Explore the fine buildings and heritage of Banff with this partially waymarked trail. A leafet giving more information about the many buildings of interest along the trail is available from the museum.
Bog Factor
Streets and pavements. Route is partly marked with arrows on pavement.
Car park at south end of town centre.
Banff is served by regular buses on Inverness - Aberdeen route.
NJ689637
Start from the large pay and display car park at the south end of the town centre. From here turn uphill alongside the Banff Parish Church. Turn left at the top to follow the main road briefly until beyond the barrier. Cross with care, following the small arrows set into the pavement. Continue uphill past the flower bed, then cross Sandyhill Road and turn right along the far side, following the walkway in front of the fine old academy building . A Georgian row of houses is passed and the walk continues along High Street. Look out for the 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.
Take a detour to the left by turning 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 back down Boyndie Street and cross the High Street at the pedestrian crossing. You can head briefly 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 and now follow the road that forks right off the main road, heading along 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.
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; the house itself is now a community arts venue with a cafe in the grounds. Return to Castle Street and turn right. Note the remains of the medieval castle wall off to the right. Pass George Street and continue, crossing the main street at the next junction to go left up Clunie Street.
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 fishing 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 by the Railway Inn turn sharp left to go down North Castle Street.
At the bottom of the hill turn 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. Continue along the front, passing some restored 18th century warehouses on the right. Cross to the seaward side from where there is a good view back to Banff Castle. Eventually pass the Ship Inn, and 11 Deveronside, the first house to be saved by the Banff Preservation Society in the 1960s; 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. At the junction near Tesco turn left onto Carmelite Street, soon reaching a t-junction with the Meal House opposite - this beautifully restored building was once the local soup kitchen feeding the needy. Turn right here until you reach Reid Street on the right. Turn down here to reach the junction outside Tesco once more; this time turn left.
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 - 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 at the start of the walk.
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