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Bishop's Loch

Chapel (Medieval), Drain (19th Century), Manor House (Medieval)

Site Name Bishop's Loch

Classification Chapel (Medieval), Drain (19th Century), Manor House (Medieval)

Alternative Name(s) Bishop's Palace; Bishop's Manor; St Mary's Chapel; Bishops' Loch; Loch Goul; Loch Goule; Lochside; Coulside; Locheye; Rimberley

Canmore ID 20329

Site Number NJ91SW 2

NGR NJ 9117 1427

Datum OSGB36 - NGR

Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/20329

Ordnance Survey licence number AC0000807262. All rights reserved.
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Administrative Areas

  • Council Aberdeenshire
  • Parish New Machar
  • Former Region Grampian
  • Former District Gordon
  • Former County Aberdeenshire

Archaeology Notes

NJ91SW 2 9117 1427

(NJ 9117 1427) Bishops' Manor (NR) (remains of)

OS 6" map, (1967).

Bishop's Manor and St Mary's Chapel (NR) (Site of)

Bishop's Loch (Loch Goul) (NR)

OS 6" map, Aberdeenshire, 2nd ed., (1901).

The chapel at Bishop's Manor in Loch Goul was dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

New Statistical Account (NSA) 1845 (Rev G Moir).

There is authentic evidence of the residence of the bishop in the early days of St Machar's Cathedral having been a 'palace' on the little promontory on the N side of Loch Goule, and it is possible when the water is low, to trace the foundations of a stone structure at this spot. According to Boece, Bishop Benham died there in 1282.

G M Fraser 1913.

Orem, in 1724, described the site as a "large hall which stood east and west, a large office house at the west and another at the east end, and also the bishop's oratory." The change of name from "Loch Goul" to "Bishop's Loch" is first recorded in 1620.

J Cruikshank 1944.

Situated on the promontory mentioned by Fraser (NSA 1845), are the foundations of two buildings. The irregular L-shaped foundations at NJ 9117 1427 are probably the "palace" (NSA 1845; Fraser 1913) with the outline of a yard on the NE, and the near-rectangular foundations at NJ 9116 1426 are probably those of the chapel. The foundations are marked by stone and turf banks 1.0m wide and up to 0.8m high.

Surveyed at 1:2500.

Visited by OS (JLD) 1 November 1961.

NJ 912 143. Drain, apparently connected to Bishop's Manor, probably early 19th century; destroyed by quarrying. [GRC/AAS NJ91SW 26].

J E Beeley 1975.

NJ 911 142. As part of the Scottish Episcopal Palaces Project, a desk-based survey of published sources relating to this site has been carried out, copies of which have been deposited with Historic Scotland, the National Monuments Record of Scotland and the Grampian Region SMR. Site inspection showed that although this scheduled site is now under threat from rabbits, children and growth of saplings, it remains otherwise largely as described in c1725 (Cruickshank,1943-44). It is anticipated that the site will be cleared of saplings and surveyed during the winter/spring of 1995/6. The manor, at which Bishop Benholm died in c1280, does not seem to be recorded during the Later Middle Ages. It is possible that it fell out of use after the Bishop's Palace in Old Aberdeen was erected early in the 14th century (Small 1965).

Sponsor: Scottish Castle Survey.

N Q Bogdan 1995.

(GRC/AASA sites NJ91SW 2, NJ91SW 3, NJ91SW 26 ). This monument is situated on a promontory at an altitude of about 95m OD.

(Additional bibliography cited).

NMRS, MS/712/85.

Bishop's Loch, remains of Bishop's Palace. Air photographs: AAS/00/04/G11/1-3 and AAS/00/04/CT.

NMRS, MS/712/100.

Scheduled as 'Bishop's Manor, manor house and chapel... the remains of a manor complex... probably of later medieval date...'

Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 6 February 2010.

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