Auchtermuchty & Dunshalt Online

Welcome to the Auchtermuchty & Dunshalt web portal

We hope you enjoy learning more about our colourful community, and urge you to get involved in whatever interests you.

Auchtermuchty

Auchtermuchty's name comes from Gaelic ‘Uachdar Mucadaidh' meaning ‘field of boars'. It refers to the large population of wild boar in the surrounding swamps and woods that were hunted here in ancient times.

Today the streets of ‘Muchty' have an olde-worlde feel, visible in the many crow-stepped gables and red pantile roofs of the houses and cottages. There is some local industry, though most people travel out of town to work - Auchtermuchty being very handy for Scotland's central belt cities.

Auchtermuchty has a varied and colourful history. From Romans to a Royal burgh, and foundries to festivals, this seemingly quiet community is thriving, and there's much for residents and visitors to participate in and enjoy.

Probably best known for the Auchtermuchty festival (held each year in August) Muchty is also famed for one-time residents: dance-band musician Sir Jimmy Shand, Scottish folktwin singers The Proclaimers, and Sir John Arnott MP and founder of Arnotts department stores in Dublin and elsewhere.

Auchtermuchty was also used as the location for Tannochbrae in the 1990s TV series Dr Finlay's Casebook. And it gets a mention in The Family Ness theme song, You'll Never Find A Nessie In The Zoo, in the refrain "You can go to Auchtermuchty and to Drumnadrochit too, but you'll never find a Nessie in the zoo".

Not forgetting the infamous Rich Hall joke "When I told the folks back home I was coming to Auchtermuchty, they said 'wear the fox hat!"

Dunshalt

Situated on the north bank of the River Eden one mile southeast of Auchtermuchty is Dunshalt, a smaller, quieter settlement than its neighbour.

The name of the village has changed several times since inception, from Inschalt to Daneshalt then Dunshelt, and to this day the village is notorious for local confusion over its name. Depending on which direction you approach the village you may pass a road sign reading Dunshalt or Dunshelt. Residents can choose where they live!

The village developed in the 18th and 19th centuries as a meal milling and textile manufacturing village on the Myers Estate. Today the village has a Post Office, a Village hall and some small local business, though the majority of residents commute to work in nearby Cupar, Glenrothes and beyond.