St Fergus is a village in the

Buchan Buchan is a coastal district in the north-east of Scotland, bounded by the Ythan and Deveron rivers. It was one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas of Aberdeenshire. Etymology The ge ...

area of

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. St Fergus lies from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

coast and north-west of

Peterhead Peterhead (; , ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is the council area's largest settlement, with a population of 19,060 at the 2022 Census for Scotland, 2022 Census. It is the largest fishing port in the United Kingdom for total landi ...

. The Parish of St Fergus includes the remains of Inverugie Castle and Ravenscraig Castle. The church in the village was built in 1763. The church for this parish previously stood in the old kirkyard near the shore to the east. This site on the St Fergus Links is still used as a burial ground. Prior to the change in site of the church the parish was known as Longley and at a still more remote period Inverugie.

History

Historically, the of St Fergus parish formed a detached portion of

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 parish was transferred to

in 1891. At that time it had a population of 1,527. The beach area was classed as a risk during WW2 as a possible (but unlikely) landing area for a German invasion. Several pillboxes and anti-tank blocks were placed along the coast. These formed part of the Rattray stop line. Anti-tank ditches are still visible today. A minefield was laid on St Fergus links and Craigwan sands. On 30 November 1941, 11-year-old John Paul, 12-year-old James Reekie and Corporal Ronald Cumbley of the

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

were killed by a landmine. Two other soldiers were also injured. On 26 March 1946, Lance Corporal Reginald Wallis, age 26, and Corporal John Wood, age 23, of 11 Bomb Disposal company were killed whilst clearing landmines from the area. Corporal Wood stepped on the mine, thereby detonating it. During mine clearing operations by 11th Company Bomb Disposal, a

British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Monarchy of the United Ki ...

was awarded to Sgt Robert Husband. Sgt Husband assisted a platoon officer dealing with mines that had fallen down a cliff when rough weather caused a bank of sand to collapse. The St Fergus Gas Terminal situated to the north of the village, began operating in 1977 and was officially opened on 9 May 1978. The terminal consists of plants operated by a number of different oil and gas companies, and processes up to of North Sea gas per day, amounting to 15% of the United Kingdom gas demand.

Transportation

The town is served by buses between

Fraserburgh Fraserburgh (; ), locally known as the Broch, is a town in Aberdeenshire (unitary), Aberdeenshire, Scotland, with a population recorded in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census as 13,100. It lies in Buchan in the northeastern corner of th ...

and Aberdeen (via Peterhead).

References

External links

Visit Peterhead Tourism Web Site
{{authority control Saint Fergus Buchan