Echt, Aberdeenshire

The Dunecht Estate is one of the largest private estates in Aberdeenshire, Scotland at 53,000 acres (210 km2). It is owned by The Hon Charles Anthony Pearson, the younger son of the 3rd Viscount Cowdray. Dunecht's business interests include farming (in hand and let farms), forestry, field sports, minerals, let houses, commercial lets and tourism. The main part of the estate lies between Banchory and Westhill, encompassing the village of Dunecht, the Loch of Skene and the stately home of Dunecht House. The estate grounds include a golf course and extensive areas of forestry and farming. The estate also includes separate areas of land at Birse and Durris on Royal Deeside, Edinglassie in Strathdon and Dunnottar Castle near Stonehaven.

Dunecht House is a stately home on the Dunecht estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The house is protected as a category A listed building, and the grounds are included on the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland, the national listing of significant gardens.

Sunhoney is a stone circle of the recumbent type, which is common in the Grampian region, in particular at the River Dee. Sunhoney is situated about 2 km west of Echt in Aberdeenshire, near to the Cullerlie and Midmar stone circles. It is designated a scheduled ancient monument

Dunecht (Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Eicht) is a slightly linear village on the A944 road in north-east Aberdeenshire in Scotland. It is not to be confused with Echt. Dunecht is located 12 miles (19.5 km) west of the city of Aberdeen and is situated by the confluence of the Kinnernie and Bervie burns. Formerly known as Waterton, it was renamed to Dunecht in the 1820s when the Crawford family built Dunecht House. The estate achieved a certain measure of notoriety in 1881 due to theft of the remains of the Alexander Lindsay, 25th Earl of Crawford. Dunecht House, once owned by Viscount Cowdray is now privately owned. Dunecht House is to the south of the village and was once famed for its observatory, ballroom and library, as well as gardens which were opened once a year to the public. Corsindae House is 5 miles (8 km) west of here, and is in the Scottish baronial style; built between the 1450s and 1600s (decade). Amenities in the village include a school, a pub (Jaffs), and a garage-come-shop.

Midmar Castle is a 16th-century castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) west of Westhill and 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) west of Echt. The castle was built for George Gordon of Midmar and Abergeldie between 1565 and 1575, and was constructed by the stonemason and architect George Bell. The castle is protected as a category A listed building.

Castle Fraser is the most elaborate Z-plan castle in Scotland and one of the grandest 'Castles of Mar'. It is located near Kemnay in the Aberdeenshire region of Scotland. The castle stands in over 300 acres (1.2 km2) of landscaped grounds, woodland and farmland which includes a walled kitchen garden of the 19th century. There is archaeological evidence of an older square tower dating from around 1400 or 1500 within the current construction. The castle is a Category A listed building and the grounds are included in the Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes in Scotland.

The Battle of Corrichie was fought on the slopes of the Hill of Fare in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, on 28 October 1562. It was fought between the forces of George Gordon, 4th Earl of Huntly, chief of Clan Gordon, and the forces of Mary, Queen of Scots, under James Stewart, 1st Earl of Moray. Huntly had defeated the English twenty years earlier at the Battle of Haddon Rig; however, at Corrichie he was defeated by Queen Mary's forces, and apparently he died of apoplexy after his capture. Mary had come in person to the north of Scotland intent on confronting the power of the Gordons. At Corrichie, the Gordons' tactic of charging with swords was defeated by Moray's pike drill.

Cullerlie stone circle, also known as the Standing Stones of Echt, is a small stone circle situated near Echt, Aberdeenshire. It consists of eight irregular stones of red granite arranged at approximately equal intervals to form a circle of 10.2 m (33 ft) diameter, enclosing the same number of small cairns. The cairns are characterised by outer kerbs or rings of stones, with a double ring surrounding the central cairn and a single ring in the others. All but one of the cairns have eleven ringstones, with the last having nine. The whole circle sits on a patch of gravel which forms the end of a low gravel ridge linking the site with Leuchar Moss. It is regarded as "a later development from the recumbent stone circle", though its layout with kerbed cairns within the circle makes it unique. At the time that the circle was built in the second millennium BC, the surrounding landscape was characterised by wet bogs, and the stones were transported to the site from higher ground some distance away. The tallest of the stones marks the north side of the circle. They vary in height from 1.09 m (3.6 ft) to 1.80 m (5.9 ft). A 2004 survey of the site discovered that several of the stones had been carved with previously unnoticed cup marks.Excavations carried out in 1934 by H. E. Kilbride-Jones on behalf of the Ministry of Works, showed that the circle was built in stages. The entire site had first been cleared, leveled and burned by setting fire to piles of willow twigs. Then came the outer stones, with their bases shaped into points to make them more stable in their gravel bed. They have been somewhat eroded over time by acidic peat eating away the lower portions of the stones. Oak and hazel were burned within the stone rings, leaving charcoal behind, and cremated human bones were deposited in the ashes within five of the rings. They were then filled with smaller stones to create the cairns visible today.The circle may once have had several companions. In 1820 James Logan wrote: "The small Circles contained in the larger present a curious singularity; and it is also remarkable that, at a short distance to the southwest, are nine others of similar dimensions." However, when the site was excavated in 1934, no trace of these satellite circles could be found.

Crathes Castle (pronounced KRATH-iss) is a castle, built in the 16th century, near Banchory in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It is in the historic county of Kincardineshire. This harled castle was built by the Burnetts of Leys and was owned by the family for almost 400 years. The castle and its grounds are currently owned and managed by the National Trust for Scotland and are open to the public.

Warren Field is the location of a mesolithic calendar monument built about 8,000 BCE. It includes 12 pits believed to correlate with phases of the Moon and used as a lunisolar calendar. It is considered to be the oldest lunisolar calendar yet found. It is near Crathes Castle, in the Aberdeenshire region of Scotland, in the United Kingdom. It was originally discovered from the air as anomalous terrain by the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland. It was first excavated in 2004. The pits align on the southeast horizon and a prominent topographic point associated with sunrise on the midwinter solstice (thus providing an annual astronomical correction concerning the passage of time as indicated by the Moon, the asynchronous solar year, and the associated seasons). The Aberdeenshire time reckoner predates the Mesopotamian calendars by nearly 5,000 years. It was also interpreted as a seasonal calendar because the local prehistoric communities, which relied on hunting migrating animals needed to carefully note the seasons to be prepared for a particular food source. The Warren Field site is particularly significant for its very early date and the fact that it was created by hunter-gatherer peoples, rather than sedentary farmers usually associated with monument building.

Loch of Skene is a large lowland, freshwater loch in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It lies approximately 1 mi (1.6 km) to the west of the village of Kirkton of Skene and 9 mi (14 km) west of Aberdeen.The loch is partially man-made, being dammed at its outflow on the southern shore to form a reservoir. Before 1905, water from the loch was used in the making of tweed and to turn the mill wheel at the Garlogie Mills. When the mills closed in 1905 the water was used to generate electricity. The loch is about 6 foot deep at its deepest.

Sauchen is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that lies 3 miles (5 km) west of Dunecht and 10 miles (16 km) west of Aberdeen. The village has around 200 houses, and is serviced by Cluny Primary School which is located around 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the centre. Near the centre of the village lies Sauchen Play Park for children. There are no amenities like shops, cafes, restaurants, bars, or hotels in the village. Nearby is Shiels, an eighteenth century mansion with gathering hall. It was built in 1742 for West India trader, Charles MacKay of Shiels.