Spynie

[3] Large deposits of oyster and cockle shells in the area provide evidence of human habitation going back to the neolithic period,[4] and artefacts from Bronze Age occupation, including axes, pottery and shell deposits have been found on the site of the later settlement.

[7] Holy Trinity Church was in existence by the 12th century and possibly earlier[8] and was, alongside Birnie and Kinneddar, one of the early centres of the Bishops of Moray.

[9] Bishop John de Pilmuir is recorded in the mid 14th century having deepened the channel between Spynie and the sea by sinking boats to change the flow of water.

[10] Later in the century Bishop Alexander Bur was forced to defend the rights of the port of Spynie against challenge from the Earl of Moray and burgesses of Elgin, making a "protestation" that for more than a century the bishops "had and were accustomed to have the fishers of sea fish living in the toun of Spynie with their wives and families, sailing from Spynie out to sea and bringing back their boats with fish through the same port".

[11] Spynie itself was erected into a burgh of barony on 4 July 1451, with its inhabitants having the right to conduct fishing, fishmongery, butchery and brewing, and hold a weekly market and an annual fair.