Cabrach

A June 2019 news item indicates that "illicit whisky production and smuggling" was rampant at one time, during the 1700s and early 1800s "making it one of the most important birthplaces of malt whisky", according to another source.[https://www.northern-scot.co.uk/news/windfall-for-cabrach-wilderness-179086/?cmpredirect Windfall for Cabrach wilderness] According to another source, "at its peak, there were well over 100 pot stills scattered throughout The Cabrach" but "the last of these had closed by 1851". After distilling became legal, three distilleries began to operate here after 1823: "the Cabrach Distillery at Mains of Lesmurdie and Tomnaven, in the Lower Cabrach; and Blackmiddens (later renamed Buck) in the Upper Cabrach". All had closed by the 1840s.[https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/features/26092/the-lost-whiskies-of-the-cabrach/ THE LOST WHISKIES OF THE CABRACH 26 June 2019]{{cite journal|last1=Bratt|first1=D|last2=Bye-Jensen|first2=P|title=A Quick Buck: An Early Licensed Whisky Distillery at Blackmiddens Farm in the Cabrach|journal=Internet Archaeology|date=2023|issue=61|doi=10.11141/ia.61.3|doi-access=free|url=http://intarch.ac.uk/journal/issue61/3/}}

A report published in 1846 defined the Cabrach as: "a parish, partly in the district of Alford, county of Aberdeen, but chiefly in the county of Banff, 12 miles (W.) from Clatt; containing 827 inhabitants". The primary pursuits were agriculture, peat cutting, and hunting. Some farms raised cattle, "the black native breed" and sheep which were sent to market. Limestone was readily available. By then, the last two distilleries of "malt spirits" had closed. A church built in 1876, a parochial school and a manse were noted in the report.[https://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-dict/scotland/pp163-185#h3-0002 Pages 163-185 A Topographical Dictionary of Scotland, Originally published by S Lewis, London, 1846] The church, defined as the "Cabrach Parish Church", still stood in 2017, "in open countryside" but was only in occasional use and only during summer.[http://www.scottishchurches.org.uk/sites/site/id/3894/name/Cabrach+Parish+Church+Cabrach+Grampian Cabrach Parish Church National Grid Reference NJ 38640 26800]{{Dead link|date=February 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} The Category B church, confirmed as having been built in 1786, was listed as being of interest by Historic Scotland in 1972, (Listing number LB2255).{{Historic Environment Scotland|num=LB2255 |desc=CABRACH PARISH CHURCH AND BURIAL GROUND (CHURCH OF SCOTLAND)}} Other Listed properties in the general area include the church burial ground, a bridge at Cabrach, Deveron House (built in 1801-1802) and its garden wall, and another bridge at Milltown Burn, Milltown.[https://britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/200333139-cabrach-parish-church-cabrach Cabrach Parish Church, A Category B Listed Building in Cabrach, Moray] Deveron House was added to the Buildings at Risk register in 2018.[https://www.buildingsatrisk.org.uk/details/910395 Deveron House, Cabrach] Aberdeenshire Council lists the House as "Former Church of Scotland Manse and steading".[https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/smrpub/master/detail.aspx?refno=NJ32NE0033 Moray HER - NJ32NE0033 - DEVERON HOUSE, CABRACH]

Photographs of the Cabrach from 2019 confirm that many abandoned farm houses still stand. Much of the population had been lost in the first decades of the 20th century when industrialization drew people to cities, and because of deaths during WWI.[https://www.scotsman.com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/pictures-lost-scottish-community-vanished-landscape-1415725 In pictures: A lost Scottish community that vanished][https://www.thetimes.com/uk/scotland/article/rural-scots-who-never-made-it-home-left-scars-that-didn-t-heal-p8f3h5pm3 Rural Scots who never made it home left scars that didn’t heal] A 2018 news report explains that "an extraordinarily large proportion of men and boys ... died, not just in battle, but from the wider effects of war, such as illnesses from which they had no immunity".[https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/moray/1606656/the-cabrach-offers-a-ghostly-reminder-of-the-great-wars-devastation/ The Cabrach offers a ghostly reminder of the Great War’s devastation]

