Alternative Names Maiden Causeway; Mither Tap O' Bennachie
Site type FORT
Canmore ID 85507
Site Number NJ62SE 1
NGR NJ 6825 2240
Council ABERDEENSHIRE
Parish OYNE
Former Region GRAMPIAN
Former District GORDON
Former County ABERDEENSHIRE

Canmore Mapping
View this site on a map

---

Archaeological Notes

NJ62SE 1 6825 2240

(NJ 6825 2240) Fort (NR)
Maiden Causeway (NAT)
OS 6" map, (1959)

A fort occupying the Mither Tap o' Bennachie, a granite and felspar tor which commands an extensive view eastwards from the most easterly of the several summits of the Bennachie conmontation at a height of 1698ft (518m) OD.
The ruined walls of the fort mingle with the fragmented tor to produce enormous masses of tumbled blocks and boulders among which it is not easy to make out the plan of the fort.
The outermost wall about 15' thick, runs round the bottom of the tor nearly 100' below the summit; several stretches of its faces can be distinguished and there are suggestions of a parapet in one place. A second wall encircles the interior of the enclosure thus formed about half-way up towards the summit. Traces of circular stone foundations, probably though not necessarily of later date than the fort, lie between the walls and above the inner wall.
Simpson (1943) notes an 'hour-glass' entrance on the north and the former existence of a carefully built well which contained water until about the beginning of the 20th century when it was filled in.
W D Simpson 1943; C Maclagan nd; R W Feachem 1963.

'The Maiden Causeway' is a paved road leading from the fort, which is said to have run to Maiden Castle (NJ62SE 2). 'One branch, seemingly the principal one, leaves the camp on the west side; another not quite so perfect leaves it on the east, and both meet at the foot of a small rock called the Nether Maiden (NJ 682 224). From this the road can be traced for a short distance when it disappears, or nearly so. It can again be distinctly traced where it crossed the head of Rushmill Burn (NJ 680 229) and from thence is very perfect until it joins the present road up the hill. From where it leaves this road at the top of Stay Knowe (NJ 685 235), and at this place is the most perfect portion, it is traceable to the woods of Pittodrie.
Although supposed to lead to the Maiden Castle it cannot be traced through the woods' (ONB 1867).
There is a theory that the Maiden Causeway was built to remove the stone from the fort (McConnochie 1890).
Name Book 1867; A I McConnochie 1890.

A fort consisting of thick inner and outer walls, with a hornwork covering the entrance in the NE. Both walls have collapsed and are now no more than wide bands of scree in which a facing stone can occasionally be seen.
The outer wall averages 7.0m in thickness and has its inner and outer faces preserved in places to a maximum height of 1.7m. Parts of a wall walk on the wall head, (averaging 2.0m wide and 0.8m high) are also preserved on both sides of the main entrance. Towards its S end a partially collapsed gallery (0.8m wide and 1.8m deep where best preserved) is visible on the inner side of the wall with at least two places where the gallery expands, suggesting a cell or an entrance. Close to where the wall terminates on outcrop in the S, and on the line of the gallery but apparently isolated from it, is a roughly square 'cell' (1.2 x 1.2m). In the N the wall contracts to 2.7m in width at an entrance 0.8m wide, which may be an access to the hornwork. In the SW a modern path climbs up through the collapsed wall at a point where the debris is very thin, and there are suggestions of another original entrance here.
The wall of the hornwork (1.8m wide in the E) runs along the edge of a low outcrop and is in a poor state of preservation.
The main entrance passage is 16.0m long and averages 3.0m wide and appears to have been paved. At its inner end on the NE side an upright stone (1.3m high) and a jut opposite on the S side have apparently been door jambs. The sides of the passage curve into the interior beyond the line of the inner wall face for about 3.0m, possibly helping to buttress an access to the wall head on either side of the entrance.
The inner wall, on a steeper slope, has almost completely collapsed. Only at one point in the S can the outer face be seen and here the wall seems to have been about 7.0m thick. Immediately SW of this point are traces of a built entrance 0.8m wide which has utilised a rock fault in its construction.
Inside this inner wall is a level shelf, backed by another band of scree which has uncertainly been another wall. On the shelf there appears to be a roughly rectangular building measuring about 8.0m NE-SW by 6.0m within a wall reduced to a band of rubble 2.0m wide. In the NE are fragments of its inner face and in the NE corner is a roughly oval cell 4.0m NW-SE by 2.0m.
To the NW of the main entrance, close to the inner wall face, are two level platforms (measuring 5.5m circular and 7.5 NW-SE by 5.5m) which could have been hut stances. To the S of the main entrance and against the inner wall face are several hollowed patches of debris, probably the result of recent attempts to locate the course of the gallery.
Surveyed at 1/10 000.
Englargement at 1/2500.
Maiden Causeway is a track averaging 3.5m wide reduced in places to a hollow way. Only for a length of about 60.0m immediately outside the entrance to the fort is there any definite sign of paving. Elsewhere this effect is created by the striated rock strata where the track has been weathered to bed rock. There is nothing to date it by, but several other tracks branch from it and it appears to be one of the main access roads to the Bennachie range and, as such, could be at least medieval if not an original route to the fort.
Visited by OS (ISS) 31 July 1973.

