Visit to Cullen Heritage Centre and guided walk to the Seatown
Tuesday, 15th July
Thirty-two members met at 11am in the Square at Cullen, and were greeted by John Aitken, chair of the Cullen, Deskford and Portknockie Heritage Group. John gave us a general introduction to the history of Cullen; he explained how the original settlement was demolished in the early nineteenth century and relocated further east on a steep slope above the Seatown. Between 1820 and 1830, the Old Town of Cullen was removed, leaving only the Church as a memorial. The Square is the hub of Cullen, mostly designed by William Robertson in 1823. The grandest buildings on the southeast corner – the Town Hall and the Seafield Arms hotel. The Town Hall is home to the Heritage Centre. The Centre has fascinating displays of old photographs and artefacts, relating to the history of Cullen, including a replica of the Deskford Carnyx, the ancient Pictish war trumpet. The highlight of the displays this year is the large scale model of the Old Town of Cullen, created by American model maker John Czaljkowski, and primarily based on William Crammond’s 1880 book, Reminiscences of the Old Town of Cullen. It was created for the Cullen bicentennial in 2024,and this year has been augmented with new buildings including Cullen House itself. The project was funded partly by the novel scheme of auctioning the miniature properties.
John Aitken led a walk from the Heritage Centre by back roads down to the Harbour, also built in the 1820s, and along to the Seatown, probably on the site of an older settlement, recorded in 1617 as Inverculan. The cottages here are typically one storey with an attic, huddled together in wynds, gable ends to the sea, with a central street winding through from east to west.
The weather was fine and sunny, ideal for a picnic, and an ice cream from Cullen’s excellent ice cream shop.