At the end of the 1800s, the population was approximately 1,000. As of November 2018, the estimated population was 70.[https://cabrachtrust.org/heritage-centre/ Heritage Centre]

The Cabrach Trust was planning to create a Heritage Centre, to present the history of the estate, "memories of the past", of an area which is now "sparsely populated". Fund raising was underway in 2019.[https://www.northern-scot.co.uk/news/windfall-for-cabrach-wilderness-179086/?cmpredirect Windfall for Cabrach wilderness] The Heritage Manager of The Trust made this comment to a reporter in March 2019: "The Cabrach has played a central role in Scottish history; it was the home of Jacobite rebels, its illegal whisky trade led to the Scotch whisky industry we know today, and its people fought in the country’s great wars but all this was in danger of being forgotten".[https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/moray/1705024/expansion-plans-revealed-for-6-5million-whisky-visitor-attraction-in-moray/ Expansion plans revealed for £6.5million whisky visitor attraction in Moray] The plans for the centre indicate the location as Inverharroch Farm, eight miles from Dufftown.[https://scotchwhisky.com/magazine/latest-news/24808/new-cabrach-distillery-designs-revealed/ NEW CABRACH DISTILLERY DESIGNS REVEALED]

The area contains a nuclear bunker that was used during the Cold War as a "monitoring post". Built in the 1960s, the facility closed in 1992, and remains in "remarkably good condition", though stripped of its contents, such as beds, canned food and water, instruments and identification charts. Some of those items can be seen at the Alford Heritage Museum.{{cite news |title=Nuclear war bunker in Moray opened to public for first time |website=BBC News |date=17 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221113023128/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-45220025 |archive-date=2022-11-13 |url-status=live |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-45220025}} Except for a special event in August 2018, the bunker, (known as Post 32), has not been open to the public. It is located on a property that is owned by the Cabrach Trust.[https://www.historyscotland.com/news/nuclear-bunker-at-cabrach-moray-to-open-to-the-public-for-one-day-only/ Nuclear bunker at Cabrach, Moray, to open to the public for one day only][https://www.doorsopendays.org.uk/places/moray/the-cabrach-trust/ Doors Open Day 24 September 2022]

The Cabrach, located in rural Moray, is a sparsely populated area {{convert|10|mi|spell=in}} wide by {{convert|8|mi|spell=in}} long consisting of mountainous terrain. It lies on the northernmost fringe of the Cairngorms National Park at the intersection of the countryside roads that connect Speyside to the north, Aberdeen to the east and, Donside to the south. The town of Huntly is {{convert|16|mi}} away. Elgin, the main town in the region, is {{convert|30|mi}} to the north.

The Cabrach has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

The Cabrach Picnic and Games in Moray were fixtures on the Highland Games calendar from 1877–1935. After an 87-year pause, the Calbrach Trust resumed the games. The winner receives the Rose Bowl trophy, which was recovered from the family of the games' last winner Charles Taylor.{{Cite news |last=Miller |first=Dale |date=2024-02-21 |title=Long lost Highland Games trophy found in England after being missing from Scottish home for almost a century |url=https://www.scotsman.com/heritage-and-retro/heritage/long-lost-highland-games-trophy-found-in-england-after-being-missing-from-scottish-home-for-almost-a-century-4526509 |access-date=2024-02-22 |work=The Scotsman}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://www.threestones.co.uk/ Threestones, Cabrach Resources]
• [https://archive.org/details/cabrachfeerings00tayl Cabrach Feerings] at [https://archive.org/ The Internet Archive]
• [https://www.cabrachglenfiddich.org Cabrach & Glenfiddich Estates - Regeneration]
• [https://www.cabrachtrust.org/ Cabrach Trust]

{{Moray places}}

Category:Villages in Moray

Category:Civil parishes of Scotland

Category:Highland games