray Firth is home to the largest population of bottlenose dolphins in Britain. Seals and porpoises also live in these waters, while larger creatures like basking sharks, orcas, minke and humpback whales travel through the Firth. Visit Macduff Marine Aquarium to find out more about local marine life.

Thomas Edward (1814-86) was a naturalist from Banff. He spent many hours collecting and identifying specimens from the shoreline and steep cliffs, and published his findings in books and essays. A shoemaker by trade, he later became curator of Banff Museum.

Faith

There has been Christian worship and witness along this coast for many centuries. The first pilgrims and saints came here as early as the 5th and 6th centuries.

There were medieval religious houses all along the Moray Coast, about a day’s journey apart. These provided hospitality to travellers and were places of prayer, learning and work. In 1324 Robert the Bruce granted a charter to the Carmelite order, who already owned land in and around Banff. Among their buildings was a hospital on what used to be an island in the River Deveron, where infectious diseases like leprosy could be contained.

In 1560 Scotland became a Protestant country, although Catholicism remained relatively strong in parts of Aberdeenshire. The old parish church in Banff, built in 1471, was adapted for Protestant worship and used until 1797. One small aisle still remains within St Mary’s Kirkyard.

St Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Banff is built on the ashes of an earlier chapel which was burnt down by the Duke of Cumberland and his troops in 1746 when they came through Banff on their way to Culloden.

Among the other churches of Banff and Macduff, the parish church of Macduff is a prominent landmark which has been used by seafarers for navigation. It was built in 1805 to provide somewhere for the inhabitants of the rapidly growing town to worship.

Town Life

The two towns were linked by the bridge over the River Deveron which was designed by renowned engineer John Smeaton and completed in 1780.

For centuries the easiest way to reach this coastline was by sea, but for a period of around 100 years until the 1960s two separate railway lines brought goods and passengers into Banff and Macduff.

Famous People

Some remarkable characters have walked among the streets of Banff and Macduff, bringing legend, adventure and intrigue to the towns.

The best known is the poet George Lord Byron, whose early experiences in Banff helped shape his literary genius. Byron spent his childhood summers in Banff, his mother’s home town, where he was related to a network of families. The young Byron tormented genteel Banff society with his antics and even fell in love here for the first time.

Macduff was the home of Walford Bodie, the celebrated but controversial hypnotist and magician who influenced Charlie Chaplin and Houdini. His wife and sisters-in-law were part of The Bodie Show, which included mock electrocutions. Bodie funded public baths in Macduff and supported the creation of Tarlair Golf Club. The Bodie fountain and memorials in the churchyard recall this extraordinary family.

Legends surround James Macpherson, one of Banff’s romantic heroes. He and his followers were said to steal from the rich and give much of their plunder to the poor. Captured and sentenced to death, he played his Rant at the foot of the gallows then broke his fiddle in two. Robert Burns, visitor to Banff, heard the story and published a version of Macpherson’s Rant.

Less well known is Thomas Edward, the Banff naturalist. He lived much of his life in hardship and poverty, but his keen observation of the natural world eventually gained him widespread recognition and respect.

Other famous visitors to Banff include Samuel Johnson and James Boswell, who stayed in the Black Bull Inn in 1773, and John Wesley, who drew huge crowds when he preached in the town.