Peterhead

Elliptical Recumbent Stone Circle; Widest diameter 16.6 metres, narrowest diameter 12.8 metres five erect stones including recumbent and E pillar, five prostrate stones including W pillar. They are set upon a bank of small stones and earth 1.92m x 0.76m. c14.4 m in diameter, with kerbs formed by slab-like stones on the inner and outer faces, it appears flat, however below the surface, the interior is made up, at least partially, of a mass of small boulders. It was a considerable feat to haul all the great stones of the ring, including the massive, whale-like recumbent (weighing 21 tons), into position on this bank. Such banks are a particular feature of recumbent Stone circles in Buchan.

An arc of monoliths runs out from the fallen west flanker; the southern and central ones were perhaps selected for their distinctly phallic shape. These stones are exceptionally tall: the cast flanker stands 2.23 m high and its fallen partner on the west is 2.86 m long. Clear signs that the seven stones of the ring were graded in height can still be seen.
Most of the stones are of granite, but the fallen west flanker and the recumbent are of whinstone. The latter, 4.6 m long is rather uneven over its upper surface, yet overall quite level; it is beaked at the west end for ease of levering into position, but very straight at the east.

A very atmospheric site.

False shop window murals on plywood one is a homage to the 1970s children's TV programme 'Bagpuss' created by Oliver Postgate and Peter Firmin. The other represents an antique shop at the turn of the last century. Commissioned by the Aberdeenshire Towns Partnership to aid the regeneration of the area.

Naturalistic bronze cast statue of a fish-wife and little girl, the woman carrying a creel and a basket.

Size overall: 180cm x 350cm x 50cm, sail shaped cast bronze relief modelled with scenes of early 20th century fisher life, mounted on a granite slab.

The rough walls of a narrow close (a covered alley) 20' feet long 4' wide and 10' high, in a street of pink and grey granite tenements. The artist has covered the walls with gold lead thus creating a light installation when the sun illuminates it. The reflected light emphasises architectural features that were previously obscured by the general deriliction and old surface coatings. The work creates an intense visual impact on the street in the right light conditions.

A war memorial in the shape of a four sided obelisk on a pedestal with a relief motif of crossed rifles and laurel wreath. It commemorates the dead of both World War I & II. It has a rectangular base sitting on a two-step plinth.

A tall tapering five storey tower, Greek cross in section, with a crenellated parapet corbelled out over the remainder.
In the photograph it is being towered over by an oil rig in the bay ' Galaxy I' estimated at around 100m high since the monument is 58m above sea level. the stone over the door is inscribed; Reform Tower Erected 1832, Renewed by Kenneth Smith Of Meethill 1907

A small monolith of pink Peterhead granite set upright on a rotunda of masonry itself set on a pavement of irregular slabs all in rough Peterhead granite, a bronze plaque has this inscription "From the sands of Cruden Bay on the 30th July 1914 the Norwegian Aviator Kommander Tryggve Gran D.F.C made the first crossing of the North Sea by air."
Underneath in smaller letters "RGC"

As part of an attempt to regenerate the area and preserve the historic associations of the pends and closes running back from the street they were given these canopies with cut metal signs,
1: Smithy Close: named after a smiddy that was there in the 19th and early 20th century, the canopy depicts a Clydesdale horse and a representation of show harness is inset into the close threshold stone.
In the comparatively short period of its ascendancy, between the period of the ox plough and the tractor, the horse had a huge impact on local culture (reaching its apotheosis in the magico/religious elements of the "Horseman's Word" secret societies) and still exerts an influence although it has gone from most people's everyday life.
2: Proclamation Pend: Shortly after the beginning of the 1715 Jacobite Rebellion, George Keith, 9th Earl Marischal of Scotland, read out a proclamation, at the nearby Peterhead Tolbooth, stating that James Stuart (father of Bonnie Prince Charlie), was the rightful King of Britain. The Earl was accompanied by his younger brother James Keith, later to become a field marshal in Frederick the Great's Prussian army.
James Stuart landed at Peterhead from France on the 22nd of December 1715 and stayed overnight before proceeding South. He returned to France in February 1716 after the failure of the rising.
The canopy shows three figures at the reading of the proclamation and the Keith clan crest is inset into the threshold.
3: Tolbooth Close: named after the Tolbooth which was nearby on the site of the present Townhouse. The Tolbooth was the centre of administration, justice and ceremonial life, where tolls and customs were collected. It was also used for meetings of the burgh council and court and as a prison for remanded criminal suspects and debtors.The original Peterhead Tolbooth was erected in the Longate toward the end of the 16th century, a new one was built in the Broadgate in the 1660s, this was demolished in 1786 and the present Townhouse erected in 1788. The canopy shows a prisoner behind bars and a representation of a James VI eight penny peice is inset into the threshold.
4: Empress Close: named after the Empress Ballroom which occupied the ground floor of the Music Hall that once stood here, the canopy shows a dancing couple, dance step patterns are inset into the threshold.
5: Drummer's Close: named after Drummer's Corner which was situated at the other side of Marischal Street. Woollen mill worker James Milne was an army drummer in the Crimean War (1853-56) he returned to Peterhead and kept a small shop, at the corner of Marischal Street and Albion Street, as well as being the town drummer, his premises became known as 'Drummer's Corner', the canopy shows a drummer with a series of pipe band drummers inset into the threshold.

