If you enjoy history, there’s so much to discover in Lossie!
The Lossiemouth Heritage Association and the Fisheries Museum each have many enthusiastic volunteers eager to share stories and answer questions.
During the summer, the Heritage Association runs guided walks around the town, see their Facebook page for details.
This self-guided day long itinerary covers three main aspects of Lossiemouth heritage; town history, military heritage, and geology.
Walk, eat, explore some more!
Start the day with a circular heritage walk around town. Stop for a bite to eat, and recharge your batteries before diving into the military heritage and geology.
But first…
A short history of Lossiemouth
There are records referring to settlements in this area from over 1,000 years ago. The headland was originally thought to be an island, cut off by a huge sea loch, which extended inland to Spynie Palace.
Towards the end of the 17th century, the entry to Spynie Loch silted up, and the origins of the modern town were established with a harbour and settlements at Seatown and Stotfield.
Modern Lossie is an amalgamation of four separate settlements; ancient Kinnedar (near the current RAF base), Seatown, Stotfield (near the West Beach) and Branderburgh (the main town around James Square) which was built in the late 19th century to connect the two main fishing communities.
If you’d like to learn more about the history, there are links at the end of the page.
Circular Heritage Walk
The route in this link will take you on a circular walk of about two miles. The stops are presented in roughly chronological order from the first recorded settlement to the site of a World War II disaster.
The paths are all flat, mostly pavements, suitable for buggies and wheelchairs. The latter section involves a steady ascent uphill, then a steeper walk down, involving steps (or a longer route avoiding the steps).
Time for lunch!
Stop for lunch at one of our friendly cafes.
In town, try Harbour Lights (https://theharbour-lights.co.uk/ tel: 01343 814622) on the Marina, or Cafe No8 (tel: 07772 764010) on Queen Street.
Great fish and chips from The Galley on Clifton Road (tel: 01343 812007, https://www.facebook.com/galleyojewel)
Near the lighthouse – Twenty Nineteen Coffee near the lighthouse (01343 208060 https://www.facebook.com/twentynineteencoffee19 ).
Military Heritage
In the afternoon, explore the airforce and military connections, including a visit to the RN & RAF Heritage Centre beneath the lighthouse.
The Spotters’ Day Out itinerary has everything you’ll need.
Lossie Rocks!
End the day exploring the geology of the area.
There are large caves below the lighthouse. Park at the heritage centre and walk to the beach. In the early 1900s, tinker families lived in these caves, including one family, ‘The Joyfuls’ who would ply their wares in town while singing and dancing! Cave dwelling was outlawed in 1915.
Further along the coastline are more caves with a fascinating history dating back to prehistoric times, including evidence of human sacrifice!
There’s a clifftop walk along the Moray Coastal Trail, which is uneven and unsuitable for buggies or wheelchairs. Access to the caves below is possible only at low tide, paths are unstable, proceed with extreme caution and check tide times.
Find out more here: https://coveseacavesproject.wordpress.com/about-the-project/
Other notable spots
Kinnedar Castle, aka the Bishop’s Palace, Kinnedar Burial Ground
Just outside the RAF base gates is a cemetery in which a 12th century palace for the Bishop of Moray once stood.
https://online.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/smrpub/master/detail.aspx?tab=main&refno=NJ26NW0001
The Stotfield Disaster Memorial, West Beach Car Park
On Christmas Day 1806 all three ‘Skaffie’ boats were lost from Stotfield with a loss of 25 men. All the able-bodied men and youths of the village drowned that day, leaving 17 widows and 47 orphaned children.
The Stotfield Disaster Memorial was erected in 2006, looking out over the town’s West Beach.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stotfield_fishing_disaster
World War II defences
All along the coastline and through the wood to the east are concrete war defences, including several relatively intact pillboxes (gun emplacements). http://www.pillbox-study-group.org.uk/gazeteer/home-front-defence-sites/scotland/moray/lossiemouth/
Useful Links
Lossiemouth Heritage Association
Moray Council Local Heritage Services
Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lossiemouth
Side by side georeferenced maps show current day maps next to the equivalent map from an previous era. https://maps.nls.uk/geo/explore/
Covesea Caves Project https://coveseacavesproject.wordpress.com/publications-press/
Lossie Loons & Quines Adrift, Facebook group about local heritage https://www.facebook.com/groups/466635763401556
Creative Visions Moray – books and videos about Lossiemouth – http://www.creativevisionsmoray.co.uk/projects/
Videos about Lossiemouth History
Local historian, Donnie Stewart, has an extensive YouTube archive – https://www.youtube.com/
Trailer for Northern Lights Film – https://youtu.be/IylJXVI2SmM
Trailer for Land, Sea & Sky Film – https://youtu.be/IylJXVI2SmM
Pathe News’ YouTube channel has many clips of Ramsay MacDonald in Lossiemouth, including this one, from 1931 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhzrjk0bMmc
directory of services
Follow the link below to find a full listing of all LBA member businesses across every sector.
In time, this will be expanded to include a brief listing of non-member businesses to provide a complete information resource for our visitors.
If the service that you require is not listed in this directory, use your preferred search engine to find them.
Getting Here
Lossiemouth is on the Moray coast, approximately 40 miles east of Inverness and 70 miles northwest of Aberdeen. The A96 is the main road between these two cities.
Travelling by bus or train, head to Elgin for a connecting bus service to Lossiemouth.