Tomintoul

infobox UK place
country = Scotland
official_name= Tomintoul
gaelic_name= Tom an t-Sabhail
scots_name=
os_grid_reference= NJ165185
map_type= Scotland
latitude= 57.25080
longitude= -3.37807
population= 322 (Census 2001)
unitary_scotland= Moray
lieutenancy_scotland= Moray
post_town= BALLINDALLOCH
postcode_district = AB37
postcode_area= AB
dial_code= 01807
constituency_westminster= Moray
constituency_scottish_parliament= Moray

Tomintoul (Scottish Gaelic: "Tom an t-Sabhail", meaning "Hillock of the Barn") is a village in the Moray council area of Scotland; until 1975 it was located in the county of Banffshire.

It is said to be the highest village in the Scottish Highlands, but at convert|345|m|ft|abbr=on|lk=on is still significantly lower than the highest village in Scotland (Wanlockhead, in Dumfries and Galloway).

The three hotels, restaurant, cafe, museum and handful of shops are scattered around the picturesque central square. Its current appearance is an improvement on that in 1860, when Queen Victoria recorded that it was "the most tumbledown, poor-looking place I ever saw".

The village was laid out on a grid pattern by the 4th Duke of Gordon in 1775. It followed the construction, twenty years previously, of a military road by William Caulfield – now the A939. By 1841 the parish reached a population of 1,722. In 1951 this had fallen to just 531. The 2001 census reveals a village population of 322 with the total parish population now unavailable.

The 2004 film [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0342151/ One Last Chance] starring Kevin McKidd and Dougray Scott was filmed in the village and the areas around it.

Despite its small size, it is on the famed Whisky Trail, which also includes Dufftown, Keith, Tomnavoulin, and Marypark.

Local personalities

The artist and writer Mary Barnes died there in 2001 after living there for some time.

Infamous personalities

;"Lord" Tony WilliamsThe Gordon Arms Hotel saw significant improvement in the 1990s when it was lavished with funds from the self styled Lord Tony Williams. 'Lord' Williams spent at least £1 million on improving the hotel, and invested yet more money in other projects within the village. The money proved illusory: rather than a wealthy peer of the realm Williams was a former Deputy Director of Finance in the Metropolitan Police and had used his talents to defraud them of £4.5 million. He was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. After his arrest a 10 metre fibreglass Zulu was discovered in the hotel beer cellar - its purpose was never determined.

;Percy Toplis - The "Monocled Mutineer"

Percy Toplis took refuge in the area in 1920 before being discovered by a local farmer. He made his escape, shooting and wounding the farmer and a police constable while doing so. Within a week he was shot dead by police in England.

;James Stuart

Chiefly of interest to genealogists, James Stuart (1791-1874), a local farmer at Lynchork (pronounced "Linnahork") appears in a number of birth, baptism, death and Kirk Session records in this and surrounding parishes as the admitted or reputed father of children of his female servants.

External links

* [http://www.visittomintoul.co.uk/ Visit Tomintoul]
* [http://www.moray.gov.uk/census_2001/uvtownspop_tomintoul.htm Census data]