Thank you to Professor Roy Bridges for providing this information
There is some ambiguity about the use for the terms ‘Newmachar’ and ‘New Machar’. The Community Council area is based on the old civic parish of New Machar as it existed under the local government system subsisting from 1894 to 1928. This in turn was based on the ecclesiastical parish of New Machar which had been created early in the seventeenth century out of the Aberdeen parish of St Machar, i.e. based on the Cathedral of St Machar, which parish then logically became ‘Old Machar’ The small settlement at the centre of the parish with, from 1639, the Church and later a manse and a post office, was known as “Summerhill”. However, from the middle of the nineteenth century, the village was sometimes referred to as “Newmachar”, probably because that was the name given to the railway station. The coincidence of the name “Summerhill” with that of a district within Aberdeen also caused considerable confusion and so in 1928, “Newmachar” was officially substituted for “Summerhill” – a name which survives in the designation of a house and sheltered housing. Although there is still some confusion and ambiguity, it seems to be accepted that, strictly, “Newmachar” is the village and “New Machar” the wider community council area shown on the map. Nevertheless, “Newmachar” is gaining and the Community Council itself tends to be called “Newmachar Community Council” instead of its correct name. Assuredly, however, it tries to represent the whole area and not just the village.
A book ‘People and Places in Newmachar, Past and Present’ by Professor Roy Bridges, which is partly funded by a grant from the Millennium Commission was published in January 2002. This book includes chapters on the history of local place names, agriculture, the railway, local estates, religion in the parish and personal testimonies from local individuals about their memories of changes in Newmachar.