Peterhead

Peterhead's South Harbour in 2002. This view is looking north to Bridge Street. The Queenie Bridge is also in view

Peterhead was founded in 1587 by George Keith, 5th Earl Marischal,[7] and was developed as a planned settlement, then known as "Harbour and Barony of Keith Insche commonly called Peterhead".[7] The twelve original feuars occupied land along Seagate between the pier of Port Henry, to the north, and the Quinzie (Queenie) to the south. The Queenie was a causeway of boulders, covered only by spring tides, which linked the islands of Keith Inch and Greenhill to the mainland.[7] (Today, the Queenie Bridge, which opened in 1954, connects Bridge Street and Greenhill Road. It replaced a swing bridge which had stood on the site since 1850.)[8] The construction of Port Henry in 1593 encouraged the growth of Peterhead as a fishing port and established a base for trade. (Port Henry Road, running east-west, can be found just north of the harbour, off East North Street.)[9] Port Henry, the oldest of Peterhead's three harbours,[10] was constructed along the Seagate shore by Henry Middleton, under the supervision of Keith.[11] It was protected to the north by the Old Pier, which was erected probably before 1593.[10]

The town developed uphill between the shore and Longate, which — until the development of Broad Street in the late 18th century — was the main historic district of the town.[7]

Port Henry was improved in 1631 and repaired before the end of the century and again early in the 18th century. The south pier was increased in height and the west pier was constructed. The southern part was reconstructed between 1775 and 1781 by John Smeaton, with improvements carried out by John Rennie between 1806 and 1810. He also oversaw an addition to the west pier in 1813.[11]

By 1680, Charles McKean notes that Peterhead "had become one of the best fishings on the north coast".[7]

On 22 December 1715, James Francis Edward Stuart, Prince of Wales, arrived in Peterhead from Dunkirk and stayed "in an ancient house in Longate," where he was visited by the Earl Marischal. The Marischal's last Baron Baillie, Thomas Arbuthnot, put the town on alert for war by summoning able-bodied men and their weapons. The prince left for Newburgh, and the town, by forfeiture of the Keiths, suffered for its loyalty.[12] The Earls Marischal estate was forfeited in 1716, sold to York Buildings Company.[10]

In 1775, the "feu superior", the Merchant Maiden Company of Edinburgh, transferred to the Committee of Feuars of Peterhead the Tollbooth, Tollbooth Green and other sundry land.[7] A new Town Hall building replaced the tollbooth. Meanwhile, the enclosed lands of South Bay were being developed into "the beautifully homogeneous district of elegant houses for the accommodation of strangers and sea captains, much of which still survives".[7] Fishermen began to move to Roanheads on the north-east shoulder of the peninsula. Roanheads was laid out in today's form by 1771, and some of the few surviving pantiled houses may be original.[7]

From 1788, the port developed a speciality in whaling. It eventually became Britain's largest whaling port.[10]

In 1815, before the increase in herring popularity, there were 72 vessels registered to Peterhead operating from the port; by 1850 there were over 400.[10]

Value of Fish Landed in Peterhead 1893-1914

North Harbour and the dry dock were built by Rennie and Thomas Telford between 1818 and 1822. They were improved fifteen years later. The junction canal was built in 1849, while the south and west piers of North Harbour were built by David Stevenson in 1855. The southern part of North Harbour (Middle Harbour) dates from 1872. It was constructed by David and Thomas Stevenson, with improvements made between 1893 and 1897 by William Shield, a local worker.[11]

A lifeboat station was first established in 1865.[13]

Peterhead convict prison was opened in 1888, gaining a reputation as one of Scotland's toughest prisons.

South Harbour was deepened between 1906 and 1908. The Harbour of Refuge (Admiralty Backwaters) was begun in 1886 by Sir John Coode. It was built by convict labour.

The present harbour, now a Category B listed structure,[11] has two massive breakwaters, enclosing an area of approximately 300 acres (120 ha) in Peterhead Bay. The south breakwater, about 2,700 ft (820 m) long, was constructed in 1892–1912 using convict labour from the prison.[10] Peterhead was, and remains, an important fishing port, and the breakwater gave it an advantage over other fishing ports. The north breakwater, constructed 1912–1956,[14] is approximately 1,500 ft (460 m) long.[15] Peterhead was a Jacobite-supporting town in the Jacobite risings of 1715 and 1745. In particular, it was one of the Episcopalian north-eastern ports where reinforcements, plus money and equipment, were periodically landed from France during the Forty-Five.[16]

A new phase of growth was initiated in the 1970s with Peterhead becoming a major oil industry service centre, and the completion of the nearby St Fergus gas terminal. At this time, considerable land holdings were allocated for industrial development.

