Cults ( ) is a suburb on the western edge of

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. It lies on the banks of the River Dee and marks the eastern boundary of

Royal Deeside The River Dee ( gd, Uisge Dhè) is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It rises in the Cairngorms and flows through southern Aberdeenshire to reach the North Sea at Aberdeen. The area it passes through is known as Deeside, or Royal Deeside in ...

. Cults, known for its historic granite housing, sits approximately six miles from the coast of the North Sea. Cults maintains village status and many of the societal structures found in a country village, despite its proximity to the west of the City of Aberdeen. The name is a corruption of ''Coilltean'', the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well as ...

word for "Woods". There are various green spaces in Cults, the largest of these being Allan Park, a public park situated near the golf club and the River Dee. The park is also home to the Cults Cricket Club.

History

Originally, Cults had two railway stations on the

Royal Deeside Railway The Royal Deeside Railway is a Scottish heritage railway located at Milton of Crathes railway station on a part of the original Deeside Railway. Original Railway Originally constructed between 1853 and 1866, the Deeside Railway ran between ...

Line, West Cults and

Cults In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

before the line was closed in the middle of the 20th century. The route has since been converted into a cycle path and walkway which leads to Duthie Park in

in one direction and further into Deeside in the other, running alongside Cults' public park, Allan Park. Cults was also on a tram route between Aberdeen and Bieldside, operated by the Aberdeen Suburban Tramways Company until 1927. Today, public transport to Aberdeen takes the form of buses.

Notable people

*Rev

Thomas Jackson Crawford Thomas Jackson Crawford (1812–1875) was a Scottish minister and professor of divinity at the University of Edinburgh. He served as Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in 1867, the highest level within the Scottish chur ...

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

was minister of Cults, living in the manse * Majel Davidson, artist *

Sir Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all tim ...

Stuart Holden Stuart Alistair Holden (born August 1, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a midfielder, and is currently a lead TV game analyst for Fox Sports. Holden is part of the ownership group for Spanish La Liga soccer ...

, retired United States national team player, TV analyst, and co-owner of

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, S.A.D. (, ca, Reial Club Deportiu Mallorca , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or just Mallorca is a Spanish professional football club based in Palma on the island of Majorca in ...

* Anna (Nan) Shepherd, writer, literary critic, and teacher *

Archibald Smith Archibald Smith of Jordanhill (10 August 1813, in Greenhead, North Lanarkshire – 26 December 1872, in London) was a Scots-born barrister and amateur mathematician. Early life and education He was the only son of James Smith FRSE (178 ...

, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

Amenities

Cults is served by a variety of small shops, churches, modest-sized hotels and eateries, mostly situated in the village centre. Key amongst them are the Kelly of Cults supermarket, which closed in 2015; the golf-themed Cults Hotel; the Deeside Golf Club (shared with Bieldside.) Similarly, the local shop situated on Kirk Brae (commonly known as 'Archie's') has been a mainstay of Cults since the 1970s. Cults is also home to the Cults Parish Church, which was formed by the merger of the Cults East and Cults West parishes, with the buildings of the former now housing an outreach centre. There are several local shops operating, including a family run toy shop (Will's toy shop / Alexander R Will), a gift, furniture and interior shop (Sonya Angus) and a number of hairdressers. Cults was also once home to the Stakis-owned Royal Darroch Hotel which exploded on an October morning in 1983 due to gas build up, killing six staff and guests. A few chain stores, such as

Tesco Express Tesco plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues an ...

Costa Coffee Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Dunstable, England. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. ...

Lloyds Pharmacy LloydsPharmacy is a British pharmacy company. It has around 17,000 staff and dispenses over 150 million prescription items annually. It is owned by the Aurelius Group. It was formerly owned by the American McKesson Corporation. Overview The co ...

Sainsbury's J Sainsbury plc, trading as Sainsbury's, is the second largest chain of supermarkets in the United Kingdom, with a 14.6% share of UK supermarket sales. Founded in 1869 by John James Sainsbury with a shop in Drury Lane, London, the company wa ...

, and Subway have branches in Cults, along with C.K.D Galbraith and the

Bank of Scotland The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: ''Banca na h-Alba'') is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by th ...

Education

There are three main schools in the village: the state-run Cults Primary School and

Cults Academy Cults Academy is an Aberdeen City Council secondary school in Cults, Aberdeen, Scotland. It was the recipient of The Sunday Times Scottish State Secondary School of the Year Award 2008 because of its outstanding exam results that year, having been ...

(one of Scotland's top-performing secondary schools). The village is also only a short drive from the International School of Aberdeen (ISA) in Pitfodels and a complex of Rudolf Steiner Camphill schools in Bieldside.

References

External links

Cults, Bieldside and Milltimber Community Council
{{Areas of Aberdeen Areas of Aberdeen Villages in Aberdeen