Kingussie history comes alive

The history of Kingussie comes under the spotlight in September with a series of events exploring the burgh’s architectural heritage. Experts from the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) will be helping local people discover the history all around them.

This is part of a wider project organised by RCAHMS and the Cairngorms National Park Authority (CNPA) to encourage the communities around Aviemore and Kingussie to learn more about their heritage.

On Monday 10th September, Simon Green, architectural historian with RCAHMS, will give a public lecture celebrating the architecture of the town. This takes place at 7.30pm in Talla Nan Ros, King Street, Kingussie.

The next day, Simon and his team will lead a two-day course in recording historic buildings. This will include instruction on recognising and understanding the history of buildings, as well as how to survey and photograph them. Reflecting on the burgh’s heritage, Simon Green said: “Kingussie is a fascinating planned town that has changed and moved with the times but has retained its unique historic character.”

Another team from RCAHMS, led by Dr Jill de Fresnes, will be conducting oral history interviews with some of the burgh’s senior residents, recording their memories of Kingussie’s important buildings. These recordings, made by trainees on the RCAHMS Skills for the Future programme, will then be linked with surveys from Simon Green’s course and made publicly available online.

Dr Jill de Fresnes said: “We are really looking forward to working with the community in Kingussie on this short oral history project.  We hope that this will be of benefit to the community as a whole as well as a great opportunity for our Skills for the Future trainees who are coming up to conduct the interviews.  It will also tie in well with the historic building recording being undertaken later in September.”

Fiona McLean, Community Heritage Officer with CNPA commented: “This is a unique opportunity for the local community to find out about the creation and development of Kingussie, and to learn how to record buildings in their own town. CNPA are delighted to be working in partnership with RCAHMS, who have been giving professional support in cultural heritage research to our communities.”

The historic buildings recording course takes place in Kingussie on Tuesday 11th and Wednesday 12th September. Places are limited but if you would like to take part please email [email protected]