Documents

Where documents include maps, the use of this data is subject to terms and conditions (https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/termsandconditions).

The legal document available for download below constitutes the formal designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The additional details provided on this page are provided for information purposes only and do not form part of the designation. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within this additional information.

• Type

  Legal Documents

  Title

  SM10403_Legal Doc

  Download(https://portal.historicenvironment.scot/document/600013647)

Summary

Description

The monument comprises a motte of medieval date, visible as a substantial grass-covered mound.

The motte lies within the grounds of Balnagask House, opposite Mains of Balnagask, in what is now a modern housing estate, adjacent to Baxter Place, Aberdeen. Before it was subsumed within the SE outskirts of Aberdeen, the motte would have occupied a prominent position, at around 20m OD, overlooking the Dee Estuary and Nigg Bay.

Mottes are artificial mounds which were once topped with timber castles. This type of monument was common in twelfth and thirteenth-century Scotland, a significant element in the feudal landscape. Mottes were sometimes accompanied by baileys (enclosed courtyards for ancillary buildings), although there are no traces of a bailey at Balnagask.

A Normanised Celtic family, with the territorial designation of de Nug, held the lands here in the twelfth century. Otherwise, little is known of the historical associations of this motte, although it is thought to have been located within a hunting reserve.

The motte still stands around 6m high, although its top was re-modelled in the early twentieth century obscuring any traces of medieval remains on its upper surface. It is surrounded around much of its perimeter by a high retaining wall of early modern date. The ground surface behind the wall is c.2m higher than the level of Baxter Place, indicating that the insertion of the wall and road cut through the outer edges of the motte and any associated remains.

The area proposed for scheduling comprises the remains described and an area around them within which related material may be expected to survive. It is irregular in shape, with maximum dimensions of 74m NNW-SSE by 54m WSW-ENE, as marked in red on the accompanying map.

It is confined within the existing high boundary wall around the NE, E and S edges of the site, and a wooden fence around the NW and W. The boundary walls and fences are excluded from the scheduling to allow for routine maintenance.

Statement of National Importance

The monument is of national importance as an impressive motte, a rare survival of a castle mound in Aberdeen, which has the potential to contribute to an understanding of the organisation, settlement and economy of the feudal landscape in the immediate hinterland of an important medieval town. The motte itself has the potential to elucidate the nature and development of medieval fortified settlement and economy.

References

Bibliography

About Scheduled Monuments

Historic Environment Scotland is responsible for designating sites and places at the national level. These designations are Scheduled monuments, Listed buildings, Inventory of gardens and designed landscapes and Inventory of historic battlefields.

We make recommendations to the Scottish Government about historic marine protected areas, and the Scottish Ministers decide whether to designate.

Scheduling is the process that identifies, designates and provides statutory protection for monuments and archaeological sites of national importance as set out in the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979.

We schedule sites and monuments that are found to be of national importance using the selection guidance published in Designation Policy and Selection Guidance (2019)

Scheduled monument records provide an indication of the national importance of the scheduled monument which has been identified by the description and map. The description and map (see ‘legal documents’ above) showing the scheduled area is the designation of the monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. The statement of national importance and additional information provided are supplementary and provided for general information purposes only. Historic Environment Scotland accepts no liability for any loss or damages arising from reliance on any inaccuracies within the statement of national importance or additional information. These records are not definitive historical or archaeological accounts or a complete description of the monument(s).

The format of scheduled monument records has changed over time. Earlier records will usually be brief. Some information will not have been recorded and the map will not be to current standards. Even if what is described and what is mapped has changed, the monument is still scheduled.

Scheduled monument consent is required to carry out certain work, including repairs, to scheduled monuments. Applications for scheduled monument consent are made to us. We are happy to discuss your proposals with you before you apply and we do not charge for advice or consent. More information about consent and how to apply for it can be found on our website at www.historicenvironment.scot.

Find out more about scheduling and our other designations at www.historicenvironment.scot/advice-and-support. You can contact us on 0131 668 8914 or at designations@hes.scot.