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Coordinates: 56°22'30?N 3°59'18?W? / ?56.374929, -3.988251
Comrie (Gaelic: Conruith; Pictish: Aberlednock; Roman: Victoria) is a village and parish towards the western end of the Strathearn district of Perth and Kinross, Scotland, seven miles west of Crieff. The village is the Royal Horticultural Society "Large Village Britain in Bloom Winner 2007".
Comrie sits at the confluence of three rivers. The Ruchill and the Lednock are both tributaries of the Earn, which itself eventually feeds into the Tay. The name Comrie is of Gaelic origin and is derived from the Gaelic word conruith meaning 'a place where rivers meet'. Due to its position astriding the Highland Boundary Fault it has historically experienced earthquakes and Comrie is now nicknamed the "Shaky Village". In the 1830's 7300 tremors were recorded. These tremors are, however, so minor they almost never cause damage or injury. Comrie became the site of one of the world's first seismometers in 1840.[1]
In 79AD the Roman General Agricola built a fort, and temporary marching camp, on the outskirts of Comrie because of the strategic position of the area on the southern fringe of the Highlands. The fort is a member of the line of so called "Glen blocking" forts which runs from Drumquhassle to Stracathro and which includes the legionary fortress of Inchtuthil. The temporary camp was c. 22 acre (c. 9 ha) in size. An infamous battle between the Celts and Romans took place at Mons Grapius, and the area surrounding Comrie, Strathearn, is one of several proposed battle sites.
Comrie's early prosperity was from weaving. This was mostly done as piecework in people's own homes. Comrie was also important as a droving town. Cattle destined for the markets of the Scottish Lowlands and ultimately England would be driven south from their grazing areas in the Highlands. River crossings, such as at Comrie, were important staging posts on the way south.
The White Church, the former parish kirk, is Comrie's most striking building, with its prominent tower and spire situated on the roadside of the ancient churchyard at the heart of the village. This is an early Christian site, dedicated to the obscure early saint Kessog (or Mokessog), who may have flourished in the 8th century. Comrie is also graced by a little-known Charles Rennie Mackintosh building, a shop with first floor corner turret in a version of the Scottish vernacular style in the main street (not visible in the above illustration).
Much of the land around Comrie was owned by the Drummond family, Earls of Perth, latterly Earls of Ancaster, whose main seat was Drummond Castle, south of Crieff. Another branch of the Drummonds owned Drummondernoch, to the west of the town. Here also lies Aberuchill Castle, originally a Campbell seat. A granite obelisk atop Dunmore hill to the north commemorates Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville. This monument is reached via the wooded Glen Lednock wherein lie the Falls of Lednock or De'ils Cauldron.
To the south of the town is a military camp at Cultybraggan. During World War II this was POW Camp 21[2] and housed Italian and later German prisoners of war. This was a 'black' camp (ie most of its inmates were ardent Nazis), which became infamous after anti-Nazi German POW Wolfgang Rosterg was lynched there by fellow inmates (who were hanged after the war for the act). Rudolf Hess was imprisoned within the camp overnight. Many of the more difficult Nazis were moved to POW Camp 165 at Watten in Caithness. Within the camp there is a two story nuclear bunker (Cultybraggan RGHQ), which was the proposed emergency location of the provincial Scottish government during a nuclear attack. The bunker had its own accommodation, telephone exchange, sewage plant and even a BBC studio as late as the 1990's[3]. More recently in 2007 the local community trust bought the camp, and the surrounding 90 acres of land, under Land Reform legislation for the sum of £350,000.
There is an annual festival, called the Comrie Fortnight, held in the village during July and August. The Comrie Fortnight started in the late 1960's. The Comrie Fortnight has evolved over the years and the festival now runs a whole range of activities from competitions to outings, from dances to a float parade - ensuring that there is something to suit everybody. Profits from the Comrie Fortnight are then used to support events and groups within the local community.
Comrie is a thriving local community with over 50 local groups covering all ages and many interests.
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(Source: Wikipedia) |