Tarves brings together several distinct historical themes: a Heritage Centre partly housed in a school building dating from 1837, a Renaissance tomb and Tolquhon Castle south of the village. The square, churchyard and paths also shape the character of the village. This makes it easy to focus a stay on cultural history and complement it with walks or hiking routes around Tarves.
School history and oral tradition
The Tarves Heritage Centre is partly housed in a Victorian school building dating from 1837. It holds various records of oral history. This brings two ways of exploring local history together: the building provides a specific historical and architectural reference, while the records draw attention to oral tradition. Anyone interested in Tarves’s cultural history can consider the building and collection as distinct points of interest, rather than viewing history only through monuments.
The Tarves Tomb: remembrance and Renaissance art
The Tarves Tomb was erected in 1589 in memory of William Forbes, the seventh laird of Tolquhon, and his wife, Elizabeth Gordon. It contains portrait statuettes of the laird and his wife. A particularly fine and well-preserved example of Scottish Renaissance sculpture, it combines a personal dedication with an art-historical significance. The dedication names those being commemorated, the statuettes depict them, and its Renaissance classification describes the monument’s artistic standing. For your travel plans, it offers a focused cultural stop: a monument that brings together names, remembrance and sculpture.
Village character and walking routes
The square, churchyard and various paths leading from this central area shape the fundamental character of the Tarves Conservation Area. The village centre can therefore also be viewed in terms of the relationship between its central area and the paths leading from it, rather than only through individual historic buildings. There are also various walking and hiking routes around Tarves. For planning purposes, it helps to distinguish between these two scales: would you like to explore the village character, or include a route through the surrounding area in your stay as well? Check specific route information before setting out.
Tolquhon Castle south of Tarves
Tolquhon Castle lies about 2 miles south of Tarves, just off the B999. The castle is a nationally significant 16th-century building. William Forbes, the seventh laird of Tolquhon, rebuilt it between 1584 and 1589. At the Tarves Tomb, Forbes is one of the people commemorated by the monument; he is associated with the castle through its rebuilding. The same name thus connects the two places in different roles: here, the person commemorated; there, the person associated with rebuilding the castle. The tomb dates from 1589, and the rebuilding of the castle continued until that same year.
West of Tolquhon Castle and its outer courtyard are the remains of a formal garden, with old yew trees and traces of former paths. These garden remains add evidence of the former design of the outdoor space to the building’s history. Tolquhon’s historical themes therefore include both the history of the castle and the surviving features of its garden.
Discover more destinations: Kincardine O'Neil, Whitehills, Strichen, Inverurie, Pitmedden, Port Elphinstone, Ellon, Chapel Of Garioch
For the wider travel overview: Aberdeenshire.
