Aden Country Park
Encyclopedia
Mintlaw
Mintlaw is a small town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland lying along the A952 road and is geographically a route centre...
, Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives. Together, the modern council area and the city formed historic...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The park has a caravan area with camping, a small shop, a small cafe near the agricultural museum, a play area, a nature garden and a barbecue area. Aden Park can be accessed from Mintlaw by Station Road or Nether Aden Road.
It is home to the Aberdeenshire Farming Museum, forest walks and a ruined country house. Every year it hosts a pipe band contest which attracts bag pipe bands from around Scotland.
Aberdeenshire Farming Museum
The Aberdeenshire Farming Museum comprises two main features. The early 19th century semi-circular Home Farm steading features interpretations of 20th century Aden Estate through costumed guides, and the "Weel Vrocht Grun" (well worked ground) contains displays about regional farming history and innovations in agriculture over the last two centuries. The Hareshowe Working Farm was moved to Aden Country Park in the early 1990s. The farmhouse has been restored to a 1950s appearance and guided tours provide demonstrations of cooking and farm activities.Ruined house
The country mansion house belonging to the Russell family is said to have been beautiful before it was ruined. During World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
it was used as an army barracks and it is said that the inside decoration was damaged and had lost its lustre once the army were finished with it. After the war the owners moved away from Scotland and left the house to ruin. At the time a tax had to be paid on any building with a roof, so the roof was removed so they didn't have to pay the tax on a house they didn't live in. The house is made of grey granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
.