Auchnagatt ( gd, Achadh nan Cat) is a village and rural area in

Buchan Buchan is an area of north-east Scotland, historically one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by th ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially different boundaries. The Aberdeenshire Council area incl ...

, Scotland, situated on the Ebrie Burn and on the

A948 road List of A road A roads may be *motorways or freeways, usually where the local word for motorway begins with A (for example, ''Autobahn'' in German; ''Autostrada'' in Italian). * main roads or highways, in a system where roads are graded A, B a ...

between Ellon and

New Deer New Deer ( gd, Achadh Reite) is a settlement in Aberdeenshire, North East Scotland, which lies in the valley of Deer. It is located at the junction of several roads crossing through the Howe of Buchan. It was founded after monks from Deer Abbey, O ...

Schools

Auchnagatt Primary School is situated in the village. The rural areas once supported several primary schools, with those at Clochcan, Knaven and Savoch merging to form Braeside School in 1957. Braeside School in turn was closed in 2005. Arnage School to the south remains open. Secondary education is provided at Mintlaw Academy, from the village of Auchnagatt.

Transport

Regular public transport is limited to infrequent bus services to Ellon, New Deer and surrounding villages, though an on-demand

Dial-a-bus A Telebus, Dial-a-bus, or Dial-a-ride service is a bus service that operates in a mode partway between a normal scheduled bus service and a taxi; it is a form of demand responsive transport. Telebuses typically have a scheduled route, but passeng ...

service is also available. The

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

closed to passengers in 1965 and now offers an access point to the

Formartine and Buchan Way The Formartine and Buchan Way is a long-distance trail in Scotland, extending from Dyce north to Peterhead and Fraserburgh in the Buchan and Formartine districts of Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It follows the track of a former railway line, the Fo ...

, the long-distance path that follows the route of the former railway.

Other facilities

Facilities in the village include a village hall and a general store ("Taylor's Emporium"). There also used to be a hotel and pub/function room called The Barons which has been closed.

Sports Team

The local football team are called the Auchnagatt Barons, who have been in existence for 36 years. After the 2015/16 season, Auchnagatt Barons achieved promotion to Division 2 of the Aberdeenshire AFA, finishing 2nd in the 3rd division.

History

There is evidence of prehistoric settlement in the area. The remains of two earth houses were found at Windy Hill, south-east of the village, in 1850. More recent history centred on agriculture until the coming of the railway in the 1860s, when sidings and goods sheds were constructed in the village. Nowadays Auchnagatt serves largely as a dormitory village for

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), ...

Name

Sources dispute the origin of the name ''Auchnagatt'', claiming "field of the wild cats" (

Gaelic Gaelic is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". As a noun it refers to the group of languages spoken by the Gaels, or to any one of the languages individually. Gaelic languages are spoken in Ireland, Scotland, the Isle of Man, and Ca ...

''achadh na' cat''), "field of

withies A withy or withe (also willow and osier) is a strong flexible willow stem, typically used in thatching, basketmaking, gardening and for constructing woven wattle hurdles.

" (

willows Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist s ...

), "place of the roads" (Gaelic ''achadh nan cat''), or a reference to the ''currachs'' or

wickerwork Wicker is the oldest furniture making method known to history, dating as far back as 5,000 years ago. It was first documented in ancient Egypt using pliable plant material, but in modern times it is made from any pliable, easily woven material. ...

creels traditionally produced in the area.

Notable people

Johanna Basford Johanna Basford (born 1983) is a Scottish illustrator. Her illustrations are hand-drawn, predominantly in black and white, with pencils and pens. Basford's works can be found in products such as colouring books, wallpaper, beer labels and even ...

- illustrator and textile designer

References

{{authority control Villages in Aberdeenshire