Portknockie (, the hilly port) is a coastal village on the

Moray Firth The Moray Firth (; , or ) is a roughly triangular inlet (or firth) of the North Sea, north and east of Inverness, which is in the Highland council area of the north of Scotland. It is the largest firth in Scotland, stretching from Duncans ...

within

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

, Scotland. The village's name is written as Portknockies in the Old Parish Registers. This would suggest that the port's name referred to not one, but two rocky hills at the hythe - the Port Hill and the Greencastle. Nearby towns include

Buckie Buckie () is a burgh town (defined as such in List of burghs in Scotland, 1888) on the Moray Firth coast of Scotland. Counties of Scotland, Historically in Banffshire, Buckie was the largest town in the county until the administrative area was ...

Findochty Findochty (pronounced , , ) is a village in Moray, Scotland, on the shores of the Moray Firth; historically it was part of Banffshire. The Gaelic name of the village was recorded by Diack using his own transcription method as ''fanna-guchti'', ...

and Cullen. Historically in

Banffshire Banffshire (; ; ) is a historic county in Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since 1996 the area has been spli ...

, the village was founded in 1677 and it became a significant

herring Herring are various species of forage fish, belonging to the Order (biology), order Clupeiformes. Herring often move in large Shoaling and schooling, schools around fishing banks and near the coast, found particularly in shallow, temperate wate ...

fishing port during the nineteenth century, although today only a handful of commercial inshore boats remain. The town was on the railway network, until Portknockie station closed in 1968. A popular site in Portknockie is Bow Fiddle Rock, a large rock about high just off the coast. The

quartzite Quartzite is a hard, non- foliated metamorphic rock that was originally pure quartz sandstone.Essentials of Geology, 3rd Edition, Stephen Marshak, p 182 Sandstone is converted into quartzite through heating and pressure usually related to tecton ...

structure has a large sea arch, which somewhat resembles the bow of a fiddle, making it an example of a

natural arch A natural arch, natural bridge, or (less commonly) rock arch is a natural landform where an arch has formed with an opening underneath. Natural arches commonly form where inland cliffs, Cliffed coast, coastal cliffs, Fin (geology), fins or Stack ...

. Small numbers of seabirds nest on the coastal cliffs. These include

fulmar The fulmars are tube-nosed seabirds in the family Procellariidae. The family includes two extant species, and two extinct fossil species from the Miocene. Fulmars superficially resemble gulls, but are readily distinguished by their flight on s ...

, black-legged kittiwake,

common gull The common gull (''Larus canus'') is a medium-sized gull that breeds in cool temperate regions of the Palearctic from Iceland and Scotland east to Kamchatka in the Russian Far East. Most common gulls bird migration, migrate further south in wint ...

razorbill The razorbill (''Alca torda'') is a North Atlantic colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus ''Alca (bird), Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinus impennis' ...

and

shag Shag or Shags may refer to: Animals * Shag or cormorant, a bird family ** European shag, a specific species of the shag or cormorant family ** Great cormorant another species of the family Persons * Shag (artist), stage name of the American a ...

. Additionally

common eider The common eider (pronounced ) (''Somateria mollissima''), also called St. Cuthbert's duck or Cuddy's duck, is a large ( in body length) sea-duck that is distributed over the northern coasts of Europe, North America and eastern Siberia. It breed ...

can be seen in and around the harbour and coves during the summer months.

Notable residents

* Prof Alexander Mair (1912-1995) was born and raised in the village and is buried there with his parents.

Green Castle Fort

Another historical site within the village is the Green Castle, which is located on a coastal promontory. This ancient coastal fort was revealed to date from 1000 BC and was inhabited until 1000 AD. The castle foundations can be seen, although now covered in grass.

References

External links

{{Authority control Villages in Moray Buckie Ports and harbours of Scotland Populated places established in 1677 1677 establishments in Scotland