No change to previous field report.
Surveyed at 1:10 000.
Visited by OS (FM) 18 August 1977.

Baillies of Bennachie cut five trenches along the supposed line of the Causeway (just N and S of the Rushmill Burn) in Spring 1980. The two cuts N of the Burn were on the line of a track, but the possible surfaces exposed were of different relative ages. The cuts S of the burn revealed no definite evidence.
[Air photographic imagery and newspaper accounts listed].
NMRS, MS/712/36.

Air photograph: AAS/00/10/CT.
NMRS, MS/712/100.

Scheduled as 'Mither Tap, fort...'
Information from Historic Scotland, scheduling document dated 5 March 2008.

NJ 6825 2240 A watching brief was maintained from 13-15 November 2007 during the construction of a new path. The
monitoring revealed a stone block, possibly a step, near the inner entrance to the fort. This is likely to represent part of an earlier modern path.
Within the fort and also close to the entrance were noted two stone blocks running across the path tray on a NW-SE alignment. Immediately below this and to the S, with a visible width of approx 1m, was a roughly compacted spread of cobbles. This spread was confined to the W by a large stone on the slope of the tor and to the E by rubble. A small sondage was excavated to determine the nature of the deposits below the cobbles. This revealed a dark, gravelly silt deposit that lay directly on top of bedrock. The function of these features is uncertain, although they are tentatively interpreted as a structure and surface; perhaps vestiges of one of the roundhouses located in this area by Maclagan in 1876. Two fragments of oak (Quercus) charcoal were retrieved from a sample taken from the deposit beneath the cobbles and submitted for radiocarbon dating. They provided calibrated dates AD 640-780 and AD 340-540 at a two-sigma level of confidence. The dates support the interpretation of the fort as being early historic in origin.
Approximately 14m to the N of these features was noted a loose concentration of what appear to be heat-affected stones. The stones were not vitrified and did not appear to be part of a structure. It is considered that they represent loose rubble and tumble at the base of the slope.
Archive to be deposited with RCAHMS. Report deposited with Aberdeenshire SMR and RCAHMS
Funder: The Forestry Commission Scotland.
Dan Atkinson, 2007.

Notes and Activities

13 November 2007 to 15 November 2007

WATCHING BRIEF

Notes NJ 6825 2240 A watching brief was maintained from 13¿15 November 2007 during the construction of a new path. The monitoring revealed a stone block, possibly a step, near the inner entrance to the fort. This is likely to represent part of an earlier modern path.
Within the fort and also close to the entrance were noted two stone blocks running across the path tray on a NW¿SE alignment. Immediately below this and to the S, with a visible width of approx 1m, was a roughly compacted spread of cobbles. This spread was confined to the W by a large stone on the slope of the tor and to the E by rubble. A small sondage was excavated to determine the nature of the deposits below the cobbles. This revealed a dark, gravelly silt deposit that lay directly on top of bedrock. The function of these features is uncertain, although they are tentatively interpreted as a structure and surface; perhaps vestiges of one of the roundhouses located in this area by Maclagan in 1876. Two fragments of oak (Quercus) charcoal were retrieved from a sample taken from the deposit beneath the cobbles and submitted for radiocarbon dating. They provided calibrated dates AD 640¿780 and AD 340¿540 at a two-sigma level of confidence. The dates support the interpretation of the fort as being early historic in origin.
Approximately 14m to the N of these features was noted a loose concentration of what appear to be heat-affected stones. The stones were not vitrified and did not appear to be part of a structure. It is considered that they represent loose rubble and tumble at the base of the slope.
Archive to be deposited with RCAHMS. Report deposited with Aberdeenshire SMR and RCAHMS
Funder: The Forestry Commission Scotland.
Dan Atkinson, 2007.



