Fochabers is a village in the Parish of Bellie, in Moray, Scotland, 10 miles (16 kilometres) eastern of the cathedral city of Elgin and situated on the east bank of the River Spey. 1,728 people stay in the town, which enjoys a rich music and social background. The town is also house to Baxters, the family-run supplier of foods items. The village owes its existence to Alexander Gordon, fourth Duke of Gordon (1743-1827). Throughout the late-eighteenth century, throughout the Scottish Enlightenment, it was fashionable for landowners to found brand-new towns and villages; these can be acknowledged around Scotland, since unlike their precursors they all have directly, large streets in primarily rectangle-shaped layouts, a central square, as well as your homes constructed with their primary altitudes alongside the street. The renters gained from even more spacious residences, and the Duke, it needs to be claimed, gained from not having the hoi polloi living in hovels precisely the doorstep of Gordon Castle. Fochabers was founded in 1776, as well as is just one of the best examples of a planned village. It is a conservation area, with a lot of the structures in the High Street noted as being of historical or building passion, as is Bellie Kirk, the Roman Catholic church St. Mary's Fochabers, which houses works by noteworthy artisans, as well as the Episcopalian church, Gordon Chapel, which flaunts the biggest collection of Pre-Raphaelite stained glass in Scotland. Electrical energy was offered the town in 1906 by Charles Gordon-Lennox, 7th Duke of Richmond supplied from a little hydro-electric creating station built in 1905 in the Quarters area on the banks of the fast-flowing Spey. For a time in the mid-twentieth century, Fochabers was the residence of 3 duchesses - Hilda, Duchess of Richmond and also Gordon; Ivy, Duchess of Rose City as well as Helen, Duchess of Northumberland. Between 1893 and 1966 the village had a railway station, Fochabers Town, although after 1931 this was open only to products. For nearly three decades, the people of Fochabers advocated a bypass, as the village is located on the A96, the only direct route from Aberdeen to Inverness, and also subsequently experiences major website traffic issues. Building and construction service a bypass for Fochabers and also the adjoining village of Mosstodloch began on 2 February 2010 and also was finished in January 2012, at an expense of £31,500,000. The job was dramatically delayed due to clash pertaining to the suggested route, and exploration of a Neolithic negotiation on the site of the bypass.