Mintlaw
Encyclopedia
Mintlaw is a small town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland lying along the A952 road
and is geographically a route centre. The 2001 UK census records a population of 2,647 people.
As the largest settlement within 11 miles in each direction and with the towns size it can support a number of convenience stores, a butcher, chemist and a petrol station plus local amenities such as a police station, library, dental surgery and group doctors practice.
The town is most famous for its fish and chip shop Zanres (now called The Mintlaw Chipper) which has won the British Fish and Chip shop of the year competition as a takeaway but has since turned into a restaurant too. There are three main pubs; two, the Garret and the Pitfour (also a bed and breakfast) are located at the square, and the Shak which is located behind the Mintlaw Chipper. The Country Park Inn is a bed and breakfast with a pub, childs play area, Harry Hippos and a restaurant.
The Happy Plant Centre is a large garden centre that is well known in the local area, it recently has
expanded and now has a small cafe. It is beside a football pitch.
The nearby Aden Country Park
is open to the public and contains a ruined mansion house, agricultural museum and forest walks and theme park. Aden Park can be accessed by station road or Netheraden Road.
Mintlaw is also home to Aberdeenshire Museums Service, and it is based in a new purpose-built museum building housing the shire's large reserve collections, a conservation laboratory and the Discovery Centre. The service also runs 3 museums; the Arbuthnot Museum, Peterhead, Banchory Museum and the Aberdeenshire Farming Museum at Aden Country Park, home to the service's nationally recognised agricultural collection.
, Silver Cairn and many tumuli. In that same vicinity of the Laeca Burn
watershed is the point d'appui
of historic battles between invading Danes and indigenous Pict
s.
Victorian times saw the coming of the railway, the Maud to Peterhead line being built in the 1860s. Mintlaw was a scheduled stop on this line. The station was built a little to the west of the village; perhaps because this was more convenient for the Ferguson family of Pitfour and the Russell family of Aden. More affluent homes were built on Station Road to house business and professional people. The Post Office moved to be closer to the railway and became a Crown Office. Mintlaw Station was the postal address for this whole district for many years. The Crown Post Office was combined with that in Peterhead with the closure of the railway in the 1960s, and the village post office moved back to South Street. Telephone numbers too were Mintlaw Station until the early 1970s when the word Station was dropped.
It has a large secondary school, Mintlaw Academy
which takes pupils from the town itself and the surrounding area. Mintlaw Academy is situated on Station 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...
and is geographically a route centre. The 2001 UK census records a population of 2,647 people.
As the largest settlement within 11 miles in each direction and with the towns size it can support a number of convenience stores, a butcher, chemist and a petrol station plus local amenities such as a police station, library, dental surgery and group doctors practice.
The town is most famous for its fish and chip shop Zanres (now called The Mintlaw Chipper) which has won the British Fish and Chip shop of the year competition as a takeaway but has since turned into a restaurant too. There are three main pubs; two, the Garret and the Pitfour (also a bed and breakfast) are located at the square, and the Shak which is located behind the Mintlaw Chipper. The Country Park Inn is a bed and breakfast with a pub, childs play area, Harry Hippos and a restaurant.
The Happy Plant Centre is a large garden centre that is well known in the local area, it recently has
expanded and now has a small cafe. It is beside a football pitch.
The nearby Aden Country Park
Aden Country Park
Aden Country Park is located in Mintlaw, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. 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...
is open to the public and contains a ruined mansion house, agricultural museum and forest walks and theme park. Aden Park can be accessed by station road or Netheraden Road.
Mintlaw is also home to Aberdeenshire Museums Service, and it is based in a new purpose-built museum building housing the shire's large reserve collections, a conservation laboratory and the Discovery Centre. The service also runs 3 museums; the Arbuthnot Museum, Peterhead, Banchory Museum and the Aberdeenshire Farming Museum at Aden Country Park, home to the service's nationally recognised agricultural collection.
History
The local area is rich with prehistory and historical features. Somewhat to the south of Mintlaw are a number of prehistoric monuments including Catto Long BarrowCatto 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...
, Silver Cairn and many tumuli. In that same vicinity of the Laeca Burn
Laeca Burn
Laeca Burn is a stream in northeastern Aberdeenshire, Scotland. There are numerous archaeological sites in the Laeca Burn watershed, "especially on the eastern side of Laeca Burn", where Catto Long Barrow is situated.-References:...
watershed is the point d'appui
Point d'appui
A point d'appui, in military theory, is a location where troops are assembled prior to a battle. Often a monument is erected to commemorate the point d'appui for notable battles...
of historic battles between invading Danes and indigenous Pict
PICT
PICT is a graphics file format introduced on the original Apple Macintosh computer as its standard metafile format. It allows the interchange of graphics , and some limited text support, between Mac applications, and was the native graphics format of QuickDraw.The original version, PICT 1, was...
s.
Schools
Mintlaw has two primary schools, Mintlaw Primary School http://www.mintlaw-pri.aberdeenshire.sch.uk and Pitfour Primary School http://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/schools/our_schools/detail.asp?schoolid=bpfpc.It has a large secondary school, Mintlaw Academy
Mintlaw Academy
-History:The school opened in 1981 with about 600 enrolled students and a capacity of 1,000. By August 2003, it had about 920 enrolled students. The rector is Linda Evans...
which takes pupils from the town itself and the surrounding area. Mintlaw Academy is situated on Station Road.