Further details

2009	PUBLICATION ACCOUNT

Project Forest Heritage Scotland

Notes The website text produced for Bennachie webpages on the Forest Heritage Scotland website (www.forestheritagescotland.com).

Introduction: The hillside of Bennachie

This moorland was not meant to be lived on. It was a ]'commonty'; common land shared by the neighbouring landlords. People were allowed to use this land for free to graze sheep or cattle. They could also draw on its natural resources of wood, peat, stone and heather. It was not land for growing crops.

In 1801, while people were being forced off land elsewhere, one man decided to live on the rent-free slopes of Bennachie. Other families soon joined him and a farming community grew. In 1859, however, the landlords divided the ownership of the commonty and began to charge rent. Some families could not afford to stay, others were evicted, but a few remained and continued to farm.

Our "Colony" walk will lead you around the remains of the houses that belonged to this short-lived community.

People Story: Descended from the first and himself the last

The people of Bennachie were locally known as "squatters" because they did not pay rent. Yet one nearby resident, James Allan, tells us that locals saw them as respectable people who worked hard.

The Esson family is one of the many families that we know lived at Bennachie. William Esson was among the earliest settlers to the colony. In 1829 he built the farmstead known as Boghead of Tullos with his wife, Jean Petrie, and son, John. This house was the last to be abandoned when his grandson, George, died in 1939.

George Esson, like many of his family, was a stone mason and noted dry stone dyker. He was educated and had lived a short time in America. He returned to Scotland, however, and farmed his father's croft with his wife Mary Ann Knight. You can search for the remains of their home, still visible, at the eastern end of the colony.

Their house is not on our trail but many of the remains of other squatters' houses are. We know that the Findlater family lived in a cottage called Burnside. Their cottage may have been one close to the stream. See if you can spot the last remains of their squatter home as you walk along.

Evidence Story: Scottish Episcopal Palaces Project

In 1996, funded by the Bennachie Centre and the Bailies of Bennachie, the Scottish Episcopal Palaces Project excavated one of the houses at Bennachie.
In 1995, project focused on the area by excavating the pre-Reformation summer palace of the bishops of Fetternear.
These buildings were later converted first into a tower house and then into a mansion for the owners of the Fetternear estate.
The project also wanted to investigate the places where the ordinary families lived on the estate.
The excavations of the Bennachie house revealed a small, rectangular building, only 8 metres long by 5 metres wide. The walls only survived to a low height. In the west end of the building, they found a fireplace with the remains of the last peat fire burnt in the house remaining.
Finds included 19th century pottery, two leather shoes and a metal belt buckle. They also found the bowl of an old clay pipe, used for smoking tobacco.
Carefully placed trenches on the outside of the building shows that this house had a small enclosure, as well as its own garden. In addition, two fields were associated with the house. The people who lived there would have grown their own vegetables and crops as well as keep some livestock.
Mixed within the interior rubble they discovered a small amount of burnt material. It is possible that the roof was burnt and the walls pushed in to force the house to collapse.



Further details

Books and References

Atkinson, D (2007a) 'Mither Tap, Bennachie, Aberdeenshire (Oyne parish), watching brief, radiocarbon dating', Discovery Excav Scot, vol.8 Cathedral Communications Limited, Wiltshire, England.
Page(s): 28

Feachem, R (1963b) A guide to prehistoric Scotland, London
Page(s): 104-5 Held at RCAHMS E.2.FEA

Maclagan, C (1881) 'Benachie, ancient fortress', Chips from old stones Photocopy
Page(s): 35-7 Held at RCAHMS E.7.11.MAC.P

Showing 3 from 10 ...show more