Strathpeffer before the Spa Strathpeffer Spa Many doctors consulted in the village. Visitors People have lived in the Strathpeffer valley for The benefits of the sulphur and chalybeate came from as far afield as the Continent and over 5,000 years, as shown by Neolithic burial (iron-rich) wells in the area began to be included royalty and famous people of the day chambers and axes, and Bronze Age burials exploited in the late 1700s. A wooden pump such as Sir Ernest Shackleton and Robert Louis and round houses. From about 800BC, the room was erected in 1819. This was replaced Stevenson. The poor were allowed free water, Knockfarrel hillfort to the east was defended, in 1829, and extended in 1871. A second and later a hospital was built for poor invalids and perhaps lived in. Remains of the vitrified pump room was built c. 1860 and still ( 1 4 ). The bathing rooms had the most rock, melted during what must have been a survives. After 1861 the Cromartie estate advanced facilities. There were concerts, catastrophic fire, can still be seen. The crannog, invested more in the Spa, encouraging building excursions and sporting pursuits. an artificial island, on Loch Kinellan to the west of much needed accommodation and also probably dates to this period (see expanding facilities. Wartime Strathpeffer Extending your Walk ). During WWI many buildings in Strathpeffer The coming of the railway in 1870 helped, were taken over ( 6 9 1 7 ). After the war, the In Strathpeffer itself, the first surviving evidence although due to opposition by a local fortunes of the is the Eagle Stone ( 1 8 ). In the Medieval period landowner the village was bypassed. The Spa declined. Castle Leod ( 1 9 ), nearest station was Achterneed until the branch WWII brought e i t s Loch Kinellan seat of the Clan line to the Spa opened in 1885. Sleeper trains another brief, and i r h C Mackenzie, was went from London to Strathpeffer. changed, focus. n n a built. The Loch Many hotels and e s o Kinellan crannog Many hotels and large villas were built. The houses were R was also re-used Spa Hotel advertised itself as the earliest. It taken over to The Pavilion during WW1 by another branch burned down in 1942 while in use as a accommodate military personnel. The A.T.S. of the Mackenzies. wartime hospital. Its rival, the Ben Wyvis had training in the Ben Wyvis Hotel, where In the 17 th or 18 th Hotel, was built in 1879. Many of the villas there is also said to have been a military jail. century the were designed to be let to visitors during the Training exercises were run in areas around crannog probably season. For example, the houses opposite the the village. Prisoners of War based in a nearby became a hunting Community Centre were built by Donald camp at Brahan helped at many of the farms t n a lodge. Mackenzie in 1889. He made his fortune in around, including Ardival. e j r a S America – and n i th a I Until the 19 named his house d Postwar Strathpeffer o o century there was New York Villa. h d l i After WWI the Spa never revived, but coach h no Strathpeffer, just four main farms: Kinellan, Many of the houses C f tours now bring many visitors to the surviving o Park, Kinnettas and Ardival. The growth of the you pass on the trail m u hotels. The Pavilion continued to hold e village was due to the conscious development date from the last s u concerts and attracted coach loads of music M of the area into a spa resort. two decades of the d n fans until it gradually fell into disrepair. Now a 1800s and into the l h g i fortunately restored, it again offers a range of early 1900s. H New York Villa entertainment and events. Extending Your Walk This leaflet was researched and produced by a local group led by Susan Kruse of ARCH in 2015, funded Golf Course by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Mackenzie New At the top of the hill from the square is the York Villa Trust, in a joint project run by ARCH and Golf course, commanding good views of the Strathpeffer Community Centre. A Walk Around area. The course was laid out by renowned course designer Willie Park. Strathpeffer Loch Kinellan Well marked paths from the village take you to Loch Kinellan, the site of the crannog. Kinellan was one of the original four farms in the valley. n o t w e N Jamestown a n o A footpath from Elsick i F House at the west end of the village takes The Pump Room (which is also the local tourist you to the estate information office) has copies of