Laurencekirk is a small town in the ancient county of
KincardineshireThe County of Kincardine, also known as Kincardineshire or The Mearns was a local government county on the coast of northeast Scotland...
, modern county of
AberdeenshireAberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, just off the
A90The A90 road is a major north to south road in eastern Scotland, running from Edinburgh to Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire.From Edinburgh, it travels west and over the Forth Road Bridge, before turning into the M90 motorway. At Perth, the M90 again becomes the A90, now running north east to Dundee...
DundeeDundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and, fully named as Dundee City, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. It lies on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea....
to
AberdeenAberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city and one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. It has an official population estimate of .Nicknames include the Granite City, the Grey City and the Silver City with the Golden Sands...
main road. It is the largest settlement in the Howe o' the Mearns area and houses the local secondary school;
Mearns AcademyMearns Academy is a secondary school in south Aberdeenshire, Scotland serving Laurencekirk and the surrounding areas . The school building was the former primary school before it moved and now has over 600 pupils...
, which was awarded the
Charter MarkThe Charter Mark was an award demonstrating the achievement of national standard for excellence in customer service in United Kingdom public sector organisations...
in 2003. The 2004 population is estimated at 3,596.
Its old name was
Conveth, a corruption of "Coinmheadh". Laurencekirk is situated in the valley between the Hill of Garvock and the Cairn O' Mount.
Laurencekirk is a small town in the ancient county of
KincardineshireThe County of Kincardine, also known as Kincardineshire or The Mearns was a local government county on the coast of northeast Scotland...
, modern county of
AberdeenshireAberdeenshire is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy area.The present day Aberdeenshire council area does not include the City of Aberdeen, now a separate council area, from which its name derives...
,
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, just off the
A90The A90 road is a major north to south road in eastern Scotland, running from Edinburgh to Fraserburgh in Aberdeenshire.From Edinburgh, it travels west and over the Forth Road Bridge, before turning into the M90 motorway. At Perth, the M90 again becomes the A90, now running north east to Dundee...
DundeeDundee is the fourth-largest city in Scotland and, fully named as Dundee City, one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. It lies on the north bank of the Firth of Tay, which feeds into the North Sea....
to
AberdeenAberdeen is Scotland's third most populous city and one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. It has an official population estimate of .Nicknames include the Granite City, the Grey City and the Silver City with the Golden Sands...
main road. It is the largest settlement in the Howe o' the Mearns area and houses the local secondary school;
Mearns AcademyMearns Academy is a secondary school in south Aberdeenshire, Scotland serving Laurencekirk and the surrounding areas . The school building was the former primary school before it moved and now has over 600 pupils...
, which was awarded the
Charter MarkThe Charter Mark was an award demonstrating the achievement of national standard for excellence in customer service in United Kingdom public sector organisations...
in 2003. The 2004 population is estimated at 3,596.
Its old name was
Conveth, a corruption of "Coinmheadh". Laurencekirk is situated in the valley between the Hill of Garvock and the Cairn O' Mount. The famous landmark of the Johnston Tower can be seen on the peak of the Garvock.
Laurencekirk was, in the past, known for making snuff boxes with a special type of airtight hinge (known as a "Laurencekirk hinge") invented by James Sandy.
Lewis Grassic GibbonLewis Grassic Gibbon was the pseudonym of James Leslie Mitchell , a Scottish writer.Born in Auchterless and raised in Arbuthnott, Aberdeenshire, Mitchell started working as a journalist for the Aberdeen Journal and the Scottish Farmer at age 16...
wrote much about The Mearns and the surrounding area in his book
Sunset Song. A tribute centre can be visited at
ArbuthnottArbuthnott is a small village in northeast Scotland, 26 miles south of Aberdeen. It is located on the B967 east of Fordoun and north-west of Inverbervie in Aberdeenshire. The nearest train station is Stonehaven....
a few miles from Laurencekirk.
Services
The
Edinburgh to Aberdeen LineThe Edinburgh to Aberdeen Line is a railway line linking Edinburgh with Aberdeen via the Forth Bridge, the Tay Bridge and Dundee. Also it serves as an extension to the East Coast Main Line and the Cross Country Route...
passes through the town. The
stationLaurencekirk railway station is a railway station serving the communities of Laurencekirk and The Mearns. The station was reopened on 18 May 2009 at a cost of £3 million.- History :...
, which closed to passengers in 1967, was re-opened on 17th May 2009. The opening of this station will cement Laurencekirk's recent status as a commuter town providing links to Aberdeen and Dundee and beyond.
Laurencekirk has three public houses; the Crown and The Royal attract the younger patrons while the Western is a regular haunt for the older locals. Recently the Alma Hotel has been converted to an Indian Restaurant, Bar and Indian Takeaway. There is also a Chinese takeaway and two fish and chip shops, one of which has an extensive dining area.
Amenities include Co-operative Society supermarket, Spar shop, branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland, solicitor and estate agent, Post Office, baker, butcher, hairdresser, corporate clothing and business gift supplier, award winning photographer, cafe and hardware/gift shop. The former Laurencekirk Mart houses various facilities including a children's play centre and beauty therapy premises. Civil amenities include a police station, a library and an extensive modern health centre. There are day care facilites and the old primary school houses the community centre which also offers a before and after school club for the children of working parents.
Laurencekirk Primary school was built in 1999 and Mearns Academy, the senior school, is due for replacement in the near future. There are two public parks, both with children's play areas, and in addition the memorial park houses a bowling green and a skate-board facility.
Younger people also have a drop-in centre called The Venue which is situated behind the Masonic Hall. There are two churches – a Church of Scotland and an Episcopalian Church – both of which have active congregations.
Representations are being made for a grade separated junction (flyover) at the south end of the A90 Laurencekirk bypass and a petition has been presented to parliament.
External links