Balnagask
Encyclopedia
Balnagask is an area of Torry
, a burgh
of Aberdeen
in Scotland. Balnagask is said to mean "the village in the hollow" in Gaelic
. (Although nowhere in Gaelic is there a word like 'Gask' meaning 'hollow'). The Gaelic 'Gasg' means 'tail' and given the number of glacial ridges and 'tails' across the area the 'village in the ridges' would be plausible.
The Balnagask Estate stretched from the golf course to the fields that overlooked both the Bay of Nigg and the railway line. Two farms straddled the land – Kirkhill Farm was situated on the left side of the hill and Home Farm located on land now occupied by Baxter Court. The estate also included an area of land around Balnagask Road and the top of Baxter Street.
In the 1960s Aberdeen City Council
gave the go ahead for a large housing estate to be built at Balnagask. The new estate began to swallow up acres of land on the southern slopes of Torry Hill as the new cuboid shaped houses enveloped the elegant villas of Balnagask. The box shaped homes (affectionately referred to by residents as ‘The Hen Hooses’) differed wildly from the regimented ideas of past town planners. The first phase of the housing scheme was completed in 1967 and the second phase in 1969.
Torry
-Setting and historical development:Torry, lying on the south bank of the River Dee, was once a Royal Burgh in its own right, having been erected a burgh of barony in 1495. It was incorporated into Aberdeen in 1891, after the construction of the Victoria Bridge, itself made possible by the 1871...
, a burgh
Burgh
A burgh was an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland and Northern England, usually a town. This type of administrative division existed from the 12th century, when King David I created the first royal burghs. Burgh status was broadly analogous to borough status, found in the rest of the United...
of Aberdeen
Aberdeen
Aberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas and the United Kingdom's 25th most populous city, with an official population estimate of ....
in Scotland. Balnagask is said to mean "the village in the hollow" in Gaelic
Scottish Gaelic language
Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language native to Scotland. A member of the Goidelic branch of the Celtic languages, Scottish Gaelic, like Modern Irish and Manx, developed out of Middle Irish, and thus descends ultimately from Primitive Irish....
. (Although nowhere in Gaelic is there a word like 'Gask' meaning 'hollow'). The Gaelic 'Gasg' means 'tail' and given the number of glacial ridges and 'tails' across the area the 'village in the ridges' would be plausible.
The Balnagask Estate stretched from the golf course to the fields that overlooked both the Bay of Nigg and the railway line. Two farms straddled the land – Kirkhill Farm was situated on the left side of the hill and Home Farm located on land now occupied by Baxter Court. The estate also included an area of land around Balnagask Road and the top of Baxter Street.
In the 1960s Aberdeen City Council
Aberdeen City Council
Aberdeen City Council represents the Aberdeen City council area of Scotland.The council area was created in 1996, under the Local Government etc. Act 1994...
gave the go ahead for a large housing estate to be built at Balnagask. The new estate began to swallow up acres of land on the southern slopes of Torry Hill as the new cuboid shaped houses enveloped the elegant villas of Balnagask. The box shaped homes (affectionately referred to by residents as ‘The Hen Hooses’) differed wildly from the regimented ideas of past town planners. The first phase of the housing scheme was completed in 1967 and the second phase in 1969.