Peterhead History, Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Detailed historic maps of Peterhead over time, showing the development of the town.
Keith Inch Castle story begins in 1589
The Reform Tower Peterhead Aberdeenshire built in 1834
The Most Ancient Ruins of Scotland
Ravenscraig Castle 14th-century
Aikey Brae stone circle
One of Peterhead’s most iconic structures, the building housing what we knew as the Union Bar was built round about 1770 by Alexander Elles.
One of the Baron Baillies, a respectable pillar of the community and solicitor by day, Elles was the most prolific smuggler in North East Scotland by night !
He picked the site of his house carefully so that he could have an uninterrupted view of the sea from his attic and watch out for the ‘Crooked Mary’, the most notorious smuggling lugger on the coast, his cellar was built especially to hide contraband in (mainly brandy & rum), he was even known to hide smuggled goods (tea) in the Town house itself (buried under the floor apparently)
Anyone familiar with the geography surrounding the Union Bar will know that it used to back on to Flying Gig Wynd, home of the Flying Gig Inn, the favourite smuggler’s hangout in Peterhead, just a coincidence ??
Alexander Elles died in 1791 and left an estate of £15000, an absolute fortune for the day, smuggling must have been a profitable business indeed !
The building’s exciting history was added to during WW2 when the Norwegian Secret Service used the basement of the building as a base for their operation in the North Sea.
Credit by Kenny Bruce
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North Sea base for airships to patrol
Base for airships in 1915 to patrol the North Sea
HMS Peterhead J59 So far she has been the only ship of the Royal Navy named after the Scottish town of Peterhead.
She was built by Blyth Shipbuilding Company, of Blyth, Northumberland and launched on 31 October 1940.
Under the command of Lt Cdr David Croom-Johnson RNVR (later Lord Justice Croom-Johnson), she took part in Operation Neptune, the assault phase of the invasion of Normandy and was mined off Utah Beach on 8 June 1944.
Croom-Johnson was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross for Peterhead work in Operation Neptune.
Peterhead was declared a total loss, and was sold for scrapping on 1 January 1948. She was broken up at Hayes, of Pembroke in May 1948.