Gardenstown is a fishing village in Aberdeenshire. It is on the Moray Firth coast about 6 miles (10km) east of Macduff. There are many fishing towns and villages around this part of Scotland. Some are only small and have no harbour like Whinnyfold. Others places are big and busy like Fraserburgh, Peterhead and Aberdeen. Gardenstown is in between.

A man called Alexander Gordon of Troup built the village in 1720. He was the landowner. He wanted to make money from fishing so he built a harbour. The old village was built close to the sea. There wasn't much space to build. There is only a narrow strip of land between the sea and steep cliffs. The houses were built in a long, thin strip. Later on more houses were built. These climb up the cliff in layers with the newer houses at the top.

Fishing started in Gardenstown in the 17th century. Local fishermen caught bait for their fishing lines in rock pools on the shore. The bait was shellfish like mussels. This was peeled and strung onto the lines. Often the women and children did this work. The men of Gardenstown were famous fishermen. Many people said that they were the best in the country. They made a lot of money. This meant that they could build themselves better houses.

Fishing increased in the 19th century. Many fishermen fished for herring. The harbour became very busy. On land, many women worked at gutting and packing the fish. They worked in teams of three. Two women gutted the herring and the third packed the fish in barrels.

By this time, the harbour needed to be improved. There were more boats. They were also bigger. This was very expensive. The harbour owner did not have enough money. Eventually it became a public harbour. Then the government could pay for some of the improvements.

Today Gardenstown doesn't have many fishing boats. There are a few small ones. These mainly catch shellfish like lobsters and prawns.