Crimond

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Crimond is a small village in Aberdeenshire, northeast Scotland. It is about 9 miles northwest of Peterhead and just over 2 miles from the coast. The A90 road runs through Crimond. The village has Crimond Church, a village hall, Crimond Primary School, a medical practice, a shop with a post office, a care home for the elderly, and Crimond Motors. The oldest houses sit along the main road, with a newer housing estate to the west.

Near Crimond you can see the masts of Crimond Aerodrome to the east and satellite receivers on Mormond Hill to the northwest. Close by is the Loch of Strathbeg, a nature reserve owned by the RSPB. There are three hides to watch birds, a car park, and the Starnafin Centre with information about wildlife. A belt of beech trees to the east used to belong to the Crimonmogate estates, and a large grain dryer owned by Allied Grain is nearby.

History surrounds Crimond. In 1324 Sir Archibald Douglas was granted the lands, and in 1297 William Wallace and his army passed through Crimond. During World War II, a Royal Naval Air Station named Merganser was built near the village. A nearby camp, Logie Camp, housed military personnel and later displaced people. After the war the base became a Royal Naval Wireless Station and later was used for motorsports at times.

Crimond is also known for Crimond Raceway, the most northerly stock car track in the UK. It started on former airfield runways but moved a few times after land was needed for radio masts. It has been in its current spot since the early 1970s and hosts local and regional races. The track helped launch the career of Jim Clark, a famous racing driver.

Crimond Church is the main place of worship in the village, part of the Church of Scotland. Nearby are the remains of the Old Parish Church from 1576 and several old monuments. A clock at Crimond Church is famous for having 61 minutes in an hour—the extra minute was added in 1948 when a Polish worker adjusted the pendulum. The clock is now electric, but the old mechanism is kept on display to remember the fundraising that helped bring in the new clock. A wind vane shaped like a fish sits on the church spire; it has a history of being lost during the war and found again in the 1990s, though it has suffered vandalism.

“Crimond” is also the name of a hymn tune commonly used for The Lord’s My Shepherd.