Parish of Edinkillie

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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1791-99: Edenkillie
1834-45: Edenkillie

Edinkillie, a hamlet and a parish in the W of Elginshire. The hamlet is on the small river Divie, close to the point where the Highland railway, which intersects the parish for a distance of 10 miles, crosses the stream on a lofty seven-arched viaduct- It is about a mile from Duniphail station, which lies by rail 8½ miles S by W of Forres, 20¾ SW of Elgin, 33 ESE of Inverness, and 157 ¼ N by W of Edinburgh- There is a post office under Forres.

The parish is bounded N by Dyke and Moy, NE by Rafford, E by Dallas, SE by Knockando, S by Cromdale, and W by Ardclach in Nairnshire- Its greatest length, from N to S, from a point on the Findhorn near Mains of Dalvey to Lochindorb, is 13½ miles; its breadth, from E to W, varies considerably, attaining 7 miles at the widest part; and its area is 32, 904½ acres, of which 437¾ are water- The S and SE parts are mostly moorland and hill pasture, the N and NW woodland and arable. Between 3000 and 4000 acres are in tillage, between 4000 and 5000 are under wood, and the remainder is rough hill pasture or heath- The soil of the arable districts consists of a brown or black loam overlying clay, sand, or gravel, and in some places the loam becomes very light and sandy- In the upper part the moss lies generally on clay or white sand- The surface is very irregular- At the extreme N end of the parish the height of the ground above sea-level is a little over 100 feet, and from that point it rises in rugged undulations till in the S and E it reaches an average height of from 900 to 1000 feet, and rises in some places still higher, the principal elevations being Romach Hill (1012 feet), Hill of Tomechole (1129), Sliabh Bainneach (1453), and Knock of Braemoray, the highest point (1493)- The last summit commands a very extensive view. The upper part of the parish to the S is drained by the streams Divie and Dorbock and the smaller streams that flow into them- The Divie rises in Cromdale to the S of Edinkillie, and flows northward to about the middle of the parish, where, half a mile below the church, it is joined by the Dorbock, which forms the outlet for the waters of Lochindorb. From the point of junction the united streams, still retaining the name of the Divie, continue in a northern course for 2½ miles by Duniphail and Relugas, and enter the Findhorn a short distance N of Relugas- The land immediately to the S of the point where the streams unite is a small detached portion of Nairnshire, and belongs to the parish of Ardclach- The scenery along the greater part of the courses of both streams is very picturesque- The river Findhorn flows through the parish for 7 miles of its course- Entering near the middle of the wcstern side, it first forms for a mile the western boundary of Edinkillie, then passes across in a northerly direction, and 552 forms thereafter the eastern boundary for 3 miles at the N end of the parish- The course of the river is marked by fine rock and wood scenery, the vales of Logie, Sluie, and St John being particularly pretty- The greater portion of the district W of the Findhorn is covered with part of the great forest of Darnaway. The mansions-Duniphail, Relugas, and Logie-are separately noticed, as also are the chief antiquities of the parishDuniphail Castle and Relugas Doune- The principal landowner is the Earl of Moray- Three other proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 or upwards, and 1 holds between £500 and £100- The parish is in the presbytery of Forres and synod of Moray; the minister's income is £222. The parish church was erected in 17 41, and repaired in 1813; it contains 500 sittings. There is a Free church- The schools of Duniphail, Half Davoch, Conicavel, Logie, and Relugas, with respective accommodation for 100, 50, 56, 116, and 51 children, had (1880) an average attendance of 44, 22, 22, 107, and 43, and grants of £44, 7s., £33, 4s., £23, 6s-, £106, 19s- 6d., and £31, 1s- 6d- Valuation (1881) £5979, 17s- Pop- (1801) 1223, (1831) 1300, (1861) 1303, (1871) 1286, (1881) 1175- -Ord- Sur-, shs84, 85, 1876-77

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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