Parish of Glenbervie

A historical perspective, drawn from the Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland: A Survey of Scottish Topography, Statistical, Biographical and Historical, edited by Francis H. Groome and originally published in parts by Thomas C. Jack, Grange Publishing Works, Edinburgh between 1882 and 1885.

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1791-99: Glenbervie
1834-45: Glenbervie

Glenbervie (anciently Overbervie), a parish of central Kincardineshire, containing Drumlithie village, with a station on the Caledonian railway, 7 ¼ miles SW of Stonehaven. It is bounded N by Durris, NE by Fetteresso, E by Dunnottar, SE by Arbuthnott, SW and W by Fordoun, and NW by Strachan. Its utmost length, from N to S, is 5 7/8 miles; its utmost breadth, from E to W, is 5 5/8 miles; and its area is 15, 071 ½ acres, of which 30 are water. Bervie Water flows 4 5/8 miles east-south-eastward along the Fordoun border; Carron Water rises in the middle of the western district, and runs eastward into Dunnottar ; and Cowie Water, rising at the NW corner, runs east-by-northward across the northern district. The land descends southward and eastward from the frontier Grampians, and presents an uneven, hilly, and ridgy appearance, being naturally divided into four districts, first by a sort of ravine separating the W from the middle, then by an abrupt sandbank separating the middle from the SE, and lastly, by a narrow range of the frontier Grampians separating the middle from the N. The surface sinks in the extreme S to 262 feet above sea-level, thence rising to 732 feet at Droon Hill, 736 near Upper Kinmonth, 543 near Kealog, 746 at Mid Hill, 1281 at Leachie Hill, 1163 at Craiginour, 951 at the Hill of Three Stones, and 1231 at Monluth Hill, which culminates right upon the Durris border. The rocks are mainly trap and Devonian ; and the soils are extremely various, comprising some good clay loam and a good deal of thin reddish land that yields only moderate crops, with here and there deposits of moss. Within the last thirty years important improvements, in the way of draining, reclaiming, planting, etc., have been effected on both the Glenbervie and Drumlithie estates, upwards of £10, 000 having been expended thereon since 1855 by the proprietor of the former, James Badenach Nicolson, Esq. (b. 1832), who owns 1161 acres in the shire, valued at £727 per annum. His seat, Glenbervie House, on the left bank of Bervie Water, 1 3/8 mile WSW of Drumlithie, is an old mansion, whose grounds are well wooded, like the other estates in the parish. In all 4 proprietors hold each an annual value of £500 and upwards, 2 of between £100 and £500, 1 of from £50 to £100, and 2 of from £20 to £50. Giving off a small portion to Rickarton quoad sacra parish, Glenbervie is in the presbytery of Fordoun and synod of Angus and Mearns; the living is worth £288. The parish church, near Glenbervie House, was built in 1826, and contains 700 sittings. A Free church and an Episcopal church have been noticed under Drumlithie ; and three public schools - Brae, Drumlithie junior, and Glenbervie - with respective accommodation for 60, 70, and 85 children, had (1881) an average attendance of 26, 34, and 32, and grants of £30, 8s., £10, 16s. , and £17, 3s. Valuation (1856) £5651, (1882) £8135, 15s. 2d., plus £1884 for railway. Pop. (1801) 1204, (1841) 1296, (1861) 1219, (1871) 1073, (1881) 972, of whom 10 were in Rickarton.—Ord. Sur., sh. 66, 1871.

An accompanying 19th C. Ordnance Survey map is available, or use the map tab to the right of this page.

Note: This text has been made available using a process of scanning and optical character recognition. Despite manual checking, some typographical errors may remain. Please remember this description dates from the 1880s; names may have changed, administrative divisions will certainly be different and there are known to be occasional errors of fact in the original text, which we have not corrected because we wish to maintain its integrity. This information is provided subject to our standard disclaimer

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