Avoch and Killen History

Attribution: photo by Ian Fraser

Introduction to the community history

Photos from Avoch and Killen in the past

Click on photo album to view thumbnails and then click thumbnail to see the full size images 
Avoch » Avoch Places » Avoch Locations
Avoch burn.
Avoch burn.
At one time many boats were hauled up the burn and there is an old photograph in the Station Hotel showing this.
Avoch from Ormonde Hill
Avoch from Ormonde Hill
It can be appreciated from this photograph just why this village was chosen as a safe harbour by fishermen. It nestles below a circle of hills and has a burn running into the centre of the semi-circular bay. In times past this burn was accessible to boats at its lower reaches and so provided a good place of safety for them . As the burn is fed from upland springs it has never been known to run dry. Please read more on our Locations page.
Festival of Britain trees planted
Festival of Britain trees planted
These trees were given to the village in 1951 by individuals to commemorate the Festival of Britain. They line the east side of the burn and are truly beautiful up the village in early springtime.
Ormonde Castle site
Ormonde Castle site
The west end of the bay in which lies Avoch is flanked by Ormonde Hill. This is the site of an ancient castle where Andrew de Moray raised the Standard before traveling south to join William Wallace at the battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297. His name is not nearly as well known as that of Wallace but letters sent to Hamburg and Lubeck list them both as "leaders of the Army of the Realm of Scotland". In 1933 the Nationalist Party, together with locals, commemorated the Raising of the Standard - an event which has been repeated many times since. Wendy Woods unveiled a plaque there in 1980 but, as the hill was afforested, it became more difficult to find.
Ormonde Hill re-enactment
Ormonde Hill re-enactment
In 1997 the site of the castle was cleared and the 700th anniversary was celebrated with a re-enactment staged by the White Cockade Society. A new cairn was erected and the area is now much more accessible and the Saltire can be seen from all parts of the village.
View from the beach.
View from the beach.
Taken from the east side of the burn below the Henrietta Bridge, this picture shows houses on Long Road and Henrietta Street at the foot of Gallows Hill.
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Statistical Accounts

On the 25 May 1790, Sir John Sinclair, Baronet of Ulbster in Caithness wrote to over nine hundred Parish ministers throughout Scotland asking them to contribute to a Statistical Inquiry by answering as best they could,a series of one hundred and sixty-six Queries respecting each Parish.

The New (or Second) Statistical Account of Scotland built on the previous work carried out by Sir John Sinclair for the First Statistical Accounts by including the knowledge of local doctors and schoolmasters. The Second Statistical Accounts were published between 1834 and 1845.

1st Statistical Accounts
2nd Statistical accounts

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