Clola is a hamlet

Hamlet (place)

A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...

 in Buchan

Buchan

Buchan is one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by the council in 1996, when the Aberdeenshire unitary council area was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994...

, 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...

. Clola is situated on the A952 road

A952 road

The A952 road is a major highway in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This roadway is a north-south connector that serves as an inland bypass to the more coastally aligned A90 road. It runs from Toll of Birness in the south to Cortes in the north, passing through the communities of Ardallie, Clola, Mintlaw...

. There is considerable evidence of local habitation by early man in the vicinity of Clola. Some of these nearby human traces are evident in Catto Long Barrow

Catto Long Barrow

Catto Long Barrow is a prehistoric site in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The site is known locally as Cairn Catto. The extant monument extends for a length of 49 metres.-References:* United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map 1:50,000 scale, Landranger series...

, a massive stone structure now surrounded by agricultural fields.

Geography and architecture

The scattered residential and farming community of Clola, about three miles north of Ardallie, is centred on Clola crossroads on the A952 some 2.5 miles south of Mintlaw

Mintlaw

Mintlaw is a small town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland lying along the A952 road and is geographically a route centre...

. The neighbourhood extends to a radius of a little over a mile around the former Church. 18th century spellings are Clolloch and Clolah, which probable came from the Gaelic clach or clachach meaning stony place.
Church The picturesque church building stands to the east of the crossroads. It is now a dwelling house its exterior form has happily been retained, bearing clear witness to its original function. The first church at Clola was a simple heather thatched stone and clay structure on the opposite side of the A952, near the latter day manse. This was superseded in 1784 by a new building on the present site. In the secessions of the early 19th century Clola became part of the Free Church of Scotland, in opposition to the Established Church, and in keeping with its new status the church was rebuilt in its present form in 1864. It featured a stained glass window to the memory of William Ferguson of Kinmundy, at one time chairman of the Great North of Scotland Railway

Great North of Scotland Railway

The Great North of Scotland Railway was one of the smaller Scottish railways before the grouping, operating in the far north-east of the country. It was formed in 1845 and received its Parliamentary approval on June 26, 1846, following over two years of local meetings...

 Co. and this window survives in the private dwelling. The Free Church re-united with the Church of Scotland in 1929. Population drifts in the post-War years led to Clola being linked with Ardallie, and this linked charge in turn finally united with Deer Parish on May 4, 1975. The last service at Clola had been held eight months earlier on August 31, 1974.

Quarter of a mile south of the Church is the former Toll House

Toll house

A tollhouse or toll house is a building with accommodation for a toll collector, beside a tollgate on a toll road or canal. Many tollhouses were built by turnpike trusts in England, Wales and Scotland during the 18th and early 19th centuries...

(Shannas Tollhouse). It is one of a small number of Tollhouses still used as a domestic dwelling and considered a good example of vernacular buildings. It sits adjacent to an old stretch of road beside the A952. Under the Turnpike Act of 1795 the minimum distance between toll bars was six miles. The Toll of Birness (the junction of the A952 Fraserburgh road and A92 Peterhead road) to the south of Ardallie is six miles from Clola.The Tollhouse is home to Shannas Gordon Setter

Gordon Setter

A Gordon Setter is a large breed of dog, a member of the setter family that also includes both the better-known Irish Setter and the English Setter. Setter breeds are classified as members of either the Sporting or Gundog Group depending on the national kennel club or council. The original purpose...

s which have produced many champions in the breed in both the UK and overseas.

The former school for Clola primary children was Shannas School south of the Toll house on the A952. It closed in 1967 at a time of "educational re-organisation". Clola children are now educated at Mintlaw, which has two primary schools and an academy taking children through to their sixth year of secondary education.

Durie

Half a mile east of Clola Church is the former weaver's hamlet of Durie. As elsewhere in Clola, modern homes have been built here in recent years. Durie is mentioned in records as far back as 1588, when it was spelt Dowrie. By 1600 the modern day spelling is adopted. The name is believed to come from the Gaelic dobhar or dobhran meaning a small stream, and the name Durie was originally applied to the Clola Burn which runs nearby.

Kinmundy, Coynach and Shannas

South of Durie is the site of Kinmundy House, once home to the Fergusons of Kinmundy. Like so many of Scotland's former mansion houses, the roof was removed (presumable for tax purposes) in the early 1950s, and part of the house was later converted into farm buildings. To the west of Clola crossroads are Shannas Farm (which gave its name to the school), Brae of Coynach and Aulton of Coynach. Brae of Coynach is renowned for its herd of prime cattle, taking prizes at major events throughout the U.K. The road leads across to Skelmuir House, home in earlier times to a branch of the Gordon family.

Recent history

The age of commuting and ease of travel have wrought many changes in Clola. Recent years have seen old properties modernised and new homes built, and as a community Clola is increasing in size. But businesses which once made itself supporting have gone. South of the church are the former Joiner's Croft and Smiddy (Smithy), and Church Croft was the site of Foggie's Shop seventy years ago. To the north is the former Meal Mill, which operated into the early 1960s. The dwelling on the right to the north of the meal mill was a shop and local post office until the late 1960s. A track on the left beyond this leads to the ruins of a shoemaker's shop and twelve cottages, abandoned in the 1920s, which housed workers employed at Millbreck Woollen Mill. Bridgestone Cottages were also built for mill workers. The Woollen Mill stood in the clump of mature trees by the roadside leading to Barnyards farm and was famed for the quality of its blankets, tweed, wood and Winsey aprons. The Millbreck Woollen Mill was established by Thomas and Joshua Smith when they commenced woollen manufacture in Millbreck Mill in 1818. The lease of the land there expired circa 1909 when they concentrated all work in Peterhead at their Kirkburn Mill. Barnyards today is home to a renowned flock of Suffolk sheep. On a happier note, new enterprises have set up in recent times; including an antique dealer, plant hire contractor, kennels, a joinery business, a pine furniture shop and a farm shop.