Banff Town Heritage Trail

Explore the fine buildings and heritage of Banff with this waymarked trail which takes you to the best bits. This route can be joined to the Bridge of Alvah walk from Duff House by taking the signed link path from the Tourist Office.

Terrain

Streets, waymarked route.

Public Transport

Banff is served by regular buses on Inverness - Aberdeen route

Users' reports

Read reports by: John D Kelly
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Start

Banff Tourist Information Office. Map and directions.

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Walk Description

Stage 1

Start from the Tourist Information which is on the south edge of the town with a large pay and display car park in front. A leaflet with more details about the buildings found on this trail can be got from the Tourist Office. From here turn uphill alongside the Banff Parish Church. Turn left at the top to follow the main road until the end of the barrier where you can cross with care, following the small arrows set into the pavement. Continue past the flower bed and cross Sandyhill Road and turn right to follow the walkway in front of the old academy. A Georgian row of houses is passed and the walk continues up the High Street. Look out for the blue plaques of the Banff Preservation Society - no.s 31 to 39 are fine examples of Scottish town architecture of the 18th century. At no 45 the grand arched doorway of the Shoemaker's building can be seen.

Stage 2

After the Co-op and then turn left immediately after Forbes House (built 1741) into Boyndie Street. At the next junction turn right and look into the courtyard to see the Town and Country Club, one of the largest town houses in mid-18th century Scotland, built for George Robinson in 1772, a wealthy cotton industrialist, and converted into a club about 100 years ago. Turn around and return down Boyndie Street and cross the High Street at the pedestrian crossing and turn right to explore the buildings on the other side of the street including St Brandons, where Lord Byron spent some of his childhood. Return to the crossing at the top of Strait Path, a public meeting place where John Wesley once preached. Now follow the arrow down Old Castlegate where several of the buildings date from the early 18th century. Turn left to the return to the main road, now called Castle Street.

Stage 3

Follow this to the right until the twin lodges at the entrance to Banff Castle are reached. Turn right and follow the driveway to admire the mansion of Banff Castle built for Lord Deskford by John Adam, whose father William built nearby, grander Duff House. There is a good view over the water to Macduff from the grounds. Return to Castle Street and turn right passing the remains of the medieval castle wall before passing George Street and then crossing the main street at the next junction to go up Clunie Street.

Stage 4

Here the Chalmers Hospital is passed on the right. Turn right onto Fife Street, passing the old cottages which would have once been single-storey with net lofts under the roofs. Turn right along the edge of Battery Green, where guns were once manned by volunteers against the threat of invasion from 1781 until the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815. At the end of the street turn the corner around the massive Old Brewery building. Built in 1705 it is one of Banff's oldest buildings. At the junction cross the road in front of the Railway Inn and double back to go down North Castle Street.

Stage 5

At the bottom of the hill follow the pavement as it curves right passing a converted warehouse and reaching Banff Harbour which since 2006 has housed a marina. The prosperity of Banff was built on the herring trade which boomed in the 19th century. Now most fishing boats run out of Macduff with the exception of a few lobster creel boats. Soon the walk reaches the restored 18th century warehouses on the right and cross to follow the seaward side from where there is a good view back to Banff Castle. Pass 11 Deveronside, the first house to be saved by the Banff Preservation Society in the 1960's, the house next door was the home of Thomas Edward, a shoemaker who became a renowned self-taught naturalist. Keep following the road which becomes Church Street and bear left into Carmelite Street to view the Meal House opposite, which used to be the grammar school and is due to be restored. Turn right here until you reach Reid Street on the left. Turn down here and then left past the supermarket.

Stage 6

Soon the impressive red and sandy houses of High Street can be seen on the right. Continue up Carmelite Street until you turn left into Low Street where a market was held. The Biggar Fountain is an imposing Victorian drinking fountain built to commemorate a founder of the herring trade. Opposite is the Town House and in front a replica of the original Mercat or Banff Town Cross a carving of the Virgin and Child - the original can be seen inside the Town House. Follow Low Street, passing the Court House on the right and soon reaching the car park and Tourist Information at the start of the walk.