Aberdeenshire (Siorrachd Obar Dheathain in Gaelic) is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland.
In this present day Aberdeenshire does not include Aberdeen City which is a Council Area in its own right. However, Aberdeenshire Council does have its headquarters at Woodhill House, in Aberdeen; the only Scottish council whose headquarters are based outwith its area's border. Aberdeenshire borders Angus and Perth and Kinross to the south, and Highland and Moray to the west.
Aberdeenshire has a rich prehistoric and historic heritage. It is the locus of a large number of Neolithic and Bronze Age archaeological sites. Since medieval times there have been a number of crossings of the Mounth (a spur of mountainous land that extends from the higher inland range to the North Sea slightly north of Stonehaven) through present day Aberdeenshire from the Scottish Lowlands to the Highlands. Some of the most well known and historically important trackways are the Causey Mounth and Elsick Mounth.
The present council area is named after the historic county of Aberdeen which had different boundaries and was abolished in 1975, under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973. Between 1975 and 1996 the area was incorporated within the region of Grampian, with local government functions being divided between the regional council and three district councils; Banff and Buchan, Gordon and Kincardine and Deeside. The region had also two other districts; Moray and the City of Aberdeen.
In 1996, under the Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, the Banff and Buchan district, the Gordon district and the Kincardine and Deeside district were merged to form the Aberdeenshire council area, and the other two districts became autonomous council areas.
There are numerous rivers and burns in Aberdeenshire, including Cowie Water, Carron Water, Burn of Muchalls, River Dee, River Don, River Ury, River Ythan, Feugh Water and Luther Water. Summers are mild and winters are typically cold in Aberdeenshire; Coastal temperatures are moderated by the North Sea such that coastal areas are typically cooler in the summer and warmer in winter than inland locations. Coastal areas are also subject to haar, or coastal fog.
Wording courtesy of http://www.wikipedia.org/
If you have photographs or knowledge of the area and would like to contribute we would love to hear from you. Original work only please - you must own the copyright.
