Kemnay (

Gaelic Gaelic (pronounced for Irish Gaelic and for Scots Gaelic) is an adjective that means "pertaining to the Gaels". It may refer to: Languages * Gaelic languages or Goidelic languages, a linguistic group that is one of the two branches of the Insul ...

: ''Camnaidh'') is a village west 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 ...

Garioch Garioch (, , ) is one of six committee areas in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It has a population of 46,254 (2006 estimate), which gives it the largest population of Aberdeenshire's six committee areas. The Garioch consists primarily of the distric ...

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires of Scotland, historic county of Aberdeenshire (historic), Aberdeenshire, which had substantial ...

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 ...

History

The village name ''Kemnay'' is believed to originate from the Celtic words that mean "little crook in the river" due to the village location on the bend of the River Don.

Kemnay House Kemnay House is a 17th-century tower house, now incorporated in a later house, about south-west of Inverurie, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and south of Kemnay, to the south of the River Don.Coventry, Martin (1997) ''The Castles of Scotland''. Gobl ...

is classified by

Historic Scotland Historic Scotland () was an executive agency of the Scottish Government, executive agency of the Scottish Office and later the Scottish Government from 1991 to 2015, responsible for safeguarding Scotland's built heritage and promoting its und ...

as a category A

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The village was served by

Kemnay railway station Kemnay railway station was a station on the Alford Valley Railway in Kemnay, Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire (; ) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the Shires ...

on the

Alford Valley Railway The Alford Valley Railway is a narrow gauge railway in the Howe of Alford, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is located at what used to be the terminus of the passenger and goods Alford Valley Railway which connected with the Great North of Scotl ...

from 1859 to 1950. The alignment through the village has been lost to housing developments. The pre-Reformation church was dedicated to St Anne. The parish was united with Craigern in 1500 and both came under the umbrella of nearby Kinkell. The old church was extensively rebuilt in 1632. The current parish church dates from 1844. The pre-1844 church was of unusual cruciform style, with the earth floor 1m below the surrounding ground, and prone to icing in winter. The two upper galleries were accessed by earth ramps in the graveyard. The church was enlarged in 1871 by Rev George Peter of St Cyrus. The village was substantially rebuilt after the creation of

in 1858. It shares its name with '

Kemnay Kemnay may refer to: * Kemnay, Manitoba, a community in Canada *Kemnay, Aberdeenshire Kemnay (Scottish Gaelic language, Gaelic: ''Camnaidh'') is a village west of Aberdeen in Garioch, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. History The village name ''Kemna ...

' a small community in

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is located in the

Rural Municipality of Whitehead Whitehead is a rural municipality (RM) in the province of Manitoba in Western Canada. It is west of Brandon and the principle communities within its boundaries are Kemnay and Alexander. It became a municipality on 22 December 1883 and was nam ...

about 10 kilometres west of Brandon on PTH 1A.

Notable people

David Leitch David Leitch (; born November 16, 1975) is an American filmmaker, stunt performer, stunt coordinator, and actor. He made his directorial debut on the action film ''John Wick'' (2014) with Chad Stahelski, though only Stahelski was credited. He la ...

(b.1608) minister of the parish and Chaplain to King Charles II

Religion

Kemnay has church buildings available for the following religious groups: :*

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland (CoS; ; ) is a Presbyterian denomination of Christianity that holds the status of the national church in Scotland. It is one of the country's largest, having 245,000 members in 2024 and 259,200 members in 2023. While mem ...

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

Scottish Episcopal Church The Scottish Episcopal Church (; ) is a Christian denomination in Scotland. Scotland's third largest church, the Scottish Episcopal Church has 303 local congregations. It is also an Ecclesiastical province#Anglican Communion, ecclesiastical provi ...

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...

Tourism

Kemnay is popular with explorers of

who can stay in numerous guest houses, hotels, and bed and breakfasts within the village. There are two pubs, the Bennachie Lodge and the Burnett Arms Hotel.

Granite

Kemnay Quarry was opened in 1830 by John Fyfe, and began commercial operation in 1858. Fyfe invented the

Blondin Charles Blondin (born Jean François Gravelet, 28 February 182422 February 1897) was a French tightrope walker and acrobat. He toured the United States and was known for crossing the Niagara Gorge on a tightrope. During an event in Dublin in ...

aerial ropeway system at Kemnay in 1872. Kemnay Granite has been used in many famous buildings and structures, including; * Cenotaph, Glasgow *

Forth Railway Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...

