Village of Newtonmore

Newtonmore (Gaelic – Baile Ur an t-Slèibh – New Town on the Moor) is situated in Badenoch, the geographical centre of Scotland and is a traditional, unspoilt highland village, lying between Craig Dhu and the river Spey, in the southern region of the Cairngorms National Park.

Just a couple of minutes off the A9 Perth to Inverness road, it is extremely easy to get to and is a great base from which to explore the central Highlands and beyond during your holiday or short break.

In fact every aspect of the Scottish Highlands is virtually on your doorstep, including all the locations used by the television series "Monarch of the Glen", while access to the Western Highlands, via Fort William/Spean Bridge, is a mere 40 miles away.

Here in Newtonmore, we are surrounded by magnificent mountains, forests, burns, waterfalls, moors, and some of the most beautiful glens and lochs you will ever see. The whole area literally teems with wildlife and is, of course, steeped in Scottish history

Newtonmore has a population of approx 900 people, and was founded around the middle of the 19th century as a direct result of The Clearances from Glen Banachor, the glen above the village. Prior to this, the Highland people from this immediate area, lived in townships in the Glen. These townships, which had been the most common type of settlement in the Highlands until this period, were a sort of farming collective of around 100 or so people. The houses were made of clay and wattle, or thickly cut turf, and the roofs thatched with bracken, heather, or straw. Glen Banachor, which is only a ten minute walk from the main street of the village, is an SSSI or Site of Special Scientific Interest and it is still possible to make out some of the remains of the foundations of these townships while walking through the glen. Furthermore, it is also possible to experience how the inhabitants of the Glen lived during the 18th and 19th centuries, at the Highland Folk Museum in the village. This is a living museum – an archchaelogical reconstruction of one of these townships – and occupies 28 acres within which exists township, farm and livestock; well worth a visit.