Visit Elgin, Moray Places

Welcome to Visit Elgin, Moray Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in Elgin, Moray

  

Elgin, Moray Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about Elgin, Moray

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Elgin, Moray history

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Elgin is first recorded in a charter of David I in 1151 in which he granted an annuity to the Priory of Urquhart. David I made Elgin a royal burgh around 1130, after his defeat of Óengus of Moray. The town received a royal charter from Alexander II in 1224 when he granted the land for a new cathedral. The cathedral was completed sometime after 1242 but was completely destroyed by fire in 1270.

From the Reformation to the eighteenth century

The citizens of Elgin and surrounding areas did not seem to object to the new religion following the Reformation. In 1568 the lead was stripped from the roof of the cathedral, by order of the Privy Council of Scotland. The lead was to be sold and the proceeds to go to the maintenance of Regent Moray’s soldiers, but the ship taking the lead cargo to Holland sank almost immediately on leaving Aberdeen harbour. Without this protection, the building began to deteriorate. In 1637, the rafters over the choir were blown down and in 1640 the minister of St Giles along with the Laird of Innes and Alexander Brodie of Brodie, all ardent Covenanters, removed and destroyed the ornately carved screen and woodwork that had remained intact. The tracery of the West window was destroyed sometime between 1650 and 1660 by Cromwell’s soldiers. On Easter Sunday 1711 the central tower collapsed for the second time in its history but caused much more damage. The rubble was quarried for various projects in the vicinity until 1807 when, through the efforts of Joseph King of Newmill, a wall was built around the cathedral and a keeper’s house erected. Mountains of this rubble were cleared by one John Shanks, enabling visitors to view the ornate stonemasonry. Shanks was presented with an ornate snuffbox by the authorities, it is now in Elgin Museum, he is also honoured with a large tombstone in the eastern Cathedral precincts. When Daniel Defoe toured Scotland in 1717, he visited Elgin and said:In this rich country is the city, or town rather, of Elgin; I say city, because in antient time the monks claim’d it for a city; and the cathedral shews, by its ruins, that it was a place of great magnificence. Nor must it be wonder’d at, if in so pleasant, so rich, and so agreeable a part of the country, all the rest being so differing from it, the clergy should seat themselves in a proportion’d number, seeing we must do them the justice to say, that if there is any place richer and more fruitful, and pleasant than another, they seldom fail to find it out. As the country is rich and pleasant, so here are a great many rich inhabitants, and in the town of Elgin in particular; for the gentlemen, as if this was the Edinburgh, or the court, for this part of the island, leave their Highland habitations in the winter and come and live here for the diversion of the place and plenty of provisions; and there is, on this account, a great variety of gentlemen for society, and that of all parties and of all opinions. This makes Elgin a very agreeable place to live in, notwithstanding its distance, being above 450 measur’d miles [725 km] from London, and more, if we must go by Edinburgh. The cathedral is known as the Lantern of the North. When Bishop Bur wrote to King Robert III, complaining of the wanton destruction done to the building by the King’s brother, the Wolf of Badenoch, he describes the cathedral as “the ornament of this district, the glory of the kingdom and the admiration of foreigners.” Chambers, in his Picture of Scotland, says: It is an allowed fact, which the ruins seem still to attest, that this was by far the most splendid specimen of ecclesiastical architecture in Scotland, the abbey church of Melrose not excepted. It must be acknowledged that the edifice last mentioned is a wonderful instance of symmetry and elaborate decoration; yet in extent, in loftiness, in impressive magnificence, and even in minute decoration, Elgin has been manifestly superior. Enough still remains to impress the solitary traveller with a sense of admiration mixed with astonishment. Lachlan Shaw in his History of the Province of Moray was equally impressed when he wrotethe church when entire was a building of Gothic architecture inferior to few in Europe. Prince Charles Edward Stuart travelled to Elgin from Inverness in March 1746 and, falling ill with a feverish cold, stayed for 11 days before returning to await the arrival of the king’s army. He stayed in Elgin with Mrs Anderson, a passionate Jacobite, at Thunderton House. She kept the sheets that the Prince slept on and was buried in them a quarter of a century later. The Duke of Cumberland passed through the town on 13 April, camping at Alves on the way to meet the Prince in battle on Drummossie Muir. After the battle, William Boyd, 4th Earl of Kilmarnock, one of the Prince’s generals, was captured and taken to London and eventual execution, but he wrote to his friend from prison about his indebtedness to the shoemakers of Elgin: Beside my personal debts mentioned in general and particular in the State, there is one for which I am liable in justice, if it is not paid, owing to poor people who gave their work for it by my orders. It was at Elgin in Murray, the Regiment I commanded wanted shoes. I commissioned something about seventy pair of shoes and brogues, which might come to 3 shillngs or three shillings and sixpence each, one with the other. The magistrates divided them among the shoemakers of the town and country, and each shoemaker furnished his proportion. I drew on the town, for the price, out of the composition laid on them, but I was afterwards told at Inverness that, it was believed, the composition was otherwise applied, and the poor shoemakers not paid. As these poor people wrought by my orders, it will be a great ease to my heart to think they are not to lose by me, as too many have done in the course of that year, but had I lived I might have made some inquiry after but now it is impossible, as their hardships in loss of horses and such things, which happeened through my soldiers, are so interwoven with what was done by other people, that it would be very hard, if not impossible, to separate them. If you’ll write to Mr Innes of Dalkinty at Elgin (with whom I was quartered when I lay there), he will send you an account of the shoes, and if they were paid to the shoemakers or no; and if they are not, I beg you’ll get my wife, or my successors to pay them when they can …

Nineteenth century

In the 19th century, the old medieval town of Elgin was swept away. The first major addition to the town centre was the Assembly Rooms, built in 1821. Dr Gray’s Hospital was built on unused ground in 1819. The Morayshire Railway was the first railway north of Aberdeen and ran between Elgin and Lossiemouth.

Twenty-first century

Elgin was the epicentre of a resurgence of the Coronavirus in the Covid-19 pandemic. Moray as a whole had around four times the infection rate of Scotland. The vaccination programme still prioritised older age groups with invitations only starting to be sent out to those under 50.

You can visit Elgin, Moray places with Walkfo Elgin, Moray to hear history at Elgin, Moray’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo Elgin, Moray has 22 places to visit in our interactive Elgin, Moray map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout Elgin, Moray, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at Elgin, Moray places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to Elgin, Moray & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 22 audio facts unique to Elgin, Moray places in an interactive Elgin, Moray map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit Elgin, Moray Places Map
22 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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Elgin, Moray historic spots	Elgin, Moray tourist destinations	Elgin, Moray plaques	Elgin, Moray geographic features
Walkfo Elgin, Moray tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in Elgin, Moray

  

Best Elgin, Moray places to visit

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Elgin, Moray has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied Elgin, Moray’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo Elgin, Moray’s information audio spots:

Visit Elgin, Moray plaques