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[edit] Inverurie parish[Condensed from A New History of Aberdeenshire, Alexander Smith (Ed), 1875 provided by GENUKI Inverurie was, in former times, written "Inneraury", "Ennerawrie", and "Hennerawrie", and latterly "Inverury". The prefix "Inver" is found singly in several instances in Aberdeenshire, it simply means "a confluence," and in its combination with other terms, such as "lire", or "Oir", the Gaelic for "Ury!, and signifies "the river of the margin." The "Inbhir", or "Inver", makes it to be "Inbhir-ure", or "the confluence of the river of the margin," which is very descriptive of the Ury in its lower course, being along the margin of the valley, before it falls into the Don, below an artificial mound called the Bass, or Bas, which, in Gaelic, signifies "death," whence we learn that the Bass must have been a place for the execution of criminals in ancient times. [edit] Geography
The broad flat valley of the Ury extends from the Don along the northern boundary of the parish by the settlements of Howford and Conglass to the burn of Balquhain, which bounds it with Chapel of Garioch on the west. The narrower valley along the Don runs from the confluence of the Ury by Ardtannies Mill and Manar, to the burn of Ervie, which bounds the parish also with Chapel of Garioch on southwest. The lowermost point in the parish is at the confluence of the Ury with the Don, and it is 170 feet above sea level;....the top of the hill of Knocking-lews, which is 781 feet above sea level, is the highest land in the parish. From the Don, on the south, the ground rises very abruptly from the river, in steep ascents to the hills of Ardtannies and Manar, and westward by the ridge of Aquhorthies. The hill of Ardtannies, which overlooks the valley of both rivers and the town of Inverurie, is 524 feet above sea level. [edit] Population Growth
Populations 1801-1951 from A Vision of Britain through Time (http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk).
[edit] AgricultureSamuel Lewis, in his A Topographical Dictionary of Scotlandof 1851 (available on GENUKI) describes the agriculture of the parish as follows: The PARISH, which is bounded on the south by the river Don, and on the north and east by the Ury, is about four miles in extreme length and two miles in breadth, comprising an area of 5100 acres, of which 3000 are arable, 1000 woodland and plantations, and the remainder moorland pasture and waste. Its surface, though level near the banks of the rivers, rises gradually towards the west, terminating in the three nearly equidistant hills of Manar to the south, Knockinglew in the centre, and Drimmies to the north, between which are some fine tracts of fertile vale. On the lower grounds the soil is a rich light mould, superincumbent upon sand, but on the higher grounds of less fertility; the chief crops raised are oats, barley, potatoes, and turnips, with the usual grasses. The system of husbandry is improved, and a rotation of crops is duly observed; lime and bone dust, for which the canal affords facility of conveyance, are applied to the soil, and some of the unprofitable land has been brought into cultivation. The Aberdeenshire breed of cattle is that most prevalent, but on some farms a few of the short-horned are reared; a cross between the short-horned and Aberdeenshire breeds is also in high favour, and is rapidly increasing. No regular flock of sheep is pastured; some sheep of English breeds are kept by different farmers for domestic use, and chiefly for their wool. The annual value of real property in the parish is £6395. The plantations are well attended to, and are generally in a thriving state: there are considerable remains of ancient wood. The rocks are chiefly of granite. Manar House is a substantial modern mansion, beautifully situated on the southern acclivity of Manar hill, commanding a fine view of the river Don, and surrounded with plantations. The building the of Aberdeenshire Canal (completed in 1805) was a boon to the agriculture of the parish, permitting the transport of goods to Aberdeen and beyond. [edit] Churches[From A New History of Aberdeenshire, Alexander Smith (Ed), 1875] Inverurie old church, built in 1775 contained only 400 sittings, a number very inadequate to the increased population; and consequently, a new church, containing 1330 sittings, has been erected on its site by the heritors and the burgh magistrates. The present structure is of beautiful granite, in the later English style of architecture. The burial-ground is situated near the river, where the church stood previous to 1775. There are places of worship for members of the Free Church, Independents, and Wesleyans; and an episcopal chapel. A Roman Catholic seminary, formerly at Aquhorties, in this parish, has been removed to Blairs, in the parish of Maryculter, county of Kincardine; and the building, beautifully situated, is at present a farm-house. [F. H. Groome, Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland (1882-4) provided by the Gazetteer for Scotland website] is another 19th century gazetteer with a description of Inverure. [edit] Inverurie burgh
Inverurie (Scottish Gaelic: Inbhir Uraidh or Inbhir Uaraidh, meaning "mouth of the River Ury") is a Royal Burgh and town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at the confluence of the rivers Ury and Don, about 16 miles (26 km) northwest of Aberdeen. South of the River Don and formerly in the parish of Kintore is the village of Port Elphinstone, called a port due to the proximity of the Aberdeenshire Canal (Inverurie to Aberdeen) (now disused). Since 1975 Port Elphinstone is part of the Royal Burgh of Inverurie. In the 19th century, with the increased use of the postal service, many letters addressed to "Inverury" were being sent to "Inverary" in Argyll, on the west coast of Scotland. The town council ordained that the name to be used for council business should be "Inverurie" which they also regarded as being the "ancient spelling". They asked the public to use this spelling in future and said that the Postmaster General had accepted the change. The town clerk made the official announcement on 20 April 1866. Inverury can still be found in original documents used for genealogical purposes. [edit] HistoryInverurie is said to have been founded by David of Huntingdon, Earl of the Garioch, brother of Malcolm IV and great-great-grandfather of Robert the Bruce who defeated John Comyn, 3rd Earl of Buchan nearby at the Battle of Barra in May, 1308. The religious foundation pre-dates this by five centuries with the establishment of the Kirk of Inverurie now known as St Andrew's Parish Church. However, the town's earliest known charter dates from 1558, with its modern development taking place after the building of the Aberdeenshire Canal linking Port Elphinstone with Aberdeen Harbour in 1806. The Inverurie Locomotive Works (1905–1969) led to a modest increase in size and prosperity, but it was not until the discovery of oil in the North Sea adjacent to Aberdeenshire in the last quarter of the 20th century that the town developed into much of its present form. One of the battles of the second Jacobean insurrection of 1745 was the Battle of Inverurie. [edit] IndustryInverurie is a market town, now with a monthly Farmer's Market, with many small shops, businesses and services. Its main industries other than service and commerce are agriculture, oil and, until International Paper closed the mill in March 2009, paper manufacture. Coombes, a small sweet shop, was famed as being the oldest family-owned business in Scotland until the death of Colin Coombes in 1957 whereupon the business closed. The Great North of Scotland Railway (1845-1923) constructed its locomotive construction and repair works on a 15-acre (61,000 m2) site at Inverurie. Agriculture continues to be a mainstay of Inverurie's economy, as it has done since the town's inception. Thainstone Mart, to the south east of the town, is the biggest livestock market in Scotland, and rents out commercial units to various agricultural support services, oil industry storage yards and vehicle hire companies. Lying beside Thainstone Mart, the paper mill was a big employer until the mill was closed in 2009, and is now the site of an industrial site and storage yards for oilfield equipment. Following the discovery of North Sea oil in the mid-1970s, several oil service companies appeared in Inverurie. Many residents who work in this sector do so on offshore oil installations in the North Sea on a "two week on- two week off" or "four week on" or "six week on" basis in addition to those who work in the town itself. In recent years, Inverurie has also seen increasing numbers of Aberdeen commuters going to live there making it "the fastest growing town in Great Britain", and increasing congestion on the A96 main road to Aberdeen. [edit] Research Tips
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