Kirkmichael is a parish in the council area of

Moray Moray ( ; or ) is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with a coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland. Its council is based in Elgin, the area' ...

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 south of

Ballindalloch Ballindalloch () is a small village on the River Spey in Scotland. It is known for its Scotch whisky, whisky distilleries and for Ballindalloch Castle. In Ballindalloch itself, there are two distilleries, Cragganmore distillery and Ballindalloc ...

and includes the Tomintoul Distillery.

Geography

The parish includes the largely unpopulated upper

Stratha'an Stratha'an or Strathavon is the valley of the River Avon, Strathspey, River Avon, (pronounced "River A'an"), in the Strathspey, Scotland, Strathspey area of Moray, Scotland. The upper reaches of the valley, which is long all told, are at Loch ...

up to and including

Loch A'an Loch A'an is a remote freshwater loch set deep within the central Cairngorms plateau, in the Cairngorms National Park, located in the eastern Highlands of Scotland. Loch A'an, also called Loch Avon, is the source of the River Avon. Loch A'an i ...

and the Shelter Stone. The village of

Tomintoul Tomintoul (; from , meaning "Hillock of the Barn") is a village in the Moray council area of Scotland in the historic county of Banffshire. Within Cairngorms National Park, the village lies close to the banks of the River Avon and is said by s ...

is the largest settlement and the total area of the parish is .

Demography

In 1798 the parish was populated by 892 members of the

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 ...

and 384

Roman Catholics 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 ...

, making the total population 1,276. In 2011 the figure was 606 and by 2022 it had declined further to 472. In 2001 Tomintoul's population was 322."Moray Cenus 2001"
Moray Council. (pdf) Retrieved 14 August 2024.

History

Stratha'an was a

provincial lordship Provincial lordships is a modern term used by historians to describe large feudal landholdings created in Scotland during the 12th and 13th centuries. These landholdings were granted by kings to their supporters to secure royal control of territori ...

first recorded between 1194 and 1198 that was coextensive with the parishes of Kirkmichael and Inveravon, the latter lying further down the strath. The parish was part of

Banffshire Banffshire (; ; ) is a historic county in Scotland. The county town is Banff, although the largest settlement is Buckie to the west. The historic county ceased to be used for local government purposes in 1975. Since 1996 the area has been spli ...

until the county was abolished in 1974. St Michael's church, from which the parish takes its name, is located on the west bank of the River Avon south of its confluence with the Burn of Lochy and close to the B9136 road. The church and burial ground are Category C listed. The church in its current rectangle form dates to 1807 but was substantially repaired in 1951 following a fire. A chapel existed before the current church but the exact position is unknown. There is an historic stone cross in the churchyard known as St Michael's Cross. There are several other listed buildings in Kirkmichael. One notable example is the Category A mid-18th century Ballantruan Farm, located near the Tomintoul distillery. The Ballantruan woodlands lie to the east of the farm.

Citations

References

* * * * {{Coord, 57, 18, 32, N, 3, 25, 4, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Parishes in Moray Strath Avon