Bethelnie

NJ73SE 1 7814 3034

(NJ 7814 3034) Earthwork (NAT) (Site of)

OS 6" map, (1959)

The site of an earthwork, about 260ft (79.3m) square, the ditches of which, according to the Ordnance Survey Name Book [ONB], were formerly 10-15ft (3.05 to 4.57m) wide and 6ft (1.83m) deep. The ditch on the south side can still be seen, but the ditch on the north can only be seen indistinctly. There are practically no remains of any banks visible, and no signs of entrances. Although regarded by Shand (c. 1788), quoted by Crawford (1949) as Roman, it seems likely that this is a Medieval moated site.

Earthwork visible on RAF air photographs 542/47 F.21 0126-7, flown 1954.

Capt Shand c. 1788; OS Name Book 1871; O G S Crawford 1949.

The ploughed-down remains of a square enclosure, generally as described by Crawford (1949), situated on a fairly level area at the base of a gentle hillside, overlooked from the N. The S and W ditches survive to a depth of about 0.2m; the N ditch is only very faintly discernible and all traces of the E ditch has been removed by the construction of a field drain along its length; no trace of banks. The farmer reports that the soil in the area is of poor quality, possibly indicating the former existence of buildings. Probably the remains of a homestead moat.

Visited by OS (NKB), 3 March 1969.

This site is listed in an Atlas of Scottish History (McNeill and MacQueen 1996) as a moated site.

Information from RCAHMS (DE), September 1997.

This monument is situated in arable ground at the base of a gentle SW-facing hillside at an altitude of about 125m OD.

NMRS, MS/712/73.

Nothing is now visible of this moated site and the field in which it lies, some 300m WSW of Bethelnie farmsteading (NJ73SE 15), was planted with barley on the date of visit.

Visited by RCAHMS (JRS), 10 May 1999.