Building record MAB24119 - PERSLEY BRIDGE

Replacement boundary (March) stone of the Aberdeen Freedom Lands, marked '49 ABD', and thus only defines the outer marches.

Replacement boundary (March) stone of the Aberdeen Freedom Lands, marked '49 ABD', and thus only defines the outer marches. It is located at the back of the pavement on the south east corner of Persley Bridge, and is a replacement for the late 18th/early 19th century stone. This stone has had to be resited on several occasions: the first lettered stone was placed on the east of Scatterburn, but was soon washed away, and is now on the on the west of the burn (see NJ90NW0898) amongst building debris placed to help stabilise the bank. Aberdeen, in common with many other cities, features a number of march stones. 'March', in this sense, comes from the middle Scots word for boundary. In this particular case these set of stones numbered 1-65, but with additional stone marked alpha and omega. There is an inner set of march stones (marked ABD, the relevant number, and CR, for City Royalty) which define the outer edge of a ring of crofts which circled the old Royal Burgh of Aberdeen. These croft lands were known variously as the Burgh Roods and the 'terrirtorium croftorum burgi'. The majority of the stones define the Freedom Lands of Aberdeen: these lands were composed of several parcels of land acquired by Aberdeen at different points in its history. By a charter of 1319 Robert the Bruce feued to Aberdeen his Royal Forest of Stocket (the term Royal Forest here meaning a hunting ground) for £213 6s 8d Sterling. In 1379 Aberdeen purchased the lands of Gilcomston and in 1459 the lands of Cruives (now Woodside). The stones which define the Freedom Lands only (and not also the inner marches) are simply marked with the relevant number and the letters ABD. The freedom lands were effectively lands which Aberdeen had the right to rent out (or tack). In return this provided an annual income for the burgh. Parts of the lands were reserved as moss and moor land in order to provide natural resources for the burgh. From 1551 Aberdeen had the right to feu these lands. This led to the creation of several large estate around Aberdeen, such as those at Kingswells, or Northfield, most of which are recognisable as suburbs of Aberdeen today. The earliest boundary markers seem to have been natural features, such as burns and large stones. Over time a more sophisticated system arose using large 'earth fast' stones marked with saucers, or the town's mark or a series of holes, known as witter holes. It is also known that cairns were specifically erected in order to delineate the marches. Unfortunately none as these march cairns survive although in a number of cases the earth fast stones do. In 1790 a decision was taken to replace the old system of markers with the numbered and lettered stones, such as we see today. This was completed up to number 48. The remainder were completed later. The marches were inspected by the town magistrates at the Riding of the Marches. The earliest recorded riding in Aberdeen took place in 1525, although it was no doubt an older practice than that. The last recorded one took place on 4 September 1884.

ABERDEEN CITY COUNCIL, 2015, TECHNICAL SURVEY OF MARCH STONES IN ABERDEEN CITY: DRAFT (Bibliographic reference). SAB6552.

Jun 7 2023 , 1 image , 1 image (Ground Photograph). SAB36534.

May 16 2015 , 3 images, 3 images (Ground Photograph). SAB36533.

Sep 2 2012 , 3 images, 3 images (Ground Photograph). SAB36532.

Record last edited

Jun 15 2023 12:42PM