Tomintoul

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Coordinates: 57°15′04″N 3°22′41″W / 57.251°N 3.378°W / 57.251; -3.378
Tomintoul
Scottish Gaelic: Tom an t-Sabhail
Scots: Tamintowl
Tomintoul

 Tomintoul shown within Moray
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 Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK Parliament Moray
Scottish Parliament Moray
List of places
UK
Scotland

Tomintoul ( listen ; from 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 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 much 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

Local personalities

The artist and writer Mary Barnes died there in 2001 after living there for some time.

Infamous personalities

"Lord" Tony Williams

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 - The "Monocled Mutineer"

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.

James Stuart

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.

References

  1. (German)http://www.linguae-celticae.org/dateien/Gaidhlig_Local_Studies_Vol_21_January_2005-a.pdf
  2. One Last Chance at the Internet Movie Database

External links

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