St Cyrus

For the saint, see Cyrus and John.
St Cyrus
Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais Chiric
Scots: Saunt Ceerus

St Cyrus church
St Cyrus
 St Cyrus shown within Aberdeenshire
OS grid referenceNO7171
Council areaAberdeenshire
Lieutenancy areaKincardineshire
CountryScotland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Montrose
Postcode district DD10
Dialling code 01674
Police Scottish
Fire Scottish
Ambulance Scottish
EU Parliament Scotland
UK ParliamentWest Aberdeenshire and Kincardine
Scottish ParliamentAngus North and Mearns
List of places
UK
Scotland

Coordinates: 56°46′30″N 2°24′57″W / 56.775°N 2.4158°W / 56.775; -2.4158

St Cyrus or Saint Cyrus (Scots: Saunt Ceerus),[1] formerly Ecclesgreig (from Scottish Gaelic: Eaglais Chiric) is a village in the far south of Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

General information

St Cyrus National Nature Reserve is a national nature reserve situated between the village and the North Sea. The cliffs and dunes provide a nationally important habitat for flowering plants and insects.[2] Traditional salmon fishing with nets is still conducted from St Cyrus beach. Two ice houses that used to provide ice for packing salmon before transporting to market can still be seen. One is to the north end of the beach on the donkey track just below the Woodston Fishing Station, the other is further south next to Kirkside [this is now a private dwelling], not far from the Nature Reserve Visitor's Centre.

Area prehistory

There are known prehistorical archaeological sites in the general coastal area of St Cyrus. Examples of these features include Gourdon Hill[3] to the north and the Stone of Morphie,[4] both situated slightly to the west of the A92 road alignment.

History

Watch House at Kirkside Cemetery

The remains of the Kaim of Mathers is located on rock pinnacles on the northernmost part of the beach. Built by the Berkeley (or Barclay) family, it was used as a refuge by David de Berkely from the vengeance of the king when, around 1420, he was part of a group who murdered the local sheriff, John Melville of Glenbervie.[5][6]

St Cyrus was on the Montrose to Inverbervie branch line of the North British Railway. This line was closed as part of the Beeching cuts in the 1960s. Evidence for the line can still be seen in the viaduct over the North Esk river to the south of St Cyrus and the remains of some railway embankments and road bridges to the north.

A Home Chain Low radar station was once situated on the cliffs immediately to the south of the village. A blockhouse can still be seen at its location.

Notable residents

Geography

Destinations from St Cyrus
Laurencekirk Johnshaven
Marykirk North Sea
   St Cyrus  
Montrose North Sea

Services

St Cyrus has a primary school with a Nursery Class and P1 to P7 classes.

An active Scout Group, with a Beaver Colony (ages 6–8), a Cub Pack (ages 8–10½) and a Scout Troop (ages 10½-14). Beavers and Cubs meet on a Monday night and Scouts meet on a Sunday afternoon at the Scout Hall, off of Beach Road.

St Cyrus has its own telephone exchange (code ESSTC). The exchange is fully enabled for BT ADSL, both fixed speed and ADSL Max flavours.

St Cyrus has a convenience store located on the main road, which also serves as the Post Office. Opposite the store there is a public phone box. There is a public convenience on the junction of the A92 and Ecclesgreig Road at the north of the village. There is a garage at the south end of the village which, until 2013, had a petrol station.

St Cyrus has a public hall located not far from the store on the A92. It was used for meetings of the local community council[7] until it disbanded in 2015, and a range of other activities. There is a sports pavilion at the local park, with an all-weather pitch and bowling green.

St Cyrus has a coffee shop (The Old Bakery) which has a gift shop within and also a local hotel (The Village Inn) which boasts The Great Scot bar. Both are situated on the main A92 road.

Situated approximately 1 mile North of St Cyrus, there is a residential caravan park which houses caravans for hire and permanent residents.

The Mearns Leader is the local weekly newspaper and The Courier is the regional newspaper, which is supplemented by a local community radio station, Mearns FM, that broadcasts from nearby Stonehaven.[8] The station is not-for-profit, and is volunteer run under a Community Radio Licence.[9] The Facebook page 'What's on St Cyrus' is the local social media page.

A defibrillator is located on Ecclesgreig Road.

Transport

St Cyrus is on the A92 road that runs from Fife to Stonehaven where it joins the A90 and continues to Aberdeen and beyond.

St Cyrus is on National Cycle Route 1 - Shetland to Dover.

The nearest railway stations are at Montrose, 5 miles (8.0 km) away, Laurencekirk, 7 miles (11 km) away and Stonehaven, 18 miles (29 km) away.

Buses (Nos 107, 113, 117 & X7) run between Montrose, St Cyrus and other coastal settlements up to Stonehaven and onward to Aberdeen.[10]

The nearest airport is at Aberdeen approximately 40 miles (64 km) to the north.

Demography

St Cyrus Population 1801 to 2006
Year Population
2011 1100[11]
2006 1085[12]
1991 851[13]
1931 1173[14]
1921 1306[15]
1911 1222[16]
1901 1228[17]
1891 1327[18]
1881 1487[19]
1871 1585[20]
1851 1579[21]
1841 1164[22]
1821 1641[23]
1801 1622[24]
1755 1271[25]

References

  1. ↑ The Online Scots Dictionary
  2. ↑ "Scottish Natural Heritage". Retrieved 2007-07-01.
  3. ↑ RCAHMS archaeological database: Gourdon
  4. ↑ C.Michael Hogan, Stone of Morphie, 2007, The Megalithic Portal, ed. A. Burnham
  5. ↑ Electric Scotland - Barclays
  6. ↑ Geograph - Kaim of Mathers
  7. ↑ "Aberdeenshire Community Councils".
  8. ↑ "Mearns FM".
  9. ↑ Mearns FM launch Press Release
  10. ↑ "Local Bus Timetables".
  11. ↑ "Aberdeenshire Council Small Area Population Estimates".
  12. ↑ "Aberdeenshire Council Small Area Population Estimates".
  13. ↑ "General Records Office for Scotland - 1991 Census - Index of Populated Areas in Scotland" (PDF).
  14. ↑ "Online Historical Population Reports - Preliminary report, Scotland, 1931 - Shire of Kincardine".
  15. ↑ "Online Historical Population Reports - Census of Scotland, Table 19, 1921 - Shire of Kincardine".
  16. ↑ "Online Historical Population Reports - Census of Scotland, Table VII, 1911 - Shire of Kincardine".
  17. ↑ "Online Historical Population Reports - Population, Scotland, Vol. I, 1901 - Shire of Kincardine".
  18. ↑ "Online Historical Population Reports - Population report, Scotland, Vol. I, 1891 - Shire of Kincardine".
  19. ↑ "Online Historical Population Reports - Population report, Scotland, Vol. I, 1881 - Shire of Kincardine".
  20. ↑ "Online Historical Population Reports -1871 Education Statistics - Shire of Kincardine".
  21. ↑ "Online Historical Population Reports -1851 Census - Shire of Kincardine".
  22. ↑ "Online Historical Population Reports -1841 Census - Shire of Kincardine".
  23. ↑ "Online Historical Population Reports -1821 Census - Shire of Kincardine".
  24. ↑ "Online Historical Population Reports -1801 Census - Shire of Kincardine".
  25. ↑ "Ordnance Gazetteer of Scotland - St Cyrus".
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