Scotland, United Kingdom · Europe
Fochabers is worth a stop: 15 minutes from Lhanbryde, 18km from Bow Fiddle Rock.
Fochabers is a town located in Scotland, United Kingdom. With a population of 1,690, it is an important destination in Europe.
On a road trip, Fochabers sits in United Kingdom, where you drive on the left. It's in the Europe/London time zone. Below you'll find where to stay, things to do nearby, and everything you need to add Fochabers to your route.
Fochabers (; Scottish Gaelic: Fachabair or Fothabair) is a village in the Parish of Bellie, in Moray, Scotland, 10 miles (16 km) east of the cathedral city of Elgin and located on the east bank of the River Spey. 1,728 people live in the village, which enjoys a rich musical and cultural history. The village is alsoRead more
home to Baxters, the family-run manufacturer of foodstuffs.
The present village owes its existence to the 4th Duke of Gordon (1743–1827). During the late eighteenth century, during the Scottish Enlightenment, it was fashionable for landowners to found new towns and villages; these can be recognised all over Scotland, because unlike their predecessors they all have straight, wide streets in mainly rectangular layouts, a central square, and the houses built with their main elevations parallel to the street.
Fochabers was founded in 1776, and is one of the best examples of a planned village. It is a conservation area, with most of the buildings in the High Street listed as being of historical or architectural interest, as is Bellie Kirk, the Roman Catholic church St Mary's Fochabers, which houses works by notable craftsmen, and the Episcopalian church, Gordon Chapel, which boasts the largest collection of Pre-Raphaelite stained glass in Scotland.
The population in 1841 was 1,135 inhabitants.
Electricity was brought to the village in 1906 by the 7th Duke of Richmond, supplied from a small hydro-electric generating station built in 1905 in the Quarters district on the banks of the fast-flowing Spey. For a time in the mid-twentieth century, Fochabers was the home of three duchesses – Hilda, Duchess of Richmond and Gordon; Ivy, Duchess of Portland and Helen, Duchess of Northumberland. Between 1893 and 1966 the village had a railway station, Fochabers Town, although after 1931 this was open only to freight.
For nearly three decades, the people of Fochabers campaigned for a bypass, as the village is situated on the A96, the only direct route from Aberdeen to Inverness, and consequently suffered from serious traffic problems. Construction work on a bypass for Fochabers and the neighbouring village of Mosstodloch started on 2 February 2010 and was completed in January 2012, at a cost of £31,500,000. The project was significantly delayed due to conflict regarding the proposed route, and discovery of a Neolithic settlement on the site of the bypass.
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Fochabers is located in Scotland, United Kingdom, Europe. The coordinates are 57.6144 latitude, -3.0995 longitude.
Fochabers has a population of approximately 1,690 people, making it a town in United Kingdom.
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Full driving guide for United Kingdom5 notable places within an hour's drive.
photogenic
Sea arch shaped like the tip of a fiddle bow, a short walk from the village of Portknockie on the Moray coast. At dawn the quartzite arch glows pink and doubles in the still water; dolphins pass close inshore.
18 km · about 20 min drive
historic highway
Notorious high crossing of the eastern Cairngorms on the 18th-century military road between Cockbridge and Tomintoul, climbing to 637m with roller-coaster gradients: often the first UK road closed by snow.
47 km · about 55 min drive
museum
Acclaimed motoring museum in Alford, Aberdeenshire, with everything from steam locomotives to supercars, plus its own outdoor test track used for summer motoring events.
49 km · about 55 min drive
photogenic
A single row of white cottages squeezed between red sandstone cliffs and the sea, reached by a steep hairpin lane off the B9031. Star of the 1983 film Local Hero. Its red phone box is now listed.
50 km · about 60 min drive
scenic viewpoint
One of the best places in Europe to spot bottlenose dolphins from the shore, a spit on the Black Isle near Inverness.
59 km · about 70 min drive
May to September
Far northern latitude: short daylight hours outside summer make long drives harder.
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