From the 1990s onward, the town has suffered from several high-profile company closures and is facing a number of pressures, including Common Fisheries Policy reforms. However, it retains a relatively diverse economy, including food processing, textiles, service industries and, still importantly, fishing. (Over 163,000 tonnes of fish and shellfish, with a value of around £179m, were landed at Peterhead in 2017, employing around 700 fishermen.)[17] The Peterhead Port Authority plans to extend the northern breakwater as a stimulus to the town's economic development. In addition, to assist with business diversification and town centre environmental improvements, the 'Peterhead Project' initiative under the Aberdeenshire Towns Partnership brings together the Council, Scottish Enterprise Grampian, Communities Scotland, commerce and community representatives.

The town's port remains the largest for landings in the United Kingdom. According to a 2019 UK sea fisheries statistical survey, Peterhead port's catch size for the year was 132,000 tonnes. Nearby Fraserburgh was third, behind Lerwick.[6] It was placed 14th in the list of number of fishers based at each port.[18]

Listed buildings

Main article: List of listed buildings in Peterhead, Aberdeenshire

Old St Peter's Church, located on High Street, to the west of the town

1 Harbour Street dates to the late 18th century

Peterhead has many listed buildings across the three categories of A, B and C. The three Category A listed buildings are Buchan Ness lighthouse (see below),[19] Old St Peter's Church[20] (its graveyard is Category B listed) and the Old Parish Church.[21]

The majority of the listed buildings are on streets that fan out from the harbour, including Harbour Street, Broad Street, Jamaica Street, Maiden Street, Merchant Street, Port Henry Road, Queen Street and St. Andrew Street.

Queen Street was the main street of the new town laid out around 1805.[22]

North Street, which leads up into Roanheads, consists of 19th-century two-storey red granite homes. The dormer-windowed circa-1877 fisher houses in Great Stuart Street were constructed for fishermen quitting Burnhaven (hence its nickname Burnie Street). There are similar houses in Port Henry Road, Gladstone Road and Almanythie Road.[10]

The oldest building in Peterhead is the Fish-House (also known as the Salmon House),[23][24] located on today's Golf Road.[23]

Harbour Street

Harbour Street was laid out in 1739, from which year dates Mount Pleasant at number 5, the former home of poet and Peterhead native Peter Buchan.[12]

• 1 Harbour Street, built in the late 18th century. Category B listed

Broad Street

The former heart of the 19th-century town, Broad Street was bordered by the Town House to the south, Arbuthnot House to the north, and lined on both sides "by good houses, hotels and banks".[12] The slope between Broad Street and the harbour "contains some of the most picturesque urban streets in Scotland," according to historian Charles McKean.[25]

• 32 Broad Street, built in 1858. Category B listed
• 59 Broad Street, built mid-18th century. Category B listed
• 75 Broad Street, built circa 1840. Category B listed
• Reform Monument, built in 1833. Category B listed

Merchant Street

• 10 Merchant Street, built circa 1800. Category B listed
• St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 22 Merchant Street, built in 1814. Category B listed
  • The church hall of the above. Category C listed
• Statue of Field Marshal Keith, built in 1868. Category B listed

Peterhead is the largest settlement in Buchan, a committee area of Aberdeenshire.

The town was a burgh in the historic county of Aberdeenshire. In 1930 it became a small burgh under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1929, but in 1975 small burghs were abolished and Peterhead became part of the district of Banff and Buchan within the new Grampian Region. When districts and regions were abolished in 1996, Peterhead became part of the new unitary authority of Aberdeenshire.

Since 1975 Peterhead has had a community council, with limited powers.

The 2016 population estimate for the town is 19,270,[26] making Peterhead the largest town in Aberdeenshire. English is the primary language used in the town, although 56.4% of residents can speak Scots.[26]

Peterhead has some of the highest levels of deprivation in Aberdeenshire. According to the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation, the town centre (specifically a part of the harbour area) received the lowest ranking (1 out of 10) for four of the seven topics. These were Employment, Education/Skills, Housing and Crime. That area also received a ranking of 2 for Income. The other two rankings were a 4 for Health and a 10 for Geographic Access. Overall, this part of the harbour area ranked lowest (1) in the decile and quantile statistics.[27]