, Edinburgh/Fife *

Marischal College Marischal College ( ) is a large granite building on Broad Street in the centre of Aberdeen in north-east Scotland, and since 2011 has been the headquarters of Aberdeen City Council. The building was constructed for and is on long-term lease fr ...

, Aberdeen *

Kew Bridge Kew Bridge is a wide-span bridge over the Tideway (upper estuary of the Thames) linking the London Boroughs of Richmond upon Thames and Hounslow. The present bridge, which was opened in 1903 as King Edward VII Bridge by King Edward VII and Q ...

and

Putney Bridge Putney Bridge is a Grade II listed bridge over the River Thames in west London, linking Putney on the south side with Fulham to the north. Before the first bridge was built in 1729, a ferry had shuttled between the two banks. The current for ...

, London *

Thames Embankment The Thames Embankment was built as part of the London Main Drainage (1859-1875) by the Metropolitan Board of Works, a pioneering Victorian civil engineering project which housed intercept sewers, roads and underground railways and embanked the ...

, London Granite workers from Kemnay helped to quarry and shape the Australian granite used in the

Sydney Harbour Bridge The Sydney Harbour Bridge is a steel through arch bridge in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, spanning Port Jackson, Sydney Harbour from the Sydney central business district, central business district (CBD) to the North Shore (Sydney), North ...

. They also travelled to quarries in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, the

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

Levees and

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

Places of interest

* James Mitchell Memorial * Fetternear Estate *

Fetternear Palace Fetternear Bishop's Palace is an archaeological site of what was one of the palaces (or residences) of the medieval bishops of Aberdeen. It is near Kemnay in Aberdeenshire. Later, a ruined tower-house and mansion of Fetternear House were built o ...

, archaeological dig site (Bishop's Palace) * Johnstone FM Monument *

Kemnay Academy Kemnay Academy is a secondary school in Kemnay, Aberdeenshire, situated on the banks of the River Don. It is one of seventeen secondary schools run by Aberdeenshire Council and has roughly 1000 pupils. The current rector is Kyle Scott who took u ...

* View Point (Place of Origin) * War Memorial * Kemnay

morthouse A morthouse or deadhouse was a specialised secure building usually located in a churchyard where bodies were temporarily interred before a formal funeral took place. These buildings date back to the time when Body snatching, bodysnatchers or resu ...

in the parish churchyard This is dated 1831 over its iron door.

Sports

Kemnay has various sports clubs, including; * Badminton * Bowling Club * Cricket * Football * Golf * Tennis There are playing fields available for use by the public at Bogbeth Park, which is also home to the Kemnay Skate Park. Golfer

Paul Lawrie Paul Stewart Lawrie (born 1 January 1969) is a Scottish professional golfer who is best known for winning The Open Championship in 1999. He was a vice-captain for the European Ryder Cup team in 2016. Early career Lawrie was born in Aberdeen a ...

, who won the

1999 Open Championship The 1999 Open Championship was a men's major golf championship and the 128th Open Championship, held from 15 to 18 July at the Carnoustie Golf Links in Angus, Scotland. Paul Lawrie won his only major championship in a playoff over Jean van de ...

is a former pupil of

, as is former

Aberdeen F.C. Aberdeen Football Club is a Scottish professional Association football, football club based in Aberdeen, Scotland. They compete in the and have List of unrelegated association football clubs, never been relegated from the top division of th ...

footballer

Darren Mackie Darren Graham Mackie (born 5 January 1982) is a Scottish former professional footballer who played as a striker for Aberdeen in the Scottish Premier League between 1998 and 2012, with a loan spell at Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2004. Thoug ...

. In April 2017, a gym opened in the village, Station 83.

Education

In Kemnay, there are two

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

s and one

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

: * Kemnay Primary School * Alehousewells Primary School *

, which unveiled a £14.3 million extension in 2015.

References

Citations Bibliography

External links

*
Kemnay Village WebsiteKemnay Academy
{{authority control Villages in Aberdeenshire