Cults ( ) is a suburb on the western edge of

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

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

Royal Deeside The River Dee () is a river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It source (river), 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 Aberdeen. The name is a corruption of ''Coilltean'', the

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic (, ; Endonym and exonym, endonym: ), also known as Scots Gaelic or simply Gaelic, is a Celtic language native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a member of the Goidelic language, Goidelic branch of Celtic, Scottish Gaelic, alongs ...

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 Cults are social groups which have unusual, and often extreme, religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals. Extreme devotion to a particular person, object, or goal is another characteristic often ascribed to cults. The term ha ...

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 Literature, letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". ...

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

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 footba ...

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

RCD Mallorca Real Club Deportivo Mallorca, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (, , ''Royal Sporting Club Mallorca''), commonly known as Real Mallorca or RCD Mallorca, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Palma de Mallorca, ...

* Anna (Nan) Shepherd, writer, literary critic, and teacher * Archibald Smith, recipient of the

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious decoration of the Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, British decorations system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British ...

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 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 bank, commercial and clearing (finance), clearing bank based in Edinburgh, Scotland, and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group. The bank was established by the Par ...

Education

There are three main schools in the village: the state-run Cults Primary School and Cults Academy (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
{{Authority control Areas of Aberdeen Villages in Aberdeen