PETERCULTER, a parish, in the district of Aberdeen and county
of Aberdeen, 7 miles (W. S. W.) from Aberdeen; containing
1259 inhabitants. This place is said to have
derived the latter portion of its name, a compound of the
Gaelic terms Ciil, signifying "a back", and Tir, "a
country or district", from its situation on the side of the
river Dee; and the former portion of its name, from the
dedication of its old church and wells to St. Peter. The
church anciently belonged to the monks of Kelso. The
place lays claim to a remote antiquity, and is supposed,
upon unquestionable authority, to have been a Roman
station. On a hill of moderate elevation, in the southwest
of the parish, are still some small remains of an ancient
camp called Norman Dykes, which, till it was more
minutely examined within the last few years, was generally
thought to have been constructed by the Danes or
the Norwegians, during their invasions of this part of
the country in the eleventh century. But from its form,
and situation on an eminence commanding the fords of
the river, and also on account of its distance from a
similar station on the river Ythan, which corresponds
exactly with the distance given in the Iter, it has been
clearly identified with the Devana of Ptolemy and
Richard, raised after the recall of Agricola from Britain.
The rampart and ditch on the north side, of which some
considerable portions are remaining, appear to have
extended for nearly three-quarters of a mile in a direction
from E. N. E. to W. S. W.; and from each extremity
were carried, at right angles, a similar rampart and
ditch, of which small parts can be traced; inclosing a
rectangular area 938 yards in length and 543 yards in
breadth. Of its identity with the Devana, constructed
by Lollius Urbicus in his progress northwards through
the county of Aberdeen, a strongly corroborating testimony
is afforded by its dimensions, which are precisely
the same as those of Rae-Dyl<es, on the river Ythan, in
the parish of Auchterless, which is the second station in
the Iter.
The parish is bounded on the south by the river Dee,
and is about seven miles in extreme length; an extent,
however, that includes a large portion of the parish of
Drumoak, by which Peterculter is deeply indented on
the west, and exclusively of which its length cannot be
estimated at more than five miles. It varies from four
to five miles in breadth. From the great irregularity of
its form, the superficial contents have not been strictly
ascertained; but by estimation they are supposed to be
about 10,000 acres, of which probably 6000 are arable,
1600 woodland and plantations, and the remainder meadow,
pasture, and waste. The surface is far from uniform
i rising in some parts abruptly into rocky hills
interspersed with level tracts of moss; towards the
south, ascending by a gentle acclivity from the banks of
the river; and in other parts, undulating with greater
or less degrees of boldness. The Dee is subject to frequent
inundations; and in the summer of \8'Z9 the water
rose to such a height as greatly to damage the crops
growing near its banks, and to sweep down many stacks
of hay. The salmon-fisheries on this river, previously
very lucrative, have been much injured by the introduction
of stake-nets at its mouth, and now scarcely remunerate
the labour of the fishermen. Numerous rivulets
flow through the lands into the Dee; the principal are
the Leuchar, the Culter, and the Murtle. Of these the
Leuchar burn issues from Loch Skene, in the adjoining
parish of Skene, and, running eastw ard, near the northern
boundary of this parish unites with the Culter, which
passes at first from north to south, and, receiving the
waters of the Gormack burn at the eastern boundary of
Drumoak, afterwards flows south-eastward into the Dee
near Peterculter church. The scenery is boldly diversified,
and in many places enriched with thriving woods
and plantations, aud the tastefully embellished demesnes
of gentlemen's seats, imparting to it a highly pleasing
aspect. In the vicinity of a paper-mill situated in a
hollow surrounded by hills rising almost perpendicularly
to a height of 400 feet, is an aqueduct of wood, 700 feet
in length, supported on pillars of stone. It crosses the
Culter, at a height of ten feet from its surface, and conveys
water to the mill from an extensive reservoir in the
rear. The reservoir is half a mile in length, and twenty
feet in depth.
In this parish the soil is in general light; on the
banks of the river, gravel alternated with sand, with
intervals of fine black mould; in the northern portions,
mostly a red earth resting upon clay; and in some of
the lower grounds, a mixture of black earth or peat-moss
which has been rendered fertile. The crops are oats,
l)arlcy, a very little wheat, turnips, and potatoes, with
the usual grasses. Of late years, the system of husbandry
has been greatly improved, and hirge tracts of
wasteland have been brought into i)rofitabIe cultivation;
a due rotation of crops is invariably observed, and the
trenching and draining of low lands have been extensively
practised. The fields are well inclosed, usually
with fences of stone. The farm-houses are substantially
built of stone and lime, aud conimodiously arranged;
they are upheld by the proprietor of the lands, and the
cottages on the various farms are neat and comfortable.
