At the height of around 350m (1165 feet), Tomintoul is reputed to be the highest village in the highlands. It was originally founded during the ‘age of new towns’ in the latter part of the 18th century as part of an improvement plan to encourage the scattered community of the district to move to form a new village.

It was hoped then that the cultivation of lint and spinning of linen yarn, could be established to provide an industry for local people. However, this never caught on and the first villagers relied on casual employment, the produce of their cattle, and the cultivation of small lots of land to produce their food and income. These ‘lotted lands’ now mostly used by nearby farmers rather than villagers, can be easily identified on either side of the river Avon to the west and the River Conglass to the east.

The location of the village, lying between these two rivers, is the reasoning behind the old military road the A939, built through the area during the decade following the 1745 Jacobite rebellion.

Despite an initial lack of enthusiasm, the village was gradually established over a period of about 30 years between 1794 and 1824. More recently it holds around 300 inhabitants. Throughout its history Tomintoul has been a stopping place for travellers and this is reflected in the range of accommodation in the village.

Travellers would stop at the village Inn to refuel. With a dram of whisky costing just a penny in today’s money and with drams being a lot more generous in those days, the Inn built up quite a reputation, as did the village as a whole.