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Heugh is a homestead moat and earthworks located 500 metres south-south-east of Aberdeenshire, protected as a Scheduled Monument by Historic Environment Scotland. The site comprises the characteristic defensive earthworks of a medieval or early modern farmstead, with a moat defining the residential enclosure. Such domestic fortifications were common among minor landholders and tenant farmers across Scotland from the thirteenth century onwards, providing both physical security and a visible expression of status within the rural community.
The monument sits on bedrock formed from a felsic igneous intrusion of Early Devonian age, part of the granite and felsic rock formations that characterise much of the Aberdeenshire landscape. This geology would have influenced both the construction methods available to the builders and the agricultural potential of the surrounding land. The exposed rock would have been quarried for building materials, whilst the thin soils developed over the igneous bedrock would have determined the extent and type of cultivation possible in the immediate vicinity.
The earthworks visible today represent the accumulated effects of centuries of occupation and land management. The moat itself, whether water-filled or dry, would originally have been substantially deeper and more defined than its current form, gradually silting and degrading through exposure to weather and agricultural activity. The survival of these features, despite ploughing and other land use, demonstrates the robustness of moated homestead construction.
Heugh, homestead moat and earthworks 500m SSE of is a scheduled monument protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4686. View the official record →
Heugh is a homestead moat and earthworks located 500 metres south-south-east of Aberdeenshire, protected as a Scheduled Monument by Historic Environment Scotland. It is designated a Scheduled Ancient Monument by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM4686.
Heugh, homestead moat and earthworks 500m SSE of 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 SM4686.
Several scheduled monuments lie within 10 km, including Old Kinord,settlements and field systems E of (0.6 km), Monandavan,ring cairn 650m SW of (0.7 km), Loch Kinord,cross slab (1.3 km).
This page is just one thread. A full Aubrey report pulls together 14 strands of Heugh, homestead moat and earthworks 500m SSE of'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.
Heugh, homestead moat and earthworks 500m SSE of stands on Unnamed Igneous Intrusion, Late Silurian To Early Devonian, bedrock that formed in the Early Devonian. The rock here is felsic-rock.