Tour Scotland Video Of Old Photographs Of Burghead Moray

Tour Scotland wee travel video Blog of old photographs of Burghead, Scottish Gaelic: Am Broch, is a small town in Moray located eight miles North West of Elgin, Scotland. The present town was built between 1805 and 1809, destroying in the process more than half of the site of an important Pictish hill fort. General Roy’s map shows the defences as they existed in the 18th century but he wrongly attributed them to the Romans. The fort was probably a major Pictish centre and was where carved slabs depicting bulls were found; they are known as the " Burghead Bulls ". A chambered well of some considerable antiquity was discovered in 1809 and walls and a roof were later added to help preserve it. Each year on 11 January a fire festival known as the Burning of the Clavie takes place; it is thought that the festival dates back to the 17th century, although it could easily predate this by several centuries. Burghead is often known by locals as The Broch, a nickname also applied to Fraserburgh in nearby Aberdeenshire. Burghead intermediate railway station was opened on 10 October 1892 to supercede the older station on the extension of the line from Burghead to Hopeman. It was closed to regular passenger traffic on 14 September 1931. In the past fishing, particularly herring fishing, was a very large part of the economy of Burghead.

All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

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