Community Assembly of Forres

Community Assembly of Forres

Serving, supporting and protecting our local communities.

The Community Assembly of Forres (Scottish Gaelic: Farrais ) is located in a town and former royal burgh in the north of Scotland on the Moray coast, northeast of Inverness and west of Elgin. Forres has been a winner of the Scotland in Bloom award on several occasions.There are many geographical and historical attractions nearby such as the River Findhorn, with historical artifacts and monuments within the town itself such as Forres Tolbooth and Nelson's Tower. Brodie Castle, the home of the Brodie Clan, lies to the west of the town.

Between 2003 and 2013 an extensive Iron Age settlement was uncovered with evidence of people living in the area from the Neolithic period. The Iron Age settlement had a souterrain and metalworking furnaces, together with the remains of Neolithic and Bronze Age ceramics and cup-marked rock art.

The earliest written reference to Forres may be the ' Varar Estuary ' mentioned in the second century Geography of Claudius Ptolemy . The town is the location of Sueno's Stone, an enormous carved stone probably created by Picts to commemorate a battle against Norse invaders. The stele is encased in a glass structure to protect it from the elements and graffiti. Sueno's Stone translates to Sven's Ston and dates from AD 850 to AD 950.

A royal castle was present in the area from at least 900 AD, and around 1140 AD Forres became a royal burgh.