Mergie

Last updated

Mergie is a settlement in Aberdeenshire approximately six miles west of Stonehaven, Scotland. [1] Situated in the former Kincardineshire slightly south of the Slug Road.

Human settlement Community of any size, in which people live

In geography, statistics and archaeology, a settlement, locality or populated place is a community in which people live. The complexity of a settlement can range from a small number of dwellings grouped together to the largest of cities with surrounding urbanized areas. Settlements may include hamlets, villages, towns and cities. A settlement may have known historical properties such as the date or era in which it was first settled, or first settled by particular people.

Aberdeenshire Council area of Scotland

Aberdeenshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland.

Stonehaven town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland

Stonehaven is a town in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It lies on Scotland's northeast coast and had a population of 11,602 at the 2011 Census. After the demise of the town of Kincardine, which was gradually abandoned after the destruction of its royal castle in the Wars of Independence, the Scottish Parliament made Stonehaven the successor county town of Kincardineshire. Stonehaven had grown around an Iron Age fishing village, now the "Auld Toon", and expanded inland from the seaside. As late as the 16th century, old maps indicate the town was called Stonehyve,Stonehive, Pont also adding the alternative Duniness. It is known informally to locals as Stoney.

Contents

Early area history

Mergie is in an area of significant prehistoric and historic fabric. Roman legions marched from Raedykes to Normandykes Roman Camp on a route not far from Mergie as they sought higher ground evading the bogs of Red Moss and other low-lying mosses associated with the Burn of Muchalls. That march used the Elsick Mounth, one of the ancient trackways crossing the Mounth of the Grampian Mountains, [2] lying west of Netherley.

A Roman legion(romanum legio) was a large unit of the Roman army.

Raedykes

Raedykes is the site of a Roman marching camp located just over 3 miles (5 km) NW of Stonehaven, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. National Grid Reference NO 842902. A marching camp was a temporary camp used mainly for overnight stops on a long route between more permanent forts, or as a temporary base while on campaign in hostile territory.

Normandykes

Normandykes is the site of a Roman marching camp 1 mile (1.6 km) to the southwest of Peterculter, City of Aberdeen, Scotland. The near-rectangular site, measuring approximately 860 by 510 metres, covers about 106 acres (43 ha) of the summit and eastern slopes of a hill overlooking the River Dee and the B9077 road further south. Aerial photographs for Normandykes have been archived between 1947 and 1976. The camp is about 6 miles (10 km), or less than half a day's march, north of the Raedykes camp. It is possible that the actual route taken would have entailed one day's march, over a route likely chosen to avoid the Red Moss, a virtually uncrossable bog near the present day village of Netherley. Normandykes was first excavated in the year 1935 by Richmond and MacIntyre; construction is thought to date to the Antonine or Severan periods.

See also

Related Research Articles

Findon, Aberdeenshire village in the United Kingdom

Findon or Finnan is a fishing village eight miles south of Aberdeen, famous for originating the smoked haddock known as Finnan haddie. The Findon moor has a number of paths through it, many of which run along the cliffs. Deer can often be seen there. Nearby features include the Portlethen Moss Nature Reserve.

Ury House

Ury House is a large ruined mansion in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, built in the Elizabethan style in 1885 by Sir Alexander Baird, 1st Baronet. It is situated on the north-east coast about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of Stonehaven in the former county of Kincardineshire.

Red Moss is a wetland bog in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, located at the northwestern edge of the village of Netherley. The moss is designated a national Site of Special Scientific Interest by Scottish Natural Heritage, due to its biodiversity and undisturbed character. The elevation of Red Moss is 113 metres above mean sea level. The upland areas above Red Moss are characterised as agricultural and woodland parcels which are generally attractive and separated by ancient drystone walls or hedgerows.

Netherley, Aberdeenshire village in the United Kingdom

Netherley, Scotland is a village in Aberdeenshire, situated approximately five miles northwest of Stonehaven. Netherley is located in the Mounth area of the Grampian Highlands. At the eastern edge of Netherley is a significant wetland bog known as Red Moss. To the southwest of Netherley lie Meikle Carewe Hill and Curlethney Hill. At the south edge of Netherley is the peak of Craggie Cat.

The Burn of Elsick is a coastal stream in Aberdeenshire, Scotland that discharges to the North Sea. This watercourse drains primarily agricultural lands and enters the North Sea at Newtonhill.

Causey Mounth

The Causey Mounth is an ancient drovers' road over the coastal fringe of the Grampian Mountains in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. This route was developed as the main highway between Stonehaven and Aberdeen around the 12th century AD and it continued to function as the principal route connecting these two cities until the mid 20th century, when modern highway construction of the A90 road occurred in this area. There are extant paved and usable sections of this road over part of the alignment; however, many parts of the ancient route are no more than footpaths, and in some cases the road has vanished into agricultural fields. Constructed in the Middle Ages, the Causey Mounth was created as an elevated rock causeway to span many of the boggy areas such as the Portlethen Moss. A considerable portion of the alignment of the Causey Mounth is illustrated on the UK Ordnance Survey Map, although a large fraction of the route cannot be navigated by a conventional passenger vehicle.