The artist (Dutch film maker, Jean Bei Ning) filmed local residents walking in front of a mobile blue screen. This footage was then mounted into slides showing landmarks in Tibet, Africa, Scotland, Thailand, Syria and Indonesia. This created the effect that local people were travelling in 'other worlds'. The artist also produced a sound piece located elsewhere in the town consisting of stories recorded in interviews with local people.

It is a tall rectangular obilisk with an unusual decorated top. The name plaques are near the base of the sides within egg & dart borders, each surmounted by a wreath. Above the wreath on one face is a cross. The obilisk stands on a slightly splayed base on top of a three-step base. It was unveiled 6 August 1922 and handed over to the Town Council on August 6 1923. The World War II memorial forms the gate piers in to the churchyard. They are squat rectangular pillars with the coats-of-arms of the different services and regiments as well as the names. Inside the churchyard is another memorial to the men buried in the churchyard and three other war graves.

One of several ornate carved 19th century datestones on buildings in the town centre. The pink Peterhead granite is the towns signature material. The metal spikes are an attempt to limit nesting places for the Herring Gulls that throng this fishing port in huge numbers.

Monument; erected in 1833 , it was erected by local ‘Tories’ (Conservatives) on the site of the market cross to celebrate Parliamentary reform. A Roman Doric column surmounted by the arms of the Earl Marischal with a lion above; this coat of arms was originally in a gateway to Inverugie castle, recently restored.

1869. August 16th Marshal Keith monument unveiled by the Earl of Kintore.
Marshal Keith (James Francis Edward Keith) was born at the family home, Inverugie Castle, near Peterhead in 1696. A professional soldier, he was forced into exile for his activities on behalf of the Stuart pretender to the throne (1715 and 1719). It must be remembered that the Old Pretender, James, chose Peterhead as his secret port of arrival when he came home to Scotland to raise an army in December, 1715. James Keith went on to serve Frederick II as Field-Marshal in the Prussian army and after a distinguished career, was killed at the Battle of Hochkirken in 1758. The statue, which stands outside the Old Town House in Peterhead's Broadgate, was a gift to the town from King William I of Prussia, a copy of the original which stood in Berlin. James' older brother, George, was the last of the Keiths to bear the title Earl Marischal. The title originated when Malcolm II knighted Robert Keith and created him hereditary Grand Marischal of Scotland after Robert defeated the Danish army under Camus in the early years of the eleventh century. This high office continued through the family until 1715.
The Keiths were Jacobites who, like many others who shared their loyalties, had their land confiscated by the Crown when the Jacobite cause was lost.

Glasgow based Stephen came to an outsider’s conclusion, based on the architectural layout and history of Peterhead that he had observed, that “Peterhead is and has always probably been an unpretentious working class community. Taking into account the town's social and economical history and its reliance and existence on the fishing industry, there seems to be a functional no nonsense attitude when it comes to the towns general look." He also noted a lack of any decadence with the town’s character, in the form of frills, “aesthetics for aesthetic sake”. His intervention aimed to address some of these issues that the granite town portrays.

His artwork, an animated neon light depicting a sperm whale in motion, introduced a suggestion of colour to the granite town. Neon light was chosen because of its cultural use in other British coastal towns, notably Blackpool’s illuminations. Presented in the style of a 3ft by 2ft boxed exterior shop feature and located outside a traditional local fishmonger's, the whale quietly pulsated, attracting attention and curiosity to the location. The whale is a reminder to the inhabitants of the town that their
forefathers, on regular expeditions to Greenland, would have witnessed these magnificent creatures in the last true wilderness of the planet; a natural phenomena which only a few of us are likely to see in our life times.

A "Sustrans" bicycle route way marker on the route of the Buchan Way that follows the disused railway route.