By contrast, parts of Ugieside and Peterhead Links ranked markedly higher. Ugieside ranked above 5 in five of the seven topics: Income (7), Employment (6), Health (8), Housing (8) and Crime (10). It received a 4 in Education/Skills and Geographic Access.[27] Peterhead Links, meanwhile, ranked above 5 in all topics.[27]

Young people growing up in Peterhead are ten times more likely to end up in prison than those from Ellon.[28]

Marsichal Street, Peterhead's main shopping street, looking west, in 2010

In 2008, a Blueprint for Growth was published by Aberdeenshire Council[32] – a plan to extend the town beyond its bypass. The plan involved 4,500 homes, 4 new primary schools, a new secondary school and a new hospital to be built in the next 20–25 years – hoping to bring 9,000 people to the town.

In 2016 Aberdeenshire Council launched a regeneration strategy for Peterhead - Peterhead Development Partnership Action Plan 2016 - 2021 covering the themes of Peterhead Economy, Integrating Communities and Connecting, reinforcing and rediscovering Peterhead's town centres.

Buchan Ness lighthouse

Peterhead has four lighthouses, two of which are active. In chronological order of construction, they are:

• Buchan Ness lighthouse (1827; Robert Stevenson) is active. It stands on a small island, accessible by a bridge.[33]

• South Breakwater lighthouse (1833; Robert Stevenson) is active, and it is the easternmost lighthouse on mainland Scotland. It is owned by Peterhead Port Authority.[33]

• Harbour South lighthouse (1849; Thomas Stevenson). Now inactive, it originally stood on the Albert Quay, but it was relocated in 2015 to the junction of the Esplanade and Alexandra Parade.[33]

• Harbour North lighthouse (1908). Now inactive, it is located in front of the Port Authority's control building on West Pier.[33]

The harbours, maritime and built heritage, Peterhead Town Trail are the town's principal tourism assets alongside the multi-award winning Peterhead Prison Museum. Recent initiatives include investments in the Peterhead Bay area, which have included the berthing of cruise ships in the harbour. A number of projects are planned under the auspices of the Peterhead Development Partnership and Rediscover Peterhead Business Improvement District initiatives, including tourism strategy development, enhancement of existing attractions, measures to improve the town's physical attractiveness, and improved marketing and promotion.

The former Victorian-era prison, HM Prison Peterhead, that had been closed due to the construction of a new and larger facility has been converted into a museum.[34]

Peterhead F.C. are an SPFL club who play in the SPFL League One. They won the League Two championship in 2013–14 and 2018–19. The club reached the final of the Scottish Challenge Cup in the 2015–16 season.[35]

Peterhead Golf Club, reputedly the 18th-oldest in the world, sits on the banks of the River Ugie at its estuary with the North Sea, just over a mile to the northwest of the town. It has an 18- and a 9-hole course.

Peterhead RFC are a Scottish Rugby Union team who play at the Lord Catto playing fields.

• Ålesund, Norway

• Thomas Abernethy, Arctic and Antarctic explorer
• William Aitken, Scottish League footballer
• Jon S. Baird, director
• Eric Temple Bell, mathematician and science fiction author
• Peter Buchan, editor
• Charles Creighton, physician and medical author
• William Gibson, politician
• Alexander Hall, Scottish League footballer
• Arthur D. Hay, judge
• William Hay, architect
• Margaret Jope, biochemist
• George Keith, missionary
• James Keith, soldier
• Marino Keith, Scottish League footballer
• William Keith, colonial governor of Pennsylvania
• George King, botanist
• George Kynoch, engineering businessesman
• Jim Lovie, footballer
• Stuart MacLeod, magician
• Gilbert Mair, sailor and merchant trader
• Donald Manson, 19th-century whaler and harbourmaster of Peterhead
• Frederick Martin, politician
• Jamie McLeary, golfer
• Dugald McTavish Lumsden, soldier
• Peter Mullan, actor and film maker
• James Niven, physician
• James Wales, artist

The town is also mentioned in Jules Verne's science-fiction novel Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864).[41]

• List of Provosts of Peterhead
• Clerkhill
• Buchanhaven – village within Peterhead
• Peterhead power station
• Scotland-Norway interconnector
• Whaling in Scotland

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Peterhead.

Media related to Peterhead at Wikimedia Commons

• Peterhead Scottish Week – Annual gala in town
• Local Authority Covering Peterhead Area
• Peterhead Lifeboat Station
• Peterhead Tourism
• Peterhead Development Partnership
• Rediscover Peterhead Business Improvement District