Cruden Bay

(Invercruden)
Aberdeenshire

Cruden Bay
©2022 Gazetteer for Scotland

Cruden Bay

A resort on the Buchan coast of Aberdeenshire, Cruden Bay lies to the North of the Bay of Cruden near the mouth of the Water of Cruden, 7 miles (11 km) south of Peterhead. This is said to be the site of a battle where King Malcolm II of Scotland defeated the Danes in 1012, giving rise to the name - 'Croju Dane' meaning slaughter of the Danes. Malcolm buried the dead of his opponents with honour and built a chapel to mark the spot, dedicated to St. Olaf (Olaus).

Originally known as Invercruden, the village was renamed in 1924. Cruden Bay once had rail connections which brought holiday makers to its grand railway hotel and its golf links by the bay. The 55-room Cruden Bay Hotel was built in 1899 by the Great North of Scotland Railway Company and was connected to the railway station by an electric tramway. The hotel was never as successful as was hoped and was demolished in 1947 having spent the war years requisitioned by the army. Cruden Bay Golf Club dates from 1791. A short distance to the southeast lies the harbour of Port Erroll, the former Ward of Cruden. To the north stand the cliff-top ruins of the 'new' or second Slains Castle, the ancestral home of the earls of Erroll built in 1597 by Francis Hay, the 9th Earl of Errol. Johnson and Boswell stayed here on the night of 24th August 1773, Boswell recording that Johnston thought the prospect here "the noblest he had ever seen." Two miles (3 km) further north is the roofless cave known as the Bullers of Buchan.


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