Ballater, Aberdeenshire
Historical Description
BALLATER, a village, in the parish of Glenmuick, Tullich, and Glengairn, district of Kincardine O'Neil, county of Aberdeen; containing 371 inhabitants. This place, which is situated in a beautiful valley, on the north bank of the Dee, was formed about the beginning of the present century, by the late proprietor, William Farquharson, Esq., of Monaltrie, by whose directions the site was laid out for the erection of regular streets and squares. The streets cross each other at right angles; the squares, with allotments of ground, have been let out in perpetual feu tenements. Besides the numerous well-constructed private houses, the village contains an excellent inn, some good shops, a circulating library, and a post-office communicating with Aberdeen, to which place there is a daily mail-coach, together with several weekly carriers. The salubrity of the air, and the imposing scenery of the locality, draw many visiters from Aberdeen and other parts in the summer months; but the chief attraction is the chalybeate waters of Pananich, in the vicinity, which hold in solution carbonate of iron, lime, magnesia, &c., and are considered of much efficacy in scorbutic and nephritic complaints. There are superior hot, cold, and shower baths, and many convenient lodging-houses. In a square in the village stand the parish church, and, at a short distance, the parochial school. Over the Dee is a good wooden bridge of four arches, erected in 1834 at a cost of upwards of £2000.
Maps
Online maps of Ballater are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)