Mintlaw

Coordinates: 57°31′30″N 2°00′04″W / 57.525°N 2.001°W / 57.525; -2.001

Mintlaw
Mintlaw  Mintlaw shown within Aberdeenshire
Population	2,647 (2001)
OS grid reference	NK000483
Council area	Aberdeenshire
Country	Scotland
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	PETERHEAD
Postcode district	AB42
Dialling code	01771
Police	Grampian
Fire	Grampian
Ambulance	Scottish
EU Parliament	Scotland
UK Parliament	Banff and Buchan
Scottish Parliament	Banff and Buchan
Website	aberdeenshire.gov.uk
List of places: UK • Scotland •

Mintlaw (literally meaning a smooth, flat place)^{[citation needed]} is a small town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland lying along the A952 road and is geographically a route centre. The 2001 UK census records a population of 2,647 people.^[1]

As the largest settlement within 11 miles in each direction and with the towns size it can support a number of convenience stores, a butcher, chemist and a petrol station plus local amenities such as a police station, library, dental surgery and group doctors practice.

The town is most famous for its fish and chip shop Zanres (now called The Mintlaw Chipper) which has won the British Fish and Chip shop of the year competition as a takeaway but has since turned into a restaurant too. There are three main pubs; two, the Garret and the Pitfour (also a bed and breakfast) are located at the square, and the Shak which is located behind the Mintlaw Chipper. The Country Park Inn is a bed and breakfast with a pub, childs play area, Harry Hippos and a restaurant.

The Happy Plant Centre is a large garden centre that is well known in the local area, it recently has expanded and now has a small cafe. It is beside a football pitch.

The nearby Aden Country Park is open to the public and contains a ruined mansion house, agricultural museum and forest walks and theme park. Aden Park can be accessed by station road or Netheraden Road.

Mintlaw is also home to Aberdeenshire Museums Service, and it is based in a new purpose-built museum building housing the shire's large reserve collections, a conservation laboratory and the Discovery Centre. The service also runs 3 museums; the Arbuthnot Museum, Peterhead, Banchory Museum and the Aberdeenshire Farming Museum at Aden Country Park, home to the service's nationally recognised agricultural collection.

History

The local area is rich with prehistory and historical features. Somewhat to the south of Mintlaw are a number of prehistoric monuments including Catto Long Barrow,^[2] Silver Cairn and many tumuli. In that same vicinity of the Laeca Burn watershed is the point d'appui of historic battles between invading Danes and indigenous Picts.

Modular (i.e. pre-fabricated) housing built at Mintlaw in the 1980s

Victorian times saw the coming of the railway, the Maud to Peterhead line being built in the 1860s. Mintlaw was a scheduled stop on this line. The station was built a little to the west of the village; perhaps because this was more convenient for the Ferguson family of Pitfour and the Russell family of Aden. More affluent homes were built on Station Road to house business and professional people. The Post Office moved to be closer to the railway and became a Crown Office. Mintlaw Station was the postal address for this whole district for many years. The Crown Post Office was combined with that in Peterhead with the closure of the railway in the 1960s, and the village post office moved back to South Street. Telephone numbers too were Mintlaw Station until the early 1970s when the word Station was dropped.

Schools

Mintlaw has two primary schools, Mintlaw Primary School [1] and Pitfour Primary School [2].

It has a large secondary school, Mintlaw Academy which takes pupils from the town itself and the surrounding area. Mintlaw Academy is situated on Station Road.

External links

• Official Tourism Web Site
• General Information about Mintlaw
• Mintlaw Community Council Web Site

References

1. ^ "Scottish Census Results Online". 2001. http://www.scrol.gov.uk/scrol/browser/profile.jsp?profile=Population&mainArea=crimond&mainLevel=Locality. Retrieved 2007-01-08. 
2. ^ Michael Hogan (2008) Catto Long Barrow fieldnotes, The Modern Antiquarian