Cromdale ( gd, Cromdhail, from ''crom'' 'crooked' and ''dal'' 'valley, dale') is a village in Strathspey, in the

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

council area of

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to th ...

, and one of the ancient parishes which formed the combined ecclesiastical (later civil) parish of Cromdale, Inverallan and Advie in Morayshire. The present small, growing village of Cromdale lies on either side of where the

A95 road The A95 road is a major road of north-east Scotland connecting the A9 road in the Highlands to the A98 road near the coast. Route It leaves the A9 four miles north of Aviemore. It then goes: *through Drumullie; *near to Dulnain Bridge &ndas ...

crosses Cromdale Burn, between

Grantown-on-Spey Grantown-on-Spey ( gd, Baile nan Granndach) is a town in the Highland Council Area, historically within the county of Moray. It is located on a low plateau at Freuchie beside the river Spey at the northern edge of the Cairngorm mountains, abou ...

and

Aberlour Aberlour ( gd, Obar Lobhair) is a village in Moray, Scotland, south of Elgin on the road to Grantown. The Lour burn is a tributary of the River Spey, and it and the surrounding parish are both named Aberlour, but the name is more commonly us ...

; this bridge is about south of the confluence of the

burn A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...

with the

River Spey The River Spey (Scottish Gaelic: Uisge Spè) is a river in the northeast of Scotland. At it is the eighth longest river in the United Kingdom, as well as the second longest and fastest-flowing river in Scotland. It is important for salmon fishi ...

The village was within

Inverness-shire Inverness-shire ( gd, Siorrachd Inbhir Nis) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Covering much of the Highlands and Outer Hebrides, it is Scotland's largest county, though one of the smallest in populat ...

until 1869, when it was moved by the Inverness and Elgin County Boundaries Act 1870 to the

Morayshire Moray; ( gd, Moireibh ) or Morayshire, called Elginshire until 1919, is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland, bordering Nairnshire to the west, Inverness-shire to the south, and Banffshire to the east. It ...

. It remained part of Morayshire until 1975, when the county was divided between the Highland and

Grampian Grampian ( gd, Roinn a' Mhonaidh) was one of nine former local government regions of Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 and abolished in 1996 by the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. The region ...

regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

; it is now within the

Highland Council Area Highland ( gd, A' Ghàidhealtachd, ; sco, Hieland) is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in the United Kingdom. It was the 7th most populous council area in Scotland at the 2011 census. It shar ...

. The village retained ''

'' as its official postal address for many years after the change in local government boundaries. The parish church and cemetery are located beside the River Spey at the end of Kirk Road beside the bridge which is the latest of three which replaced the nearby ferry. The bridge was financed by local residents, having been obtained as a War Surplus item from the War Office and erected in 1922 at a cost of £6,889. The remains of an older bridge can be seen a short distance upstream; this (much lighter) bridge was swept away in 1894, the 1922 bridge replaced one that collapsed in 1921.Strathspey Herald, 19 Jan 1922 About halfway along Kirk Road is Cromdale railway station, which closed in the 1960s but survives in private hands along with some preserved railway paraphernalia. It lies on the route of the now closed Great North of Scotland Railway line from Boat of Garten to Craigellachie. To the south of Cromdale is Balmenach Distillery, which was served by a branch line running from Cromdale station that passed under the main road alongside Cromdale Burn. This distillery has had a chequered history in recent years but is again in production. The old school had become the Cromdale Outdoor Education Centre and stands opposite the Haugh Hotel. The

Battle of Cromdale The Battle of Cromdale took place at the Haughs of Cromdale on 30 April and 1 May 1690. The site is on a hillside near the village of Cromdale, then in Inverness-shire and now in the Highland council area. The battlefield has been included in t ...

took place in 1690 on the Haughs of Cromdale, about east of the village. The village is within the

Cairngorms National Park Cairngorms National Park ( gd, Pàirc Nàiseanta a' Mhonaidh Ruaidh) is a national park in northeast Scotland, established in 2003. It was the second of two national parks established by the Scottish Parliament, after Loch Lomond and The Tros ...

Football

Cromdale has two teams, Spey Valley United, who compete in the Scottish Junior Football North Division One (West). The other team is Cromdale F.C., who compete in the local Strathspey & Badenoch Welfare FA league. Both clubs use Cromdale's public football ground for all home matches.

Historical references

Censuses In various census and/or derived records the description of Cromdale has been used to describe the entire civil parish of Cromdale, Inverallan and Advie thus often causing an apparent mismatch between different censuses. In the 1841, 1851 and 1861 censuses it will be necessary to determine the actual locality from the descriptions on the census book pages or by the names of known locations. From 1871 onward, a record marked as being within parish number 128/2, 128B/2 or 128B² will not be in Cromdale but in Inverallan (which contains Grantown); Advie was always enumerated with Cromdale thus requiring the relevant parish to be identified from the address or description. Birth, marriage and death registrations In 1855 one registration district (Cromdale, Inverallan and Advie) included all the combined parishes. From 1856 to 1965 the local registration district was Cromdale and Advie. From 1966 Cromdale has been within the Grantown on Spey registration district. The LDS church and other third parties have failed to distinguish the 1856 separation of records in their indexes thus their descriptions of the registration districts do not match the official descriptions.

References

External links

* {{Scottish provinces, minor Populated places in Badenoch and Strathspey Former church parishes of Scotland