Document record MAB58501 - LETHAM, MENIE

Site of an Ordnance Survey triangulation survey station established in 1817 as the north end of the Belhelvie baseline for the principal triangulation of Great Britain.

Site of an Ordnance Survey triangulation survey station established in 1817 as the north end of the Belhelvie baseline for the principal triangulation of Great Britain. The narrow strip of land at Belhelvie links was selected in 1814 as the most level place in Scotland to measure a base line of 5 miles and 100 feet, beginning at Tarbathy, or Strathbathie Hill (Aberdeen City HER NJ91SE0219) and ending at Leyton, Menie (also recorded as Layton). Thomas Colby, for the OS, chose the site and returned and undertook the measurements from May 5th to June 6th 1817. Each end of the baseline was temporarily marked with a post with a tripod support and an engraved brass plate on the top of the post. Two gun barrels were despatched by sea to Aberdeen later in the year in order to sink them into the sands to replace the posts. However, the delivery of the guns was delayed to such an extent that by 1820 the original posts had been removed by local landowners in order to build gamekeepers' lookouts. Because of this, the same baseline could not be re-measured. Both northern and southern points were still depicted on the 1969 1:10,000 OS map. Both sites have not been redeveloped and the guns may be still in situ. No evidence of the gun emplacements or triangulation posts was located in this area during survey by AOC Archaeology in 2006.

IRONSIDE FARRAR LTD, 2007, TRUMP INTERNATIONAL GOLF/ LEISURE RESORT, MENIE ESTATE: ENVIRONMENTAL STATEMENT, Gazetteer site 97 (Bibliographic reference). SAB862.

Record last edited

Sep 18 2024 2:38PM