Newburgh, Aberdeenshire

Newburgh is a coastal village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The village dates to 1261 AD, when Lord Sinclair wanted to establish a chapel in the area. Originally built as a school, somewhat later the chapel of Holy Rood was established.

Newburgh is on the Ythan Estuary and near the Sands of Forvie. Near the estuary mouth, the presence of tern colonies is notable, since there are several distinct species that utilise the north banks of the Ythan Estuary, and comprise a meaningful percentage of the breeding pairs of terns in the United Kingdom. In the summer terns can be observed feeding in their characteristic diving patterns approximately 600 to 900 metres inland from the estuary. The Forvie Nature Reserve is very near and to the north, where there is said to be the largest eider duck colony in the world. Beside the beach is an eighteen-hole golf course with its bird shaped clubhouse and the Udny Arms restaurant.

During the nineteenth century, Newburgh was a main sea port for the nearby town of Ellon. A number of clipper ships sailed to destinations all over the globe to deliver tea and other cargoes and coal barges sailed up the east coast to offload at the quayside. Several of the wealthier clipper sea captains built houses in the village and named them after their most frequent ports of call. Hence several imposing properties exist in the village such as Shanghai house, Santa Cruz and Sydney house.

Newburgh was a victim of bombing in World War 2. Just past the eastern end of the Ythan Bridge, is a bomb crater left by an attacking German aircraft, the bomb, aimed at the wharf, skipped over the bridge and exploded on the embankment beside the Cruden Bay Road. Other bombs fell beside a mill at the south of the village (12th Jan 1942) and several dropped in the estuary whilst trying to attack buildings on the quayside.

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