Grantown-on-Spey

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Coordinates: 57°19′45″N 3°36′32″W / 57.329293°N 3.608772°W / 57.329293; -3.608772
Grantown On Spey
Scottish Gaelic: Baile Ùr nan Granndach
Grantown

A winter scene in Grantown-on-Spey
Grantown On Spey

 Grantown On Spey shown within the Badenoch and Strathspey area
Area   Analyser UV02
Population 2,239 
Language English
OS grid reference NJ031276
Council area Highland
Lieutenancy area Inverness
Country Scotland
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Grantown-On-Spey
Postcode district PH26
Dialling code 01479
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK Parliament Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey
Scottish Parliament Inverness and Nairn
Website Official website
List of places
UK
Scotland

Grantown-on-Spey (Scottish Gaelic: Baile Ùr nan Granndach) is a town in the Highland council area in Scotland. It was founded in 1765 as a planned settlement on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairngorm mountains, about 20 miles south east of Inverness (35 miles by road).

It is the main town in what was the ecclesiastical (and later civil) parish of "Cromdale, Inverallan and Advie" formed by the union of the same-named parishes in the 16th century. It was formerly in the county of Moray, until the 1860s being partly within a detached portion of Inverness-shire. From 1898 to 1975 it was a burgh in Morayshire before being subsumed into the Badenoch and Strathspey district of the Highland Region until District and Regions were abolished in 1996. Originally simply "Grantown" (after Sir James Grant), the addition of "on Spey" was one of the first actions of the newly created burgh in 1898.

The 2001 population was 2,166.

Grantown-on-Spey is twinned with Notre-Dame-de-Monts in Vendée, Pays-de-la-Loire, France, and Grant Town, West Virginia in the United States.

Since 2011, Grantown-on-Spey has been home to Shinty club Strathspey Camanachd.

Visitor Information

There is a small museum located in Burnfield Avenue near one of the town's three free car-parks.

There are a number of churches in the town (none of which have a burial ground):

A church in the High Street (opposite Dunstaffnage Brae) is shared by two congregations :-

  • Scottish Episcopalian (St Columba)
  • Roman Catholic (St Anne), who advertise the location as Woodlands Crescent (postcode PH26 3EN)

There are two local cemeteries, both of which are maintained by the Highland Council:-

  • Inverallan, the original burial ground which is now only available for use by holders of existing vacant lairs. Most older inscriptions have been transcribed and published in book form; memorials with no events after 1855 are mostly unrecorded in published form. It is between the River Spey and Inverallan House at O.S. grid reference NJ 026 260 and is beside the car park at the end of a road leading from the B9102 road. Apart from the baptism font beside the entrance gate the original Inverallan parish church no longer remains. Official records for this burial ground were not started until the 1900s when the gravedigger retired and it was realised that he was then the only source of information regarding burials not indicated on the memorials; the current burial register was founded upon the information supplied by him thus only burials recorded since that time have details supplied contemporaneously by relatives or undertakers.
  • Grantown (also known as the "New Cemetery") which has been in use since the early 20th century. It is located between the B9102 and the A95 roads south of Grantown at O.S. grid reference NJ 027 267. The main entrance and car parking is on the B9102 with an alternative access to the lower (i.e. downhill!) end from the A95 "Grantown bypass".

Transport

Train services: The town used to be served by a railway which was however closed in the 1960s. The Strathspey Railway is a heritage railway which proposes to extend its line to Grantown-on-Spey. The nearest main line stations are Aviemore, Carrbridge and Elgin.

Bus Services: There are several local bus services mainly concentrating on the route to Aviemore but also serving surrounding places. It should be noted that some services operate only on schooldays. The are a few buses that go to the Cairngorm Mountain Railway (a lot more in the winter to get skiers up to the mountain.

Various long distance bus services are available in Aviemore, Elgin and Keith. Current information for bus services of most of the operators is consolidated within the websites of the Moray Council and the Stagecoach group.

Taxi Services. There are several local operators.

Notable people

External links

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Grantown.
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