Stonehaven: A Perfect Harbour Town, an Art Deco Lido & the Hogmanay Fireballs

Stonehaven: A Perfect Harbour Town, an Art Deco Lido & the Hogmanay Fireballs

The old fishing harbour at Stonehaven reflected in calm water, Aberdeenshire.
Stonehaven harbour — the pretty, historic heart of one of Aberdeenshire’s loveliest towns.

Overview — the honest take

Stonehaven is a genuinely lovely Aberdeenshire town, and far more than just the car park for Dunnottar Castle down the road. It has a gorgeous old fishing harbour, a rare Art Deco open-air sea pool, a fiery Hogmanay tradition, and a decent claim to a certain deep-fried delicacy. We had a happy wander round the harbour on a crisp, still winter morning.

Where it is

Stonehaven sits on the Aberdeenshire coast about 15 miles south of Aberdeen, on the main road and rail line. Dunnottar Castle is a couple of miles to the south, reached by a superb clifftop walk from the harbour.

The harbour & the Old Town

Boats and the old Tolbooth at Stonehaven harbour.
The harbour and the old Tolbooth — the town’s oldest building.

The harbour is the heart of the old town — a sheltered basin of fishing and pleasure boats ringed by old houses. Right on the quay stands the Tolbooth, built around 1600 and the town’s oldest building — once a storehouse and jail, now home to a local-history museum and a seafood restaurant. Wander the old streets and the pier and you’re in the Stonehaven that grew up on the herring.

A yellow yacht and fishing boats in Stonehaven harbour.
A quiet winter morning at the harbour, Lillie on the quay.
The Old Pier seafood restaurant window at Stonehaven harbour.
Good seafood right on the old pier.

The Stonehaven “Banksy” — Jim Malcolm’s shoreline sculptures

The thing that surprised and delighted us most in Stonehaven lines the shore just south of the harbour: a whole fleet of astonishing metal sculptures perched on the rocks and along the boardwalk. Intricate fishing boats and Viking longships, tall ships under full sail, a giant crab, a langoustine, an orca, little flying boats and a lighthouse — all built from salvaged metal and wire, and many of them crewed by fish and crustaceans going about human business.

For years nobody knew who made them. They simply appeared overnight, and the town nicknamed their mystery artist the “Stonehaven Banksy.” In 2019 he finally revealed himself: Jim Malcolm, a local man who first went to sea aged eight, spent much of his life on the boats, and later became a welder. His very first piece was a steel salmon he planted on the shore to wind up a friend who’d been caught poaching — and the fleet grew from there. He’s a genuinely talented man, and it’s all completely free to enjoy, any time of day. Take your time along the shore; there’s a new detail in every one.

A metal sculpture of a fishing boat piled with creels on the shore at Stonehaven.
A creel boat heavy with lobster pots — every strand of wire placed by hand.
A wire fishing-boat sculpture on the rocks with the sea beyond, Stonehaven.
The same little boat, the winter sea behind it.
A metal Viking longship sculpture with a dragon prow at Stonehaven shore.
A Viking longship, dragon-prowed and fully crewed.
A Viking longship sculpture against a blue winter sky, Stonehaven.
The longship set against the winter sky.
A wire sailing-boat sculpture on the rocks at Stonehaven.
A little sailing smack under way.
A detailed metal fishing-boat sculpture on the shoreline rocks, Stonehaven.
A ring-netter riding the rocks.
A metal trawler sculpture rigged with gantries on the Stonehaven shore.
A working trawler, rigged and gantried.
A wire trawler sculpture on the shoreline at Stonehaven.
Another of the fishing fleet.
A tall-ship sculpture under a full press of metal sails, Stonehaven.
A tall ship under a full press of sail.
A schooner sculpture with rusted metal sails on the rocks, Stonehaven.
The schooner, sails weathered to a lovely rust.
A metal fishing-boat sculpture perched on a post above the rocks, Stonehaven.
Perched above the tideline.
A trawler sculpture with a metal font in the foreground on the Stonehaven shore.
Intricate rigging, down to the deck gear.
A metal trawler sculpture cantilevered over the rocks at Stonehaven.
A trawler cantilevered out over the sea.
A giant metal crab sculpture on the rocks at Stonehaven.
A giant crab keeping watch on the rocks.
A metal langoustine sculpture with a small figure riding it, Stonehaven.
A langoustine — with a tiny figure riding its back.
A large metal orca sculpture breaching over the boardwalk at Stonehaven.
An orca breaching over the boardwalk.
A tall metal fish sculpture on the Stonehaven boardwalk.
One of the shore’s leaping fish.
A metal bench and little wagon sculpture on the shingle at Stonehaven.
A bench and a little wagon on the shingle.
A metal flying-boat sculpture on a post above the rocks, Stonehaven.
A flying boat coming in to land.
A biplane floatplane sculpture against the sky at Stonehaven.
A biplane floatplane over the shore.
A metal seaplane sculpture on the shoreline rocks at Stonehaven.
Another of the little flying machines.
A floatplane sculpture with the town beyond, Stonehaven.
Wings out over the water.
A metal lighthouse sculpture flying a small Ukrainian flag, Stonehaven.
A little lighthouse — flying a Ukrainian flag in solidarity.

The Art Deco open-air pool

One of Stonehaven’s real treasures is its open-air swimming pool — a beautiful 1934 Art Deco lido, and the UK’s only Olympic-sized heated seawater pool of its kind. It’s open through the summer season, with wonderfully atmospheric midnight swims on warm nights. A gem.

The Hogmanay Fireballs

Stonehaven is famous the world over for one night a year. At Hogmanay, as the bells ring in the New Year, volunteers march down the High Street swinging great balls of fire on chains around their heads, before hurling them, still blazing, into the harbour. The Fireballs Ceremony is thought to have ancient roots — a fire ritual to burn off the old year — and it draws crowds from far and wide.

The town — and the deep-fried Mars bar

Up from the harbour, the Market Square holds the shops, banks and everyday town. And a bit of daft trivia to finish: Stonehaven claims to be the birthplace of the deep-fried Mars bar — the town’s chip shop reckons it battered the first one back in 1992. (The town also gave the world something rather more useful: Robert William Thomson, inventor of the pneumatic tyre, was born here in 1822.)

Dunnottar & the coast walk

The finest thing to do from Stonehaven is the clifftop coast walk to Dunnottar Castle — and we did it the other way round, parking at the castle and walking into the town. From the Dunnottar car park the path climbs back onto the cliffs and heads north, past the striking Stonehaven War Memorial — a roofless stone colonnade on Black Hill, with huge views out to sea — before dropping down into Stonehaven right at the harbour. It’s roughly a couple of miles, about 40 minutes to an hour each way, and one of the best short coast walks in the north-east. Whichever direction you take it, it’s the perfect way to join the two together. There’s also lovely woodland walking in Dunnottar Woods behind the town.

More from our visits

The Old Pier — seafood on the quay.
The Old Pier — seafood on the quay.

Nearby

  • Dunnottar Castle — the great clifftop fortress just south, where Scotland hid its crown jewels.
  • Cruden Bay — further up the Aberdeenshire coast, with Slains Castle and its Dracula connection.
  • See the rest of our Castles of Scotland collection.

Sources