No sheep are kept, except some for domestic use and for
the sake of their wool; these are all of I^nglish breeds:
the cattle are of the Aberdeenshire, polled Angus, and
Galloway breeds. In the parish are some trees of luxuriant
growth, consisting of beech, chesnut, oak, ash,
pine, and plane: there is a double avenue of spruce-fir
trees of stately dimensions, forming the approach to the
mansion of Countesswells; and in the gardens of Murtle
House are a fine row of Athenian poplars, and also one
of arbor vitce of unusual size. The more recent plantations
are very extensive, aud consist principally of the
various kinds of fir; they are regularly thinned, and,
under the most careful management, are all in a thriving
state. In the tracts of moss are found remains of
ancient forests. Some of the rocks in the parish are a
kind of conglomerate, of great durability, but irregular
texture, and fit only for building fewces: in the south
and west districts is granite of good quality, of which
large quantities used to be sent to Aberdeen. The annual
value of real property in Peterculter is £5588.
The mansion-house of Culter is an ancient structure
of which the date is unknown, situated in a richlyplanted
demesne, but at present occupied by a tenant.
The house of Countesswells, a handsome mansion of
more modern date, and occupied by a family from Aberdeen,
is to the north-east of the former, in grounds also
tastefully embellished with plantations. Murtle House,
an elegant mansion in the Grecian style of architecture,
is beautifully seated on the bank of the Dee, of which
it commands an extensive view; and Binghill and
Bieldside are also substantial and pleasant residences,
lately erected by their respective proprietors. There is
no regular village in the parish; but several of the inhabitants
are engaged in different branches of manufacture.
On the burn of Culter, near its influx into
the river Dee, is a snuff manufactory; it is carried on in a
low thatched building, and the machinery is driven by
a water-wheel of eight-horse power, producing on an
average about three hundred-weight of snuflf weekly.
The manufacture of paper is carried on in a spacious
pile of building erected in a romantic dell higher up the
burn. The works, originally established in 1*51, have
been purchased by Messrs. Arbuthnot and Mc Combie,
by wliom they have been extended and improved; the
machinery is impelled by two powerful water-falls. The
articles produced are cartridge, wrapping, writing, and
printing papers, in the manufacture of which from sixty
to 100 persons are employed, to whose comfort the
greatest attention is paid by the proprietors. These
works are not inferior in extent, or in the quality of the
articles, to any establishment of the same description in
the county. A mill for carding and spinning woollen
yarn, aud for weaving the coarser kinds of woollen cloth,
was erected on the Leuchar in 1831, since which time it
has been gradually increasing: it affords employment to
about twenty persons. Facility of communication is
maintained by the turnpike-road from Aberdeen to Banchory-
Ternan, and by cross- roads kept in repair by
statute labour.
Ecclesiastically this place is within the bounds of the
presbytery and synod of Aberdeen: the minister's stipend
is £19G, with a manse, and a glebe valued at £11
l)er annum; patron, R. W. Duff, Esq., of Fetteresso
and Culter. The church, beautifully situated on the
bank of the Dee, was built in 1779; it is a neat substantial
structure, and contains 550 sittings. The members
of the Free Church have a jilace of worship. Peterculter
parochial school, for which a handsome and ap-
|)ropriate building was lately erected, capable of receiving
r20 scholars, is well conducted. The master has a salary
of £'Zti, with £3. 14. '2., being the interest of a bequest
for the instruction of poor children; a portion of the
Dick bequest; and a house and garden: the fees average
about £28 annually. There are also two schools chiefly
supported by private subscription: the attendance at
each averages thirty. In a plantation on the lands of
Binghill are the remains of a Druidical circle, and near
it a large tumulus said to have been the burying-place
of the ancient family of Drum, whose descendants now
reside in an adjoining parish. On Her Majesty's visit
to Scotland in September 1848, the royal party passed
through this parish on their way to Balmoral: triumphal
arches composed of evergreens, &c., had been
raised at Murtle and below Culter House, and at the
former place Her Majesty was pleased to stop, and receive
fruit and flowers for the royal children from the
Misses Thurburn, of Murtle.