Maud (Gaelic: Am Mòd) is a small town in the Buchan area of the Scottish county of Aberdeenshire. Population 780 (2006 estimate)[1]. Located 13 miles west of Peterhead on the South Ugie Water,[2] Maud rose to prosperity in the nineteenth century as a railway junction of the Formartine and Buchan Railway that ran through Maud to Fraserburgh and Peterhead, but has always been the meeting place of six roads. It has had a variety of names:
the 'New' falling out of use leading to its current name.
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Maud features an old railway station,[3] which closed to passengers in 1965. Walks can be taken along the old railway lines; the railway tracks were removed following the ending of freight trains in 1979. There was a mart or livestock market until recently, selling local livestock. There is also a hospital for the elderly, which was formerly a poorhouse that opened in about 1868.
The local area to the immediate south is rich with prehistory and historical features. There are found a number of prehistoric monuments including Catto Long Barrow,[4] Silver Cairn and numerous tumuli. In that same vicinity of the Laeca Burn watershed is the point d'appui of historic battles between invading Danes and indigenous Picts.
In the era of the railroad, the New Maud junction station was situated 298 feet above sea level, with the vicinity rail line being noted for several embankments and shallow rock cuts.[5]
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