St John's Church Longside

The kirkyard at St John's Church sits quietly on the outskirts of Longside, just a few miles south of Mintlaw, and it's the sort of place you'll walk past without noticing unless you know what you're looking for. The church itself is a solid, unpretentious structure - the kind of building that's been doing its job for centuries without much fuss. What makes it worth stopping for is the graveyard, particularly if you're interested in how rural Aberdeenshire communities were shaped over time. The stones tell stories: farmers, fishermen, their wives, their children. Some dates back well over two hundred years.

You won't need more than thirty minutes here, forty-five if you're the type to read every inscription. There's no admission charge - it's open to the elements whenever you fancy popping in. The walk around the kirkyard is straightforward, though the ground can be boggy after rain, so proper footwear's a good shout.

If you're staying at Aden Caravan & Camping or Peterhead Marina Bay Holiday Park, this makes an easy afternoon diversion. It won't thrill kids unless they're genuinely into graveyards, but for anyone tracing family history or simply wanting to understand what life was like in this corner of the Highlands, it's worth the ten-minute detour from Mintlaw. The northeast coast has better-known attractions, but sometimes the quiet places reveal more.