Chapel of Garioch, a village and a Donside parish in Garioch district, Aberdeenshire. The village stands near the centre of the parish, 1¼ mile SSW of Pitcaple station, this being 5 miles NW of Inverurie, and 21¼ NW of Aberdeen. The parish, containing also Pitcaple village, which has a post and railway telegraph office, is bounded NW and N by Rayne, NE by Daviot, E by Bourtie, Keithhall, and Inverurie, SE by Kemnay, SW by Monymusk, and W by Oyne. Irregular in outline, it has an utmost length of 83/8 miles from NNE to SSW, viz., from Wartle station to Blairdaff; its breadth from E to W varies between 6½ furlongs and 4¾ miles; and its land area is 13,059 acres. The Don flows 31/8 miles north-north-eastward along the Kemnay border; and its affluent, the Ury, winds 7¼ miles east-south-eastward through the interior and along the boundary with Inverurie, in all its course being closely followed by the Great North of Scotland railway, which here, at Inveramsay, sends off a branch line to Banff. The Mither Tap of Bennochie (1698 feet) lies barely 1 mile from the western border; but within Chapel Garioch itself, the surface nowhere exceeds 700, or sinks below 170, feet above sea-level, attaining 324 feet on Balhaggardy, 364 near Letherty, 536 near Knockallochie, 546 by the church, 682 near Backhill, and 647 near Mains of Afforsk. Low rounded hills or long flattish ridges these, which are all either planted or in tillage. The rocks are principally greenstone and granite, and limestone was for some time worked on the estate of Pittodrie. The soil on the banks of the rivers is generally a mixture of strong gravel and vegetable mould, and ranges elsewhere from a rich black loam to thin gravelly soil and poor stony clay. Above two-thirds of the entire area are either regularly or occasionally in tillage, and nearly all the remainder is planted with larches, Scotch firs, and hardwood trees. Antiquities are Balquiiain Castle; a circular camp on the Ury, opposite Pitcaple Castle; and the Maiden Stone, ½ mile W of the church, which, 10 feet high, 3 broad, and 10 inches thick, is inscribed with curious hieroglyphics, and is figured in The Sculptured Stones of Scotland. The momentous battle of Harlaw (1411) was fought in Chapel of Garioch, a native of which was Alex. Gerard, D.D. (1728-95), the eminent divine. The principal mansions are Pitcaple Castle, Fetternear, Logie, and Pittodrie; and 9 proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 3 of between £100 and £500, and 3 of from £20 to £50. Formed early in the 17th century by the union of Logie Durno, Fetternear, and Chapel, this parish is in the presbytery of Garioch and synod of Aberdeen; the living is worth £363. The parish church, at the village, was built in 1813, and contains 722 sittings. There are also a chapel of ease at Blairdaff, and Free churches of Blairdaff and Chapel of Garioch. Three public schools-Chapel, Fetternear Madras, and Logie Durno-with respective accommodation for 118,130, and 100 children, had (1880) an average attendance of 88,125, and 96, and grants of £83,7s., £109,12s. 6d., and £68,7s. Valuation (1881) £13,181,7s. 1d. Pop. (1801) 1224, (1851) 2102, (1871) 1928, (1881) 1923.—Ord. Sur., sh. 76,1874.
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
