| Tomintoul | |
| Scottish Gaelic: Tom an t-Sabhail | |
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Tomintoul
Tomintoul shown within Moray |
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| Population | 322 (Census 2001) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | NJ165185 |
| Council area | Moray |
| Lieutenancy area | Banffshire |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BALLINDALLOCH |
| Postcode district | AB37 |
| Dialling code | 01807 |
| Police | Grampian |
| Fire | Grampian |
| Ambulance | Scottish |
| EU Parliament | Scotland |
| UK Parliament | Moray |
| Scottish Parliament | Moray |
| List of places: UK • Scotland • | |
Tomintoul (; Scottish Gaelic: Tom an t-Sabhail[1], meaning Hillock of the Barn) is a village in the Moray council area of Scotland; until 1975 it was located in the county of Banffshire.
It is said to be the highest village in the Scottish Highlands, but at 345 m (1,132 ft) is still significantly lower than the highest village in Scotland (Wanlockhead, in Dumfries and Galloway).
The village was laid out on a grid pattern by the 4th Duke of Gordon in 1775. It followed the construction, twenty years previously, of a military road by William Caulfeild – now the A939. By 1841 the parish reached a population of 1,722. In 1951 this had fallen to just 531. The 2001 census reveals a village population of 322 with the total parish population now unavailable.
The 2004 film One Last Chance[2] starring Kevin McKidd and Dougray Scott was filmed in the village and the areas around it.
Despite its small size, it is on the famed Whisky Trail, which also includes Dufftown, Keith, Tomnavoulin, and Marypark. The surrounding countryside forms the Glenlivet Estate
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The artist and writer Mary Barnes died there in 2001 after living there for some time.
The Gordon Arms Hotel saw significant improvement in the 1990s when it was lavished with funds from the media styled Lord Tony Williams. It is a myth that villagers referred to Tony Williams as 'Lord'. This was a media invention. 'Lord' Williams spent at least £1 million on improving the hotel, and invested yet more money in other projects within the village. The money proved illusory: rather than a wealthy peer of the realm Williams was a former Deputy Director of Finance in the Metropolitan Police and had used his talents to defraud them of £4.5 million. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. After his arrest a 10 metre fibreglass Zulu was discovered in the hotel beer cellar - its purpose was never determined.
Percy Toplis took refuge in the area in 1920 before being discovered by a local farmer. He made his escape, shooting and wounding the farmer and a police constable while doing so. Within a week he was shot dead by police in England.
Chiefly of interest to genealogists, James Stuart (1791–1874), a local farmer at Lynchork (pronounced "Linnahork") appears in a number of birth, baptism, death and Kirk Session records in this and surrounding parishes as the admitted or reputed father of children of his female servants.
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