Elsick House

Elsick House is an historic house in Kincardineshire, northeast Scotland.

Cammachmore is a hamlet in the coastal region near the North Sea in Aberdeenshire. It lies slightly west of the A90 road and the ancient Causey Mounth passes through the community. Historic Elsick House is situated due west of Cammachmore. Other nearby historic features include Gillybrands, Saint Ternan's Church, Muchalls Castle and the Lairhillock Inn.

Cairnie Burn is a stream that rises in the Mounth, or eastern range of the Grampian Mountains, north of Netherley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Cairnie Burn is a generally northeast flowing watercourse that is a tributary to the Crynoch Burn. Cairnie Burn rises in the eastern part of the Durris Forest, east of the Elsick Mounth passage.

Banchory-Devenick is a village approximately two kilometres south of the city of Aberdeen, Scotland in the Lower Deeside area of Aberdeenshire. The village should not be confused with the historic civil parish of the same name which spanned the River Dee until 1891, its northern part lying in Aberdeenshire and its southern part in Kincardineshire. In that year the northern part became part of the neighbouring parish of Peterculter, the southern part remaining as the parish of Banchory-Devenick. The village of Banchory-Devenick lies slightly west of the A90 road, and the ancient Causey Mounth passes directly through the village. An historic graveyard dating to 1157 AD is present at the village of Banchory-Devenick. Other historic features in the vicinity include Saint Ternan's Church, Muchalls Castle and the Lairhillock Inn.

Megray Hill is a low-lying coastal mountainous landform in Aberdeenshire, Scotland within the Mounth Range of the Grampian Mountains. The peak elevation of this mountain is 120 metres above mean sea level. This hill has been posited as a likely location for the noted Battle of Mons Graupius between the Romans and the indigenous Caledonians. The major Roman Camp of Raedykes is situated about three kilometres to the west. From Megray Hill there are expansive views to the North Sea facing east. The summit affords scenic vies of the historic harbour of Stonehaven.

Craggie Cat is a hill landform in the Mounth of the Grampian Mountains at the southern edge of Netherley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The peak elevation of Craggie Cat is 198 metres according to the Ordnance Survey. This hill's southwestern flanks form the northwest boundary of the moorland of Curlethney Hill.

Durris Forest

Durris Forest is a chiefly coniferous forest south of the River Dee approximately three kilometres west of Netherley in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. The A957 road forms the southwest boundary of Durris Forest, separating it from Fetteresso Forest. The Durris Forest includes several smaller named woodlands. The ancient route of Elsick Mounth crosses the Grampian Mounth within the Durris Forest. Notable natural features in the vicinity include Red Moss and Meikle Carewe Hill. Notable historic features in this area include Raedykes Roman Camp, Muchalls Castle and Maryculter House.

Lairhillock Inn

The Lairhillock Inn is an historic coaching inn along an old carriage route approximately four miles north of Netherley, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Elsick Mounth

The Elsick Mounth is an ancient trackway crossing the Grampian Mountains in the vicinity of Netherley, Scotland. This trackway was one of the few means of traversing the Grampian Mounth area in prehistoric and medieval times. The highest pass of the route is attained within the Durris Forest. Notable historical structures in the vicinity are Maryculter House, Lairhillock Inn and Muchalls Castle. Most of the lands through which the Elsick Mounth passes are within the Durris Forest; while this forest would have been a mixed deciduous forest in ancient times, currently it is managed as a coniferous monoculture with extensive amounts of clearfelling and subsequent replanting.

Coalford village in United Kingdom

Coalford is a village in Aberdeenshire, Scotland situated slightly north of the River Dee. A statue of Rob Roy MacGregor is located near to Coalford. A number of noted historical structures lie in the vicinity of Coalford including Crathes Castle, Muchalls Castle, Maryculter House and the Lairhillock Inn. Considerable prehistory occurs in the local region along the Deeside, as evinced by the ancient sites of Balbridie and Bucharn. Coalford is situated near the ancient Roman Camp of Normandykes, which was accessed by a march northward from Raedykes via the Elsick Mounth trackway.

Cairn Mon Earn mountain in United Kingdom

Cairn Mon Earn or Cairn-mon-earn is a hill in Aberdeenshire, Scotland.

Lochton is a settlement on the Slug Road in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Roman legions marched from Raedykes to Normandykes Roman Camp somewhat east of Lochton, using higher ground evading the bogs of Red Moss and other low-lying areas including the Burn of Muchalls. That march used the nearby Elsick Mounth, an ancient trackways crossing the Mounth of the Grampian Mountains, lying westerly of Netherley.

Balfour, Aberdeenshire is a settlement on Royal Deeside in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Balfour lies south of the River Dee.

Borrowfield is a settlement in Aberdeenshire, Scotland in proximity to Netherley.

References

  1. United Kingdom Ordnance Survey Map Landranger 45, Stonehaven and Banchory, 1:50,000 scale, 2004
  2. C. Michael Hogan, Elsick Mounth, Megalithic Portal, editor: A. Burnham (2007)

Coordinates: 56°59′20″N2°20′12″W / 56.9889°N 2.3367°W / 56.9889; -2.3367

Geographic coordinate system Coordinate system

A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.