'Moathill'
Motte (Medieval)(Possible)
Site Name 'Moathill'
Classification Motte (Medieval)(Possible)
Alternative Name(s) Insch, 'the Bass'
Canmore ID 76640
Site Number NJ62NW 51
NGR NJ 63 28
NGR Description NJ c. 63 28
Datum OSGB36 - NGR
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/site/76640
- Council Aberdeenshire
- Parish Insch
- Former Region Grampian
- Former District Gordon
- Former County Aberdeenshire
NJ62NW 51 c. 63 28
(Location cited as NJ 6330 2840). Site of possible motte: [unspecified] documentary evidence only.
NMRS, MS/712/58.
The existence of a motte at Insch has been proposed by Bogden and Bryce in their (1991) check-list of castles, fortalices and manor-houses. The proposal was based on a reference to the place-name Moathill, but no details of the source of that reference are given and the 4-figure grid reference places the site on the NE side of the town.
The place-name 'Moathill' does not appear on the 1st edition of the OS 6-inch map (Aberdeenshire, 1870, sheet xliv), although there is an area (NJ 630 286) called 'The Bass'. This area is rather flat and featureless, and lies to either side of a minor road heading NW out of town; to the W of the road the area is occupied by a recreational ground, to the E there is a cultivated field.
Information from RCAHMS (JRS), 6 June 1996.
N Bogdan and I B D Bryce 1991.