materials produced in the project as well as displays about the village. village of Jamestown, Copies of the full listing of sites recorded can also with its picturesque derelict Free church (built be found at Strathpeffer Community Centre, The 1861-2) and a number of old cottages. Highland Museum of Childhood, Dingwall Library, and on the ARCH website (www.archhighland.org.uk) , The Maze and Knockfarrel Strathpeffer Community website (www.strathpeffer.org) Walk up the Ardival road, passing one of the and Strathpeffer Community Centre website original four farms. After climbing the stile near (www.strathpeffercommunitycentre.org.uk) . Information the woods, bear left on the path where you about individual sites has also been submitted to the will find a ‘maze’, a collection of large Highland HER (her.highland.gov.uk) and Canmore boulders telling the story of Highland geology. (canmore.org.uk) heritage databases. The path (steep in places) continues to ‘One Touch’ tours of the village and archaeology of the ‘Near here is a valley, birch woods, heather Knockfarrel. area, produced by the Strathpeffer Initiative, can be rented and a stream… No country, no place was from the Pump Room or Museum of Childhood, or the ever for a moment so delightful to my soul.’ ‘The Heights’ app can be downloaded (see Strathpeffer Community Take the Achterneed turning to the east of website for details). Robert Louis Stevenson, Strathpeffer for a drive to a crofting landscape on his visit to Strathpeffer, 1880 with lovely views south. The Neil Gunn Viewpoint, a memorial to one of Scotland’s famous authors, also has a prehistoric cup and ring marked stone (accessible by wheelchairs). Cover photographs - top left: Nicholson Mackenzie Hospital ( Fiona Newton ), top right: Lower Pump Room ( Margaret Spark ), bottom left: Pavilion during WW1 ( Roseann Christie ) and bottom right: Victorian Station ( Iain Sarjeant ). Design by Iain Sarjeant, T: 01997 420012 A Walk Around Strathpeffer 18 16 Dunnichen 16 17 Strathview / 18 Eagle Stone The Square This grand villa Kildonan The Eagle Stone has carved Pictish symbols, dating probably was built c. 1900 This was built as the between the 7 th to 9 th century AD. There has been much debate on 1 The Square is the heart of the village, close to the main by a South African, Kildonan Hotel in the meaning of the symbols. This stone also features in local lore. buildings of the Spa. The shops have changed over the years. Mr Fraser, who 1890. In WWI and A prophecy by the Brahan Seer (a shadowy 17 th century prophet) The Pharmacy has been here for over 100 years, and retains made his fortune WWII it was a warned that if the Eagle Stone falls for a third time, ships will sail some interior details. in ostrich farming. convalescent home up the valley and moor to the stone. Having already been moved Note the cast iron for troops. In 1947 it twice, it is now firmly cemented in place. 2 Spa Cottage, 3 White Lodge, and 4 dormer and details, which were was divided into two Note: the path to the Eagle Stone is not suitable for wheel chairs 4 Heatherlie supplied by a noted Glasgow firm. semi-detached and can be slippery in places. Spa Cottage and White Lodge are two of homes. Note the 19 Castle Leod Golf course the oldest houses in the village. A short lovely stained glass The castle is the ancestral home walk behind White Lodge is windows. To Castle Leod of the Earls of Cromartie. The 19 t Heatherlie, originally called ‘The n grounds are noted for their a e 18 j Studio’ when it was built in 1897, r a heritage trees, and the castle S N n and home to a photographer. In 1904 it was a bank. i 19 a interior as a good example of a 21 I k r 16 late medieval/early modern tower 5 a 20 The Shieling / Tigh Mile Annas p 17 S th t WC house castle. The mid 18 century map on the Billiard e This timber building in a style of a Swiss chalet is on the r a g room wall is superb! Open on set days in the year. r 15 Kinnettas P site of one of the wells. It was a lending library, and at a The Shieling c. 1900-1910 M 22 some time after 1904 became a shop known as Burial Ground d o 20 Timaru and 2 1 Red House o 20 h This is the only d l Tigh Mile Annas, so named by its Irish owner, i From the top of the drive leading h C selling knitwear and fancy goods. cemetery in f o P to the station you can see two of m Strathpeffer, and u e s 6 Highland Hotel probably the site of the elegant villas from the late u M d e i 1800s.