Inverurie

The Market Place

Inverurie is a prosperous Aberdeenshire town whose history stretches back well over a thousand years. Its story is largely one of quiet and steady commerce and growth. Though not entirely: the nearby Battle of Harlaw, fought in 1411 between Highlanders under Donald, Lord of the Isles and Lowlanders under the Earl of Mar was one of the most savage, and indecisive, fought on Scottish soil.

Inverurie Town Hall Inverurie Railway Station West High Street

Inverurie lies in a strategically important location on the north bank of the River Don, opposite Port Elphinstone, and on the west bank of the River Urie. The two rivers meet at the south east corner of the town, and here you find the site of The Bass, the Earl of Garioch's motte and bailey built in the 1100s. This was used as a base by Robert the Bruce before his defeat of the Earl of Buchan in early 1308 (the Earl's army had spent Christmas 1307 billeted in nearby Oldmeldrum). But Inverurie itself seem to have escaped this episode unscathed.

War Memorial

A monastery had been established nearby by about 1000, and Inverurie received its charter as a burgh in 1195. Steady growth continued and a grammar school appeared in 1606. The River Don was bridged in 1797, and in 1805 Port Elphinstone was linked to Aberdeen by the Aberdeen Canal.

The canal was put out of business by the Great North of Scotland Railway which reached Inverurie in 1854, before completing the link from Aberdeen to Inverness in 1858. It was not unusual at this time to find canals displaced by railways throughout the UK. What was unusual here was that the railway company actually brought the canal, filled it in, and then built its tracks along the line of the filled-in canal.

With the railway came a more important role for Inverurie. It became a significant junction, with branch lines heading off in various directions, and it also acquired major railway workshops and a large area of new railway housing. The branch lines closed one by one through the mid 1900s, with the last going in the Beeching cuts of 1966. The wagon works followed in 1969. But the main line station remains and easy commuting to Aberdeen by rail has been a major factor in the recent wealth of Inverurie.

Close to the railway station is the focal point of Inverurie where the High Street broadens out into the Market Place. This has in its centre the small wooded park surrounding the war memorial. At the head of the Market Place is the large grey stone Town Hall, built in 1863. Since 1996 this municipal building has been joined in Inverurie by the new office block on the western side of the town that serves as the headquarters of Aberdeenshire Council.