St Fergus is a village in the
Buchan
Buchan is an area of north-east Scotland, historically one of the original provinces of the Kingdom of Alba. It is now one of the six committee areas and administrative areas of Aberdeenshire Council, Scotland. These areas were created by th ...
area of
Aberdeenshire
Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland.
It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...
, Scotland. St Fergus lies from the
North Sea
The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...
coast and north-west of
Peterhead
Peterhead (; gd, Ceann Phà draig, sco, Peterheid ) is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is Aberdeenshire's biggest settlement (the city of Aberdeen itself not being a part of the district), with a population of 18,537 at the 2011 Census. ...
. The Parish of St Fergus includes the remains of Inverugie Castle and Ravenscraig Castle. The church in the village was built in 1763. The church for this parish previously stood in the old kirkyard near the shore to the east. This site on the St Fergus Links is still used as a burial ground. Prior to the change in site of the church the parish was known as Longley and at a still more remote period Inverugie.
History
Historically, the of St Fergus parish formed a detached portion of Banffshire. The parish was transferred to Aberdeenshire in 1891. At that time it had a population of 1,527.
The beach area was classed as a risk during WW2 as a possible landing area for a German invasion. Several pillboxes and anti-tank blocks were placed along the coast. These formed part of the Rattray stop line. Anti-tank ditches are still visible today. A minefield was laid on St Fergus links and Craigwan sands. On 30 November 1941, 11-year-old John Paul, 12-year-old James Reekie and Corporal Ronald Cumbley of the Royal Engineers were killed by a landmine. Two other soldiers were also injured. On 26 March 1946, Lance Corporal Reginald Wallis, age 26, and Corporal John Wood, age 23, of 11 Bomb Disposal company were killed whilst clearing landmines from the area. Corporal Wood stepped on the mine detonating it.
During mine clearing operations by 11th Company Bomb Disposal, a British Empire Medal was awarded to Sgt Robert Husband. Sgt Husband assisted a platoon officer dealing with mines that had fallen down a cliff when rough weather caused a bank of sand to collapse.
The
St Fergus Gas Terminal
The St Fergus Gas Terminal is a large gas terminal found near St Fergus, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The other main UK gas terminals are at Bacton, Norfolk and the Easington, East Riding of Yorkshire.
History
The plant was initially developed by Br ...
situated to the north of the village, began operating in 1977 and was officially opened on 9 May 1978. The terminal consists of plants operated by a number of different oil and gas companies, and processes up to of North Sea gas per day, amounting to 15% of the United Kingdom gas demand.
Transportation
The town is served by buses between
Fraserburgh
Fraserburgh (; sco, The Broch or ; gd, A' Bhruaich) is a town in Aberdeenshire (unitary), Aberdeenshire, Scotland with a population recorded in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 Census at 13,100. It lies at the far northeast corner of Aber ...
and Aberdeen (via Peterhead).
References
External links
Visit Peterhead Tourism Web Site
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Saint Fergus
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...