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Ardagie homestead moat is a medieval earthwork monument in Perthshire, Scotland, protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1599. The site comprises a distinctive moated enclosure, a defensive feature commonly associated with high-status residences and farmsteads from the 12th to 16th centuries. The moat would have provided both practical protection and a visible marker of the resident's social standing within the medieval landscape.
The monument sits on bedrock of the Arbuttnott-Garvock Group, composed of Pragian sandstone with subordinate conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone. This local geology would have influenced the construction techniques available to those who built and maintained the moat, with the underlying sandstone determining drainage patterns and the stability of the earthwork banks that form the enclosure's boundary.
Homestead moats represent an important category of Scottish medieval settlement, particularly in lowland areas. They typically enclosed domestic and agricultural buildings within their banks, creating secure compounds in regions where fortification was valued but resources for stone castles were limited. Ardagie's survival as an earthwork preserves evidence of this significant period in Scottish rural settlement and land use, offering insights into medieval domestic organisation in central Scotland.
Ardagie,homestead moat is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1599. View the official record →
Ardagie homestead moat is a medieval earthwork monument in Perthshire, Scotland, protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM1599.
Ardagie,homestead moat is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, legally protected by Historic Environment Scotland — the body responsible for designating and safeguarding heritage sites in Scotland. The official designation reference is SM1599.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Castle Law,fort (2 km), West Dron Cottages, cup-marked stone 800m SSW of (3.6 km), Bogtonlea, palisaded settlement, roundhouse, pit circle and pits 280m SSW of Green of Invermay (3.7 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Ardagie,homestead moat's history, each drawn from the record and mapped to the exact spot:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Ardagie,homestead moat stands on Arbuthnott-Garvock Group, bedrock that formed in the Pragian. The rock here is sandstone with subordinate conglomerate, siltstone and mudstone.