Battlefields›Skirmish at Megray Hill, near Stonehaven, 1639
English Civil War

Skirmish at Megray Hill, near Stonehaven, 1639

1639
Scotland
Era
English Civil War
Battle Type
Skirmish
Location
Scotland
Status
Unregistered
Outcome
An indecisive engagement: Royalist troops under Viscount Aboyne, facing stiff Covenanter opposition (mustered by the Earl Marischal, supported by cannon fire), declined to advance and retreated in confusion to Aberdeen, where they fortified the Bridge of Dee. This preceded the Battle of the Brig of Dee (18-19 June 1639).
The Battle

History & Significance

Skirmish at Megray Hill, near Stonehaven, 1639 was a Civil War skirmish, fought in Scotland in 1639. An indecisive engagement: Royalist troops under Viscount Aboyne, facing stiff Covenanter opposition (mustered by the Earl Marischal, supported by cannon fire), declined to advance and retreated in confusion to Aberdeen, where they fortified the Bridge of Dee. This preceded the Battle of the Brig of Dee (18-19 June 1639).

The ground

The ground they fought on

The site of Skirmish at Megray Hill, near Stonehaven, 1639 lies on Southern Highland Group, bedrock that formed in the Middle Cambrian. The rock here is psammite and pelite.

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Everything a full report reveals about Skirmish at Megray Hill, near Stonehaven, 1639

This page covers Skirmish at Megray Hill, near Stonehaven, 1639. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with every monument and battle plotted, and a plain-language history built only from what the record holds.
Monuments
The legally protected scheduled monuments around the location, each with its period, type and significance.
Battlefields
The battles and sieges fought on this ground, mapped and set on a timeline of the wider conflict.
Roman Britain
The Roman roads, forts and towns near here, and the Iron Age people who held the land before Rome arrived.
Stat Accounts
The parish Statistical Accounts of the 1790s and 1830s, describing life, work and population here.
Civil War
The Civil War fighting, garrisons and recorded militaria in this area, woven into the arc of 1642 to 1651.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back hundreds of millions of years.
Local Names
What the street and field names around here actually mean, and the history buried inside them.
Historical Maps
Ordnance Survey maps from the 1800s, layered over the location as it stands today.
Literature
The books, county histories, charters and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Legal
The protected sites nearby and the metal-detecting, access and treasure laws that apply to this ground.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Target Zones
For detectorists: the most promising ground to search nearby, ranked by confidence, with what to expect.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from prehistory to the present day.
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Protected heritage nearby

Scheduled Monuments near Skirmish at Megray Hill, near Stonehaven, 1639

Cowie Chapel,chapel 180m N of Cowie Castle
Cowie Chapel,chapel 180m N of Cowie Castle
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~0.8 mi

Cowie Chapel is a medieval chapel situated 180 metres north of Cowie Castle in Kincardineshire. The building occupies ground underlain by Southern Highland Group bedrock, psammite and pelite deposits formed during the Middle Cambrian period, which would have provided suitable stone for constructi…

Castle of Cowie
Castle of Cowie
Scheduled monument · ~0.9 mi

Castle of Cowie is a scheduled monument located in Kincardineshire, in the northeast of Scotland. The site occupies land underlain by Devonian claystone, a sedimentary rock formed over 350 million years ago when this region lay beneath ancient seas. This geology has shaped both the landscape and…

Cowie Line, pill box & anti-tank blocks ESE of Rickarton House
Cowie Line, pill box & anti-tank blocks ESE of Rickarton House
Scheduled monument · ~2.2 mi

Cowie Line pill box and anti-tank blocks ESE of Rickarton House is a Second World War defensive installation in Kincardineshire, Scotland. The site comprises a concrete pill box and associated anti-tank blocks positioned on bedrock of Southern Highland Group psammite and pelite, formed during the…

St Ciaran's Church,old parish church,Fetteresso
St Ciaran's Church,old parish church,Fetteresso
Scheduled monument · Medieval · ~2.4 mi

St Ciaran's Church is a medieval parish church located in Fetteresso, Kincardineshire. The building stands on bedrock of the Stonehaven Group, Ludlow age strata comprising sandstone with subordinate conglomerate and siltstone, geology that characterises this coastal lowland area of the northeast…

Raedykes, Roman camp 600m NE of South Raedykes
Raedykes, Roman camp 600m NE of South Raedykes
Scheduled monument · Roman · ~2.6 mi

Raedykes Roman Camp is a Roman military installation situated 600 metres north-east of South Raedykes in Kincardineshire, in the north-east of Scotland. The camp occupies ground underlain by metamorphic bedrock of the Southern Highland Group, formed during the Middle Cambrian period, comprising i…

Cowie Line, pillboxes & anti-tank blocks NE of Whitehill
Cowie Line, pillboxes & anti-tank blocks NE of Whitehill
Scheduled monument · ~4.5 mi

Cowie Line is a defensive installation comprising pillboxes and anti-tank blocks situated northeast of Whitehill in Kincardineshire, Scotland. Part of the wider network of coastal and inland fortifications constructed during the Second World War, this site represents the strategic preparations ma…

Cantleyhills, cairn 150m SSW of
Scheduled monument · ~1.2 miles
Cowie Line, pill boxes & anti-tank blocks 200m SW-275m SE of Ury House
Scheduled monument · ~1.2 miles
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In the same landscape

Battles near Skirmish at Megray Hill, near Stonehaven, 1639

Pade O'france
~7.9 miles away
Keith's Muir
~8.1 miles away
Battle of Drumoak
1402
~8.4 miles away
Battle of the Brig of Dee
1639
~9.9 miles away
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