56º58N 2º13W, pop (2000e) 10 300. Fishing port and burgh in Aberdeenshire, NE Scotland, UK; located on the E coast, 22 km/14 mi S of Aberdeen; Robert Barclay-Allardice born nearby; railway; Tolbooth Museum (16th-c); distilling, net manufacturing.
Stonehaven (Steenhive in the Doric dialect of Scots) is a town on the North-East coast of Scotland.
History
Stonehaven is the site of prehistoric events as witnessed by finds at Fetteresso Castle and neolithic pottery excavations from the Spurryhillock area. This ancient passage specifically connected the Bridge of Dee to Cowie Castle via the Portlethen Moss and the Stonehaven central plaza.
The Covenanters were imprisoned in Dunnottar Castle, where many died. Other vicinity castles are Fetteresso Castle and Muchalls Castle, both of which are in private ownership and not open to the public. The oldest surviving structure in Stonehaven is the Stonehaven Tolbooth at the harbour, used as an early prison and now a museum.
Dunnottar castle, perched atop a rocky outcrop, was home to the Keith family, and during the Scottish Wars of Independence, the Scottish Crown Jewels were hidden there. In 1296 King Edward I of England (of Braveheart fame) took the castle only for William Wallace to reclaim it in 1297, burning down the church in the process with the entire English garrison still in it. Later, in 1650, Oliver Cromwell sacked the castle to find the Crown Jewels following an eight month siege (having previously destroyed the English Crown Jewels). However, just before the castle fell, the Crown Jewels were smuggled out by some ladies who took them by boat to a small church just down the coast in the village of Kinneff, where they remained undetected for eleven years.
Stonehaven was the birthplace of R.
Commerce and culture
The town's primary industries are fishing and tourism, with Dunnottar Castle, a local landmark, bringing in a large volume of tourists every yearMore recently, it was used in the 1990 movie Hamlet (directed by Franco Zeffirelli, and starring Mel Gibson and Glenn Close). Dunnottar Castle is a prominent landmark and is normally visible on most leaflets (flyers) advertising Scotland.
The town has a long beach facing the cold North Sea, with large cliffs at either end sheltering small rock pools and inlets. Another attraction is the local harbour, which features the Tolbooth, the town's tiny museum of local heritage. A little known story of Stonehaven is that the grandfather of the legendary author Robert Louis Stevenson designed half of the Stonehaven Harbour.
During Hogmanay festivities, the High Street comes alive with crowds watching the annual fireballs ceremony, in which volunteers walking down the High Street swing huge balls of fire around and around at the ends of chains. Starting from 6pm on new years eve and ending at 2am on new years day is the "open air in the square", a large disco in the town's market square, with DJs, local bands and musicians and rides from the Aberdeen Theme park "Codona's".
Every July Stonehaven holds a Highland Games.
The town is the likely origin of the Deep-fried Mars bar, a snack now culturally associated with Scotland - and its health record - as a whole.
Stonehaven has three primary schools (Dunnottar, Arduthie and Mill O' Forest) and a large secondary school (Mackie Academy).
Stonehaven has grown rapidly since the oil boom in Aberdeen.
The town supports a Rugby club - Mackie Academy Former Pupils Rugby Football Club - which plays in the BT National League Division 5.
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