Balgonie

NO11NE 62 1931 1744

Aerial photography (J Dewar 1972; CUCAP 1974; RCAHMS 1977, 1978, 1982 and 1988) has recorded the cropmarks of a complex of broad-ditched enclosures in the field to the NW of the now disused farmsteading of Balgonie. The main enclosure is rectangular on plan, measuring about 60m from NW to SE by 50m transversly over a broad ditch, and there is a probable L-shaped length of broad ditch forming a smaller enclosure within the SE angle of the interior. Additional enclosures or annexes are formed against the NE and SE sides by narrower ditches; that to the NE is polygonal, measuring about 50m from NW to SE by 40m internally, and that to the SE measures 50m from NE to SW by 35m internally.

The NE enclosure was formerly overlain by Balgonie farmhouse and its garden, which are depicted on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Perthshire, 1866, sheet cx) but have since been removed, being represented only by the cropmarks of an area of disturbance. Two tracks, respectively to the SW (NO 1923 1743 to 1931 1752) and SE of the cottage (NO 1935 1748 to 1938 1736), which are depicted on the first edition map, are clearly visible on the aerial photographs.

The remains of broad rig-and-furrow cultivation are visible as cropmarks around the enclosures but do not appear to cross them. This juxtaposition raises the possibility, that the enclosures are the remains of a medieval moated site situated within a contemporary cultivated landscape.

Visited by RCAHMS (JRS), 11 December 1996.