Archaeology Notes

Event ID 689662

Category Descriptive Accounts

Type Archaeology Notes

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/689662

NO50SE 8 5624 0337.

The Statistical Account (OSA) describes a large mound, called Chesterhill, at the W end of Anstruther Wester. Wood, stating that it is supposed to be partly artificial, locates it to "near the railway station, on the N side of the road". This may be incorrect, the name "Chesterhill" appearing at NO 5624 0337, S of the road, on OS 6" 1854. The Ordnance Survey Name Book (ONB 1854) states that it applied to "two or three houses, situated on a small eminence", and adds that traditionally, there was a "camp" here, but no trace of it now remains. The OSA (1792, J Forester) mentions a fine well in the middle of Chesterhill, and Armitage considers this "absolute proof that this was the site of a castle" adding that the "Mothlaw" of Anstruther is mentioned in 1590 (Reg Magni Sig Reg Scot 1590).

The OSA states that two or three years before 1792, when digging the foundations for a house on the side of Chesterhill, "two skeletons were found not far from each other. They were enclosed in a kind of coffin consisting of a large stone at each end and side."

W Wood 1887; E S Armitage 1912

The site of Chesterhill mound is now built over.

RCAHMS 1933, visited 1925

The area indicated is now built over and there is no trace of any artificial work. Nothing further is known of the cists.

Visited by OS (JP) 29 May 1974