Finzean ( ; ) is a rural community, electoral polling district,
community council
A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain.
In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. ...
area and former
ecclesiastical parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
, which forms the southern part of the
Parish
A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...
of
Birse
Birse () is a parish in the Lower Deeside area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, which includes the communities of Finzean and Ballogie. However the name Birse is often used to refer only to the northwestern part of the parish which lies on the sou ...
,
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
, Scotland. Finzean was the subject of many well-known landscape paintings by the artist
Joseph Farquharson, whose family have owned Finzean Estate (which occupies the eastern half of Finzean) since the 17th century. Finzean extends to approximately 8000 hectares in area and had a population of approximately 270 in 2002.
Toponymy
Finzean is pronounced /ˈfɪŋən/. This is due to the original
Scots spelling, Finȝean, containing the letter
yogh
The letter yogh (ȝogh) ( ; Scots: ; Middle English: ) is a Latin script letter that was used in Middle English and Older Scots, representing ''y'' () and various velar phonemes. It was derived from the Insular form of the letter ''g'', Ᵹ ...
, which was later erroneously confused with the
tailed z
Ezh (Ʒ ʒ) , also called the "tailed z", is a letter, notable for its use in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) to represent the voiced postalveolar fricative consonant. This sound, sometimes transcribed /zh/, occurs in the pronunciat ...
.
Geographical extent
Finzean occupies the upper
catchment of the
Water of Feugh
The Water of Feugh ( or ) is a stream in Aberdeenshire that is the largest tributary to the River Dee, Aberdeenshire, River Dee. This stream rises in the Grampian Mountains of Scotland, in an area known as the Forest of Birse, and has a partic ...
within the area of the
Lower Deeside, the main tributary of the
River Dee. The southern boundary of Finzean is the old county boundary between
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...
and
Kincardineshire
Kincardineshire or the County of Kincardine, also known as the Mearns (from the Scottish Gaelic meaning "the stewartry"), is a Shires of Scotland, historic county, registration county and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area on the ...
which follows the
Water of Aven (or A'an) from
Loch Tennet to the Feughside Inn at Whitestone. The eastern boundary varies slightly between historic parish boundaries and modern-day polling district boundaries, but generally follows the route of the minor road north from Whitestone towards Potarch. The northern boundary of Finzean follows the
watershed separating the Feugh catchment from the Burn of Cattie, although it runs slightly to the north of this ridge in the eastern part of the parish, crossing the
B976 at Berrysloch. The western boundary of Finzean is the watershed separating the Feugh from
Glen Tanar and
Glen Esk.
The sparsely populated western half of Finzean, in the higher reaches of the Feugh catchment, is known as the
Forest of Birse
The Forest of Birse is a remote upland area in the upper catchment of the Water of Feugh, which forms the south-western portion of the Parish of Birse, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It also forms the western part of the community of Finzean, but h ...
and does not form part of the Finzean Estate owned by the Farquharson family. The boundary between the Forest of Birse and
Finzean Estate is formed by two small tributaries of the Feugh: the Finlets Burn and the Laird's Burn.
Landscape and natural heritage
The eastern end of Finzean occupies a broad valley which is a patchwork of fields and small woodlands with scattered houses, farms and small settlements. Most of the population of the parish lives in this area, with the main clusters of housing being at Finzean village, Drumhead and Percie. A ridge of low hills (highest point: Tom's Cairn, 310 metres) bounds this valley to the north and separates it from the valley of the Cattie Burn, which lies within the neighbouring community of Ballogie.
To the south and west, Finzean is shielded by higher
granite
Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
hills which rise to more than 500 metres above sea level. Notable hills which are prominent in views to the south and west include
Clachnaben (589 m), which lies outside Finzean, and Peter Hill (617 m), which is the most prominent hill in Finzean (although Gannoch, in the Forest of Birse, is higher at 731 metres). The hills are mostly covered with
heather, but along their lower slopes, there are some extensive areas of
forestry
Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...
, most of which is planted with
Scots pine
''Pinus sylvestris'', the Scots pine (UK), Scotch pine (US), Baltic pine, or European red pine is a species of tree in the pine family Pinaceae that is native to Eurasia. It can readily be identified by its combination of fairly short, blue-gr ...
and
larch
Larches are deciduous conifers in the genus ''Larix'', of the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Growing from tall, they are native to the cooler regions of the northern hemisphere, where they are found in lowland forests in the high la ...
. There is also a small area of natural pine forest at Glenferrick and Finlets, which is the most easterly remnant of the ancient
Caledonian Forest.
The Twin Trees of Finzean are a natural curiosity that are well known locally and have been included in the
Forestry Commission
The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England.
The Forestry Commission was previously also respons ...
's Heritage Trees of Scotland. The trees are about 100 years old and a branch from one has naturally
grafted
Grafting or graftage is a horticultural technique whereby tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together. The upper part of the combined plant is called the scion () while the lower part is called the rootstock. The succ ...
itself on to its neighbour, joining the two together in a natural arch that featured on old postcards of the area.
The Water of Feugh and the lower part of the Water of Aven are both designated as part of the River Dee
Special Area of Conservation
A special area of conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...
due to their importance for populations of
Atlantic salmon
The Atlantic salmon (''Salmo salar'') is a species of ray-finned fish in the family Salmonidae. It is the third largest of the Salmonidae, behind Hucho taimen, Siberian taimen and Pacific Chinook salmon, growing up to a meter in length. Atlan ...
and
Eurasian otter
The Eurasian otter (''Lutra lutra''), also known as the European otter, Eurasian river otter, European river otter, common otter, and Old World otter, is a semiaquatic mammal native to Eurasia and the Maghreb. The most widely distributed member o ...
.
History and cultural heritage
The first people to live in Finzean were hunter-gatherers during the
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Ancient Greek language, Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic i ...
era 8000 years ago. The first farmers settled during the
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
period about 6000 years ago. Evidence of the Neolithic settlers can be seen in the remains of Finzean House Long Cairn, one of two
scheduled monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage, visu ...
s in Finzean;
[Historic Scotland: Pastmap.](_blank)
/ref> the other being the Ballochan hut-circles in the Forest of Birse, which dates from the late Bronze Age
The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...
or early Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
, between 2000 and 3000 years ago. Another well-known monument in Finzean is the Dardanus Stone, which lies alongside the B976 road at Corsedardar. This standing stone was uncovered at the end of the 18th century and has been held together by iron bars since being broken in two by workmen. The stone is alleged to commemorate a mythical Scottish king called Dardanus, who reigned in the 1st century AD according to the writer Hector Boece
Hector Boece (; also spelled Boyce or Boise; 1465–1536), known in Latin as Hector Boecius or Boethius, was a Scottish philosopher and historian, and the first Ancient university governance in Scotland, Principal of King's College, Aberdeen, ...
, although it is more likely to be a Bronze Age monument left by the Beaker people
The Bell Beaker culture, also known as the Bell Beaker complex or Bell Beaker phenomenon, is an archaeological culture named after the inverted-bell beaker drinking vessel used at the beginning of the European Bronze Age, arising from around ...
[Callander, R. (2000). History in Birse. Birse Community Trust]
In the 10th century the lands of Finzean became the personal property of the King of Scots
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, commonly referred to as the British monarchy, is the form of government used by the United Kingdom by which a hereditary monarch reigns as the head of state, with their powers regulated by the British cons ...
, who used the Forest of Birse as a hunting reserve. In the 12th century King William the Lion gifted the area to the Bishops of Aberdeen who continued to own it until the 16th century, during which they gradually sold off all the land. During the 17th and 18th centuries, the Farquharson family acquired the whole of the eastern part of Finzean, while the Forest of Birse was owned by the Earl of Aboyne
The title of Earl of Aboyne in the Peerage of Scotland is held by the Gordon family, with the heir apparent to the Marquessate of Huntly using it as a courtesy title.
The peerage title of Earl of Aboyne was originally created in September 1660 ...
, but with ancient common rights retained by all the inhabitants of Birse
Birse () is a parish in the Lower Deeside area of Aberdeenshire, Scotland, which includes the communities of Finzean and Ballogie. However the name Birse is often used to refer only to the northwestern part of the parish which lies on the sou ...
parish to this day.
Evidence of the rich later history of Finzean can be seen in the 17 listed buildings
In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...
and monuments that have been designated in Finzean.
Category A Listed Buildings
''Finzean Bucket Mill; Finzean Sawmill and Turning Mill''
Category B Listed Buildings
''Birse Castle; Easter Clune; Finzean Home Farm Steading; Mill of Clinter; Tillyfruskie''
Category C Listed Buildings
''Birse and Feughside Parish Kirk; Birse Castle Kennels; Birse War Memorial; Bridge over Hollow Burn; Finzean House; Finzean House South Lodge; Forest of Birse Kirk; Haughend Grain Kiln; Memorial well to Joseph Farquharson; Mill of Clinter Cottage''
The most important of these buildings are undoubtedly the three water-powered mills along the Water of Feugh which are owned and managed by Birse Community Trust. These wooden buildings date from the 1850s but were restored to full working order in the 1980s.[Geddes, J. (2001). Deeside and the Mearns - an illustrated architectural guide. RIAS]
Birse Castle, which is the only remaining castle in Finzean, dates from about 1600, was restored from a ruin in 1905, and was extensively refurbished in 1999 as the main Scottish home of Charles Pearson, brother of the 4th Viscount Cowdray and owner of Dunecht estate, part of which is in the Forest of Birse.
Finzean in the 21st century
The second half of the 20th century saw declines in traditional rural industries in Finzean, as elsewhere. There are now only seven tenant farms in Finzean where there were nearly 20 in the 1950s, and Finzean estate's own farming operation now dominates much of the area. This decline was countered by the growing wealth generated by the advent of the North Sea oil
North Sea oil is a mixture of hydrocarbons, comprising liquid petroleum and natural gas, produced from petroleum reservoirs beneath the North Sea.
In the petroleum industry, the term "North Sea" often includes areas such as the Norwegian ...
industry in the 1970s, which brought an influx of new people to Aberdeen
Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
and other parts of north-east Scotland.
Finzean is now a small community, with a primary school attended by about 50 children, a parish church that was extended and refurbished in 2005, a community hall that was rebuilt in 2003, and community woodlands. Apart from the farms and estates, local businesses include a shop and post office, a farm shop and tearoom, a furniture restorer and cabinetmaker, a shortbread
Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part sugar, white sugar, two parts butter and three to four parts plain flour, plain wheat flour. Shortbread does not contain leavening, such as baking powder or bakin ...
manufacturer and a number of building contractors and self-employed tradespeople.
The third meeting of the Rural Development Council, chaired by Richard Lochhead
Richard Neilson Lochhead (born 24 May 1969) is a Scottish politician serving as the Minister for Business and Employment since 2023. A member of the Scottish National Party (SNP), he served as the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, Food and ...
, was held in Finzean village hall in December 2008."Village halls research"
The Scottish Government. Retrieved 1 January 2009.
References
External links
Finzean EstateBirse Community TrustBirse and Feughside Parish Church
{{authority control
Villages in Aberdeenshire