Details |
The village of Rothes lies circa 10 miles South of Elgin, on the West flank of the Spey Valley. The present village was founded in 1766 by the Earl of Findlater as a crofting township, but its origins as a settlement long predate this. Most notably, it was home to the family seat of the Leslie family (later the Earls of Rothes) until 1620 AD. The remains of Rothes castle occupy a vantage point above the town, built by the De Pollock family in the 12th Century passing to the Leslie family in the 13th Century. Rothes expanded in the 18th and 19th Centuries, and was once a bustling settlement at the heart of the whisky industry. Now only five distilleries continue to operate in the village. The village has been further extended in the 20th centuries, increasing by approximately one quarter of its size as shown on the 1st edition OS map of